Of the mountains and the sea

Once upon a time, a great nation from the mountains and the sea dared to set sail to the unknown with ambition and curiosity. Portugal is a country with long history, diverse culture, and unique cuisine. Surprisingly, it was not on my travel list in the first place (which it totally should). We changed our destination from Greece to the city of Seven Hills after finding out some flight conflicts. We spent 3 days in Lisbon and one day in Sintra so we could experience the diverse landscape of Portugal.

Age of Discovery

This trip for me is like picking up the traces from their past and piecing them together to see the Gold Age of the Portuguese Kingdom. 

Back in the 15th century, the Kingdom of Portugal was one of the first European pioneers to begin establishing a colonial empire. During the Portuguese Renaissance, they colonized the African coast, discovered an eastern route to India and Brazil, established trading routes throughout most of southern Asia, and sent the first direct trade and diplomatic missions to Empire Ming in China and to Japan.

Igreja de São Roque (Church of Saint Roch) is one of the first Jesuit churches in the world. It is also known as the most expensive chapel in the world at certain time. The use of marbles and gold at all 8 side chapels demonstrates the power of the Kingdom.

Belém
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Belém district consists of three epic sites: the tower of Belém, the Jerónimos Monastery, and the Monument to the Discoveries. Both the tower of Belém and the Jerónimos Monastery are UNESCO World Heritage Sites because of their significance to the Kingdom. Aside from the history, Belém is also a great area to try out the famous Portuguese pastry, ​Pasteis de Nata!
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The tower of Belém, a defense tower sitting on the mouth of Tagus River, serves also as a spiritual support for the citizens.

The Jerónimos monastery is one of the most prominent examples of the Portuguese Late Gothic Manueline style of architecture in Lisbon.
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Portugese Cuisine 

Portuguese cuisine has many Mediterranean influences. They also use a wide variety of spices for cooking.

Sintra

Off to the mountains! Sintra is a sub-region of Lisbon where it contains several 19th century monuments including the national palace, Pena Palace, and the medieval Castle of Moors. A noticeable one is the Pena National Palace, which is not only a World Heritage Site, but is also one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal! The change of scenery from the coast to the forest was very refreshing. I'd recommend people to spend a decent day or two in Sintra to appreciate the mountain.

Couple announcements! My friend Astha updated her blog recently so feel free to click on the side bar and get some positive energy! Also, video section had been updated recently as well! I'm interested to do any sort of collaboration within this blog so if you have interesting ideas please let me know! Weekly shoutout to Laura, Kevin, Omar, and Howard for supporting my blog!