Journals from the week ending June 6, 1997
The Sights and Sounds of Belem
Martin Braathen, 5/29/97, aboard ship...Belem is a district in Lisbon which was about an hour and a half walk from where the Concordia was docked. While there, Ron Jensen, Pat Sawyer and I decided to explore this area. We visited the Hieronymite—a convent that was built in the 16th century to celebrate the discovery of a sea passage to India by explorer Vasco da Gama. It contains the tombs of da Gama and the poet Luis Vaz de Cames. From the top of this monument, we could see Lisbon and its surroundings.
The main purpose of our excursion, however, was to visit the local maritime museum. It was housed in an old stone building which was impressive in itself. Once we were inside, we were baffled by the numerous model ships on display. They included a wide selection of sailing vessels, ranging from the old Portuguese caravelles up to the most modern warships and oil tankers. The models were beautifully crafted. We all agreed that it was the most amazing museum of its kind that we had ever seen. We spent three hours there gazing at the model ships.
Belem is also home to a bakery which is famous for its custard pastries. In fact, it is so popular that they make 38,000 of them every day. Naturally, we couldn’t return to the ship before indulging ourselves. It was definitely a great day in Belem.
Bryan Adams
Francois Ares, 5/29/97, aboard ship...Recently, while we were in Lisbon, Portugal, we got the chance to go to a Bryan Adams concert. I know, I know, I’m traveling the world and yet I still go see a Canadian musician.
We passed by a music store advertising that the next day he was going to be there for autographs. We got a group of students together to buy tickets but the concert was sold out. We then met the backstage manager in an alley (he was unloading equipment for the concert) and he said he would try and get us tickets. But again, no luck.Finally, we decided we would just go to the autograph session. After battling with a mob of screaming fans, we finally got in to see him. We told him we were from Canada and he offered us some tickets. Everybody was pretty excited. We arranged to meet at the box office. At first, the box office didn’t have the guest list with our names on it. So we waited until it arrived and then we got free tickets for the concert. The concert was great. It made my week and Bryan Adams is a great entertainer.