Tuesday 4th September

It was by pure luck that this morning I bumped into Alex at the tram stop. So it started off with me walking down to the information desk and I had forgotten my map and hadn't any idea how to get to Belém. As soon as I walked down the hill a guy offered me hashish. My first reaction was the best and what I had to go with. I laughed in his face and walked off. Then I found the info desk and the bitch wasn't helpful but I go a map which was more detailed than my shitty one I forgot. First I went in line thinking people were just anywhere because I went to check the sign for more info. It had too many people around for me to check. The girl in Porto who couldn't understand me and is from Uruguay said she got yelled at by people for not lining up at the bus stop. So it clicked to me and I walked off. But the line I was after kept bringing buses and not trams like I was told. So Alex then pops out of nowhere and he joined me in line and in front of us were two Italian guys who were in the same boat, looking for trams and not buses. But the lines were so long and it was hot that whatever came didn't matter. So once the buses arrived to our stop full, it was time to just give up for some. We met two girls in line once people started leaving in anger. It was noon and we got nowhere. So we got talking and Catherine and Andrea (sorry girls I have to Australianize your names) from French Canadia. I'm so thankful we met them because I know I would have been lost all day!

So for €2 each we got a taxi to Belém as it was better than waiting for a bus and cheaper too. We got some good info off the taxi driver who was fantastic so we tipped him. Once we got to the area we went straight to the monestarie. It was so wonderfully decorated with all the marble carvings and such. Never have I seen a courtyard so simple yet so detailed. At away it looks simple, green grass, yellow stone and bright blue sky. Up close the detail in the posts are amazing. It's so beautiful. So we walked around as a group, however I couldn't use a student card for a discount. This is everyones moment to say "AW". But €10 I got access to that and the Belem tower.

There was an exhibition on about the facts of the world over time as well as Portugal/Lisbon and the way Catholicism progressed over that time. I didn't know that it took about 600 years to construct the Cologne Cathedral. I didn't know the Dutch discovered New Zealand and Tasmania (but it explains a lot like how Zealand is in the Netherlands and Tasman was the ship which sailed there). I didn't know it was New Zealand who gave rights to females to vote, the first country in the world. I didn't know that Australia and New Zealand were split up colonies before Federation. I didn't know that Neal Armstrong, the man on the moon was still alive. I also didn't know why people kept writing on the walls correcting the information. But it was good.

Once we got out we went to the bakery. Now no one told me that this bakery is the one which invented the Portuguese Tart. No one. I just got told it's the oldest bakery and it's amazing. So I got everything but a tart. I got a bite later on but it was pretty good. It was warm compared to yesterday's which wasn't. Nonetheless it was errrr.

So we decided to make our way over to a monument and don't hate me for this but I can't remember the name of it! All because Catherine saw sailors in uniforms. So we made our way over and as we got there we were told to move out of the way. We were unsure but then suddenly we saw a chief or commanding officer, don't know, someone high up in the ranks. They had a ceremony and there was a small crowd watching.

Once we made our way to Belem tower, where we got great views of the bridge and surrounding areas, we made our way to find a bar. A'Marage. Yes we walked past it before we went to the tower but didn't know it. It's the building I thought looked amazing with its simple architecture and right next to a fancy hotel. We didn't know that. So we asked around and outside the hotel were two workers. We asked where the bar was and they denied they knew it, but they suggested we go to the hotel bar. So we did, thinking it was time to give up the chase. Seriously a corona was €8. We got up and left and luckily noticed that A'Marage was in out wifi zone. The white building next to the hotel was the place, suggested to the girls by someone they know. We sat there for a while and drank and it was fantastic.

Once we got back into the city we were actually hungry. We got offered hashish a few times and none of us couldn't stop laughing. Seriously, I'm not here for your drugs. Which I later found out were fake and they're just gypsies selling "hashish". If you go to the police and say that someone offered you drugs or that they sold you bad drugs, what will they do? Nothing. It's actually very smart.