Late start, grab breakfast and catch a ferry to the other side of the river. Take a walk and catch up on journaling by the water. After taking the elevator way up the hill I continue walking to get closer to Jesus – the Christo Rei statue overlooking Lisbon that looks exactly like Rio’s Christ the Redeemer statue.

The walk through the neighborhoods to get there is another great one, and finally, I arrive below the statue. Rio’s Christ the Redeemer has long been on my bucket list – and this statue is nearly identical, and also located in a very cool location perched above a beautiful town on the water. This statue in particular was built to celebrate Portugal not getting involved in WWII.

Outside the statue I meet a cute Brazilian girl who asks me to take her picture. I oblige and we get to talking. She’s studying to become a vet in Italy, very well-traveled, and pretty young (23?). I asked if she’s going to the top of the statue. The €4 price tag is holding her back a bit, she’s traveling on a tight budget and trying to see as much as possible.

Let’s go! My treat! Some people like buying girls drinks I the bar, I prefer buying girls tickets to world heritage sites. 🙂

The view up top was amazing – you quickly understand the terrain of Lisbon and where it sits in relation to the Atlantic Ocean.

After ~45 minutes we head down and take a bus back to the ferry. I’m headed to Belem, and Anne want to join, so together we take the bus 3-4 miles west.

Belem was cool, we checked out the Monastery (which was unfortunately closed – it was too late in the day) but we did get to spend a few minutes watching mass take place in a church which was attached to the monastery. Next we hit up the park, the Tower of Belem, and a large cross statue built as an ode to Portuguese explorers. It’s wild to think that the likes of Christopher Columbus sailed these very waters when setting out for what would be America some 500+ years ago.

Around 8 PM we head back towards town and go our separate ways. I do a bit of continued trip planning well into the night with a calendar and little pieces of paper. Lots of planning to be confirmed. I’ll spend most of tomorrow getting things booked!