TEA AT A CONVENT

On the other day, I went, together with some golf friends, to have tea at a Convent founded by ladies of noble ranking in the XVI century. The building is a small jewel in Lisbon and it's considered one of the most original 17th-century baroque convents with its beautiful Portuguese and Dutch tiles that cover the walls.

The small cloister is like a secluded garden... I found it absolutely charming...

Every year, during the Xmas season, you can enjoy tea or a brunch at the Convent, in the weekend.

 But there is nothing that gives more joy to this convent than the work that began in the nineteenth century and still remains alive, nowadays: welcoming people with severe multiple disabilities, including blindness, which here have their home, their family...

The maintenance of this place depends in part on the guided tours offered by the Sisters and the products they sell in the shop. And you cannot leave without buying some exquisite delights like marmalade, jam, sauces and seasonings made by the sisters themselves out from fresh products from their garden.

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~~ Have a wonderful weekend ~~

A SELFIE DISASTER HAPPENED RECENTLY HERE, IN LISBON....

Before kicking off my posts about my recent trip, I can't help but reporting about something that happened a few days ago, in Lisbon city centre: a selfie seeker tourist climbed onto the pedestal of the stone figure of a Portuguese king, which stood in a niche flanked by large, ornately decorated horseshoe-shaped arches at a façade of a Lisbon station for suburban trains. Of course the statue didn't bear the man’s weight and it tumbled down over the street pavement.

Today, I went there to take a photo of the façade without the stone statue. I can't express my feelings in words as I looked at it and saw no statue... 

The statue represented a king who the Portuguese people refuse to accept his death at a battle in Africa when he was 24. This fact has originated a legend saying that in a foggy morning the king will return. Even nowadays, it's often mentioned when someone believes something that is not likely to be true.

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~~ Have a nice start of the week ~~

AN OFF-THE-BEATEN PATH CHAPEL (LISBON)

This chapel is located on the top of a hill, and offers a beautiful view of the Tagus River. To visit, you must climb the two steep set of stairs. 

It was founded in 1549 in dedication to St. Maurus.

 It’s one of the greatest artistic curiosities in the city but seems to have become completely forgotten. It’s almost always closed, opening only for Mass once a month (on the first Sunday).

People believed that St. Maurus healed broken legs and arms, so many of the magnificent 17th-century polychrome tiles that decorate the entrance walls illustrate those limbs.

The Chapel, as seen from the backside looks very different from when it is seen from the front side...

The chapel yard is nicely paved...

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