#580 Lisbon exploration

Many Portuguese explorers left from Lisbon during the Age of Discovery.

To celebrate these expeditions, a Monument to the Discoveries stands at the edge of the Tagus River where ships sponsored by the Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator departed Lisbon.  Steps away are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Belem Tower and Jeronimos Monastery.

See Prince Henry carved in stone standing in the prow of the ship?  See Kelly celebrating these expeditions by flying a kite?

See Kelly pretending to be Vasco de Gama and leaving from Portugal on the stone map?

Our expedition's ship, the MV Explorer, is docked nearby and preparing to continue the fall voyage to Spain, followed by 3 ports in Africa.  We won't be following the route of Vasco de Gama all the way to India, but we're thinking about his voyage as it "marked the beginning of the first wave of global multiculturalism."

Yours in continuing the Lisbon tradition of launching explorers on great adventures,
Mary