A very large adjunct building holds a number of "royal barges" and other boats.

The stern of one of the royal barges

We tried to capture the rank of oars as if they were in motion, even though they were not.

I wonder who was transported in this boat?

Figurehead on the prow of the barge.

These two men, Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral, flew in stages from Lisbon, Portugal, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, using three different aircraft, and covered a distance of 8,383 kilometres (5,209 mi) between March 30 and June 17, 1922 in the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic.

This is one of the planes used in the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic.

The Santa Cruz. You will note that the cockpit is open.

The Santa Cruz

Always looking for the next shot

Portugal's first seaplane: A Shreck F.B.A from France (1922). It doesn't look too safe to me.

Grummon G-44 seaplane from 1942

Looking back at the Jerónimos Monastery from near the [current] shore of the Tagus River. I was trying to get an idea of what sailors would have seen as they arrived or departed 500 years ago. The busses and tourists probably would ahve been absent.

Part of a large map showing many of the Portugues voyages of exploration.

Part of a large map showing many of the Portugues voyages of exploration. I think the materials are different kinds of marble.

There are a number of monuments to exploration along this stretch of the river in Belém.

Lisbon is a cty of hills as you may see from the buildings behind the monastery.

On a bright sunny day the monastery looks brilliant white, but on a cloudy day like this one it shows some of its age--at least on the outside.

Looking down at the Commerce Plaza from a restuarant near our apartment.

The Chapito Restaurant, which we visited a couple of times, has a nice overlook of the city and the Alfama district. It was a good place for tapas.