"And then, where?" I wondered....

Well, I definitely had to go to the Tile Museum! I love tiles, and, if tiles in US kitchens had not gone out of fashion (they really had a short-lived use in the US), I would have tiles on my new kitchen counters! So I wanted to see this charming museum in an old convent (OH! of course, it is old!) In Portuguese it is Museu Nacional do Azulejo (tile).

Up and down this one-way, dead end street into the alley way to the flat.

It was an interesting walk from the flat to find it, as well! On the way back I met a young man-20 something from Tennessee who was teaching English in Spain.

I just realized that I captured a story in itself, as this dapper old guy appears to be and was harassing the woman next to him. Her parents sat behind them, and the father very loudly said, "She is my daughter, and you are an old man! Take your hands off her!" The old guy got off at the next stop.

April 18th was Good Friday, and I saw that the British Church was having a service, so I decided to go find that. Well, I arrived after the apparently very short service, but got to wander into the church and the British Cemetery through which you must enter the grounds and church.

British Church interior

British Church exterior

Henry Fielding is buried in the cemetery.

Estrella Cathedral is across the garden from the British Church.

Observing Good Friday inside Estrella

Nasturiums growing wild across from the flat.

"Best steak in town"? was the sign-tasty though!

Military HQ-Carnation Revolution took place here 20 years ago.

Right next door was the Carmo Archaeological Museum, dating back to 1389 and 1423, and the Church of Our Lady of the Carmo Hill.

Walking in....

Walking out....

Right around the corner from the flat is St. Vincent's Monastery whose actual name translates to St. Vincent outside the Wall, dating back to the 1100's. St. Vincent was the patron saint of Lisbon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery_of_S%C3%A3o_Vicente_de_Fora

The cloisters were decorated by 38 tiles with some of La Fontaine's fables. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Fontaine

This blurry picture shows the corridor with 36 huge tiles of LaFontaine's fables, discovered in the monastery.

An example of one of the tiles with a La Fontaine fable...fun and very interesting to read!

 ...and to top it off, no pun intended, the tour took me to the rooftop with wonderful Lisbon vistas!

Next church over!

St.Vincent's