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  • Day 68

    To the End of the World

    March 8, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    After a mediocre expensive lunch, not included, we headed to the southwesternmost point of Europe....Cape St. Vincent. In the 14th century Prince Henry the Navigator founded his navigators’ school here and sent off small wooden ships at a time when superstitious sailors believed that the world was flat. No sailor had dared to cross the Strait of Gibraltar or to venture beyond the known end of the world. Magellan, Columbus and da Gama were some of Henry’s students and the world was opened up to exploration, discovery and overseas settlements by Portugal and other countries. We were standing in a very significant historical spot, which I remembered very little of from high school history. John, forever the teacher, remembered all the details.

    The cliffs are 250 feet high and we saw one monument where a German tourist had died, likely trying to take a great selfie. The wind gusts are strong and our tour guide had warned us about safety and selfies. The scenery was spectacular.
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