Indochina

Today we caught the 15 tram to Belém, home to pasteis de nata. After spending all morning walking along the coast and taking pictures until our camera batteries died (again wearing our Pumas), we made our way into the actual town of Belém and tasted pasteis de nata from the shop reputed to have created them. The lady at the counter sprinkled them with cinnamon and powdered sugar before handing them to us.

It’s difficult for me to describe how amazing they were. SB kept saying, “They melt on your tongue. They melt on your tongue!”

After pastries we toured the old monastery in the town, which is absolutely breathtaking. Apparently it’s a demonstration of the height of the period of discoveries, which I guess makes sense because it dwarfs everything else in the town except the monument of the discoveries. The tower of Belém is also pretty cool, especially since it was just built as a fortress and only has a prison in the basement as an afterthought. For some reason I was under the impression that towers were exclusively prisons, but this one has intricately decorated quarters inside.

We returned to Lisbon around 4, exhausted from walking all day in the sun, and chose a refreshing siesta over a strong cup of coffee. Next on the agenda was the famous Café Brasileira in the Chiado district, and then a quick stop back by our favorite café (not because of the food or atmosphere, but because they have free Wifi. Actually, the password is hilarious – it’s “Indochina”. I actually cracked up when the woman at the counter gave it to me and she thought I needed her to repeat it because I didn’t understand) to do a bit of work before supper.

Throughout all of this I have been unpleasantly sneezing and sniffling, much to the dismay of anyone around me. I try to tell them it is not my fault and that SB gave me the plague, but usually they turn away and leave as quickly as possible. This really has worked out well for us, since most people here smoke and this makes them move away from us.

Tomorrow: the castle!