A little taste of Portugal

Steve and I recently returned from Portugal where we spent time in Lisbon (6 nights) and Porto (5 nights). We enjoyed our stay in spite of weather that was quite variable - from brief torrential rain showers and wind to occasional blue skies and sunshine with temps in the mid to high 50s. At least there wasn’t any snow!

Check out Steve’s blog for LOTS of detail on what we saw and did.

The ubiquitous custard tarts - pasteis de Nata - were all over the place and we tried them at a handful of bakeries and cafes. All a bit different in their flavors and textures but generally pretty tasty. The highlight for me was taking a hands on class in making these little delights at Nat’elier, a shop right in the heart of Lisbon’s old quarter not far from our AirBnB. We even got certificates to prove it.

Here’s the group - Michi from Japan, our chef instructor Adriano from Brazil, Ulrich from Germany and moi.

The class was well orchestrated, interesting and offered a couple of unexpected variations on ingredients and process. Now I’m poised to make my own version soon which I’ll share in a separate post.

Below are a few images of things we enjoyed (mostly food related of course).

We paid Nat’elier a visit a couple of days before my class so we could test out the product.

Dubai version on the left and traditional on the right

Architecture abounds. One day we visited the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon’s Belém neighborhood - what a marvel of design and structure.

Central courtyard in the cloisters

Tiles and tile work are also HUGE around the city - here are just a couple of examples of tiling in the monastery . . .

While randomly strolling one can always find flowers . . . .

The image above shows you a perfect example of the street surface in many parts of Lisbon - small, square stones laid by hand. They can be very uneven and slippery when wet so it pays to be careful!

Bakeries are everywhere . . . . .

Chock full of cookies

In Porto we met up with our British friends, Richard and Pauline (remember - Steve has written about all of our adventures). The WOW (World of Wine) was quite a place and lots of fun. Our lunch there at Root and Vine was delicious - I had been craving lighter, fresher dishes after some meals on the heavy side and this quinoa salad was just the ticket. Citrus, nuts, sun dried tomatoes, sunflower seeds, lovely greens . . . YUM.

Our hotel in Porto had a wonderful breakfast spread . . . .

One could also get made-to-order omelettes or choose from hot dishes like scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon.

Richard celebrated a birthday during our stay and he was supplied with a lovely Happy Birthday breakfast treat that morning.

We enjoyed dinner a couple of nights at the hotel as well. I had a delicious apple tart for dessert one evening - right up there with The French Tarte’s!

Now we’re back in the land of snow and ice and look forward to spring.

I’ll get to work on my pastel de Nata project/post and be back with you before too long (I hope).

ice and snow along our roofline