Belem area of Lisbon

We were able to walk down and around a good couple of miles of

the area and take in the long line of people going into the monastery because it’s Sunday.  I hear that there is a Della Robia of St. Jerome in there, but can’t be bothered to wait in line to see it.  We continue walking and get some pasteis de Belem which is like their Café du Monde in New Orleans.  It’s always full and there is 

not so bored when there are pastries available

 mainly one thing that people come here to buy and it’s a particular custard tart thing that is browned on top.  It’s like portable crème brulee really and they give you packets of cinnamon and sugar in case you need an extra hit of something. We continued on to the point where Madalena had shown us the supermarket and even though there is nothing that we need, I like to see what is in grocery stores in other parts of the world.  It’s one of those things that we do at home and take for granted that 

 everything is going to be on the shelves that we need, I like to see what other countries provide as the most needed things of their people.  We did find some little to go on the shelf milks for Oscar, some more Belvita breakfast bars and what I thought were little packets of Golden Grahams.  These turned out to be Golden Graham breakfast bars, but apparently Oscar can eat those now too.  We found some granola

  trail mix to have in the car for snacking, some beer for John and some more scotch that was underpriced in his eyes.  So, we left with more alcohol than anything else, but still a profitable trip.  The only hiccup was when I realized that I had lost my hat somewhere.  Now, this normally wouldn’t be a big 

 thing, but I gave John my prescription sunglasses to clean in the car yesterday on that drive and in cleaning them, he broke them in half.  Not really his fault, the screw broke in half, but I was very calm about it if you can believe it.  This was before we hit Lisbon, he might have died if it had been 

after, but now the hat is my only shade from the sun.  Luckily, the Portuguese for hat is pretty much the French word, so I was able to ask the security guard if he had seen one and he went straight into their back room and gave it to me.  We went on to the  Torre of Belem which is a Unesco World 

 Heritage site, but more importantly just very pretty.  It looks magical with the white marble, lacy stonework, and sitting in the waterway between the river and the Atlantic Ocean.  Oscar got to walk down some stairs with his dad to be near the waves that washed up and we continued on to other monuments that line the river.  We finally stopped for a late lunch

 at a restaurant and I broke out of my comfort zone and ordered fish.  Portugal is known for their fish and that is what the waiter recommended and it was delicious.  It was a crab cake, but with cod or something in it.  So, it wasn’t really fish at all, it was a whole bunch of batter fried up, which made it perfect.  A pitcher of sparkling sangria with amazing amounts of fruit in it and we were almost unable to make it back up the hill to the apartment for siesta.  Oscar needed a nap and after that meal, so did John and I.