We signed up for a special tour titled "Flavors of Lisbon." At 3 we went down to meet our guide Nuno, our driver Manuel, and the 20 people who would be spending the evening together exploring authentic food in the city. Our guide took us to the Espaço Campo de Ourique district, a place not highly visited by tourist but a nice district of the city.
Our first stop was a very upscale food court where they had multiple bars and restaurants opening up to a common dining area. Apparently there are many such places in the city, but they are in central courtyards so you have to know where to look for them as their existence is not obvious from the street.
At the food court we were served Ginja by our bartender, Renaldo. It is a sour cherry wine that is delicious.
Our next stop was a small restaurant named Teimar.
Actually, we arrived there a little early and they were not quite ready for us, so we walked a block to a public park and admired the foliage, the fountain, and the gazebo. It was a very pleasant place to be in an otherwise very hectic environment. All of Lisbon is on the flight plan for the airport, so every five minutes another large plane is flying over not that high above the buildings.
The time went by quickly and we made our way back to the restaurant. When we sat at our table for four, two women asked if they could join us, Tara and Jennifer. As we started talking we found out that they are the creators and producers of House Hunters and HGTV! They got the idea for the show based on their experience buying a house in LA in 1997. They had experience producing other TV projects, and they pitched this one to the network. They confirmed that they start by finding people who have signed a contract to buy a house, then they select and take them to see other houses and record their reactions. At one point they had 350 people in their production company, but they are scaling back now as they are preparing to eventually retire to the home they recently moved to in Palm Springs.
We were served cod cakes (much like crab cakes with very little fish flavor), bread with salsa and a sardine-like fish on top (I tried it and it was very mild), and a different bread with pockets filled with meats.
We also had octopus salad. I ate some of it. The sauce and the vegitables in it were good, I could take or leave the octopus.
Our next stop was a restaurant named Cortesia. Here we had a board that included really delicious olives, grapes, goat cheese, spicy sliced ham, bread, crispy flat bread, and coated almonds. They also brought us some beef corquetes straight from the oven.
We pretty much filled the restaurant where the tables wrapped around the open kitchen.
As we walked to our next stop we passed many buildings with colorful facades made up of tiles. Lisbon is known for its tile work which adorn many buildings. It is beautiful to look at.
Our final stop was Manteigaria where they make Pasteis da Nata, a pastry that is the national treasure of Portugal.
We each got one of these custard-filled tarts and an espresso to top off our evening. We stood right outside the windows into the kitchen watching a very talented individual making these pastries.
Each pastry shell is formed by hand, being pressed into a cup. They are then filled with the custard filling and baked. This gentlemen was very talented at making these delectable treats.
At 7 we returned to our hotel and called it a night. The night maid just stopped by and gave us a handful of chocolate truffles. We have to have our bags out in the hall at 6:45 am in the morning, followed by another fantastic breakfast, and then leaving at 8:15 for an all day journey with lunch and tour stops on our trip to Porto where we will join our ship, the Helgrim.
Navigational note: We learned from a fellow passenger, who had talked with Tamara our boat's Program Director, that the warning we received by e-mail last week about possible itinerary disruptions was due to the power outages a week ago which stopped the locks from working, which in turn backed up ships waiting to transit. Apparently last week's sailings (there are five Viking ships on the Douro river) all were able to keep their schedules and not be disrupted. This is really good news meaning we can probably look forward to a trip as planned.
Daily Step Count: 8,492 steps with our morning tour and our progressive dinner
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