Belém

Day 5

Spent the day watching old family photos with Uncle and Aunty and she cooked some yummy fish and veg gravy with rice along with pasteis de bacealhau

Recipe

Mix bacalao, little boiled potato, crushed garlic, little chilly and pepper, parsley, and an egg. Scoop the well mixed mixed batter and slowly drop it in the oil pan and deep fry! Enjoy! 

That evening Yolanda and I went out to buy some coconut so that I could make some Alebele (crepe with coconuts and jaggery filling) for the family. Shockingly Aunty had some 6 year old jaggery in great edible condition!!!

Late evening we set out to explore Belém (Bethlehem in Portuguese) formally (2012)known as Santa Maria de Belém. The 20 minute drive from Odevilas was an art treat with gorgeous colorful typography graffiti on the fences and houses. We crossed an area which was demolished as it was a drug hub once upon a time. We passed by the huge (---) water towers (the ancient architectural way of water harvesting). 

We passed by the marina has many pubs that overlook the Tagus River and the Ponte 25 de Abril /25th of April Bridge and the statue of Christ the Redeemer. The full moon in the background made a perfect evening frame.

Belém is home to many museums and we drove past by Museu da Electricidade(Electricity Museum), Museu do Centro Científico e Cultural de Macau (Macau Cultural Museum), Museu de Arte Popular (Folk Art Museum), Museu Nacional dos Coches (Coach Museum), and Museu da Presidência da República (Presidential Museum that is open for visits once a week). The best pat is that the entry is free to all museums on the first Sunday of the month. 

We parked our car near the square of Praça Afonso de Albuquerque. An old man guided us to the parking slot and we had to tip him for his kind gesture.

We started off by having Dinner at a lovely restaurant with an outdoor sit out 

and enjoyed the pleasant climate. I enjoyed white wine with fish with vegetables, while Gareth and Cooper ate a chicken Pizza and Joao ate octopus that was delicious!!! 

We had to 'cheer' our drink a million times for Cooper and Gareth took the opportunity to down his apple juice many times to keep him happy Cheering.

We walked by the beautiful the Jerónimos Monastery and strolled by the garden (Praça do Império) with the beautiful central fountain, which was laid-out during World War II that had the Belém's Museu Colecção Berardo (art and culture performance). I wanted to walk across the road to see the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries) located on the edge of the Tagus river but it was under renovation and Gareth was too tired to walk and Joao was not happy about the deserted look at 11pm for safety reasons so we skipped exploring that gorgeous monument. However we decided to drive past them and headed to the car park. A bunch of German kids aged 12-15 years were going ballistic and running around with excitement and I got talking to some and one girl really stalked me in a friendly crazy way.  You don't get to be 12 often so I liked her crazy being! 

As we did that we walked past the gorgeous Belém Palace (1770), the official residence of the Portuguese President. We stopped by Fábrica de Pasteis de Belém to pick up a specific Portuguese confectionery 'pastéis de Belém', an egg tart made with flaky pastry. 

Half past midnight Gareth and Cooper hit the sac in the car by the time we reached Torre de Belém ( Belém Tower) constructed on the rocky outcropping/island along the northern margin of the Tagus River as part of a defensive system to protect access to the Tagus estuary envisioned by John II of Portugal. Joao kindly offered to take care of Gareth and Cooper and I explored the exterior as it had many tourists sitting and enjoying the lovely ambience. Some played music and danced whilst parents hung around with kids. It was a wonderful moment and the pleasant weather was perfect. I must visit Belém again on August 7th with Swithun ❤️. 

It is said that in the monastery they used white of egg to starch their robes and had a lot of yellow yolk going waste. Then they came up with the secret recipe and creation of 'Pasties de Balem'. It is delicious with a sprinkle of white sugar and cinnamon powder and with coffee expresso it is never on earth.