Upon arrival what we can say is that the Portuguese all seem like very friendly people. Our flight got in early and because we didn’t didn’t check luggage got through customs and immigration quickly. End result is that the hotel pickup wasn’t there. After a few minutes of obvious confusion on our part, one of the many poeople waiting for arrivals intervened and called the hotel on our behalf. Once at our hotel we couldn’t be more pleased. The Santiago de Alfama is in a rennovated 15th century building but only open for 2 years and on a quiet street. It is a few minutes walk from the Castle de Jorge, which can be seen throughout the city.

After seeing the castle we met our guide Marta for a car tour of the city, which included a stop for some traditional local treats: cod fish cakes and custards at Pastise de Belem. They make 25 thousand small custards every day and they sell them all at the one location. Quite amazing, and delicious. It’s next to the Jeronimos Monesteey. The monks we’re supposedly the first bakers of the custards and the shop we stopped at claims to have their original recipe.

Pat can fill in more details but we packed a lot into a first day given no sleep on the plane the night before. Dinner was simple grilled fish at our hotel (excellent by the way) to rest up for the next day’s walking tour.