Today I got sick, which meant the day was unfortunately defined by a zombie like, groggy quality. A sore throat, headache and two espresso shots yesterday meant little sleep was had – nevertheless, we were both downstairs at 8.30am ready to go to Belem with the rest of the group. This was a 30 minute train trip away and is basically not much more than a monastery, a few monuments and a pastry shop.
We headed to the pastry shop first – this district is actually where the first famous Portuguese tart came from and the shop here has a secret pastry base recipe that no one else can match. Our gourmet guide yesterday said we must have two, as one is too light and not enough, and we must eat them with either an espresso or a white dessert port. I wasn’t keen on more espresso shots, so white port it needed to be (never mind that it was 10am in the morning). These tarts were yummy, particularly the pastry – it’s easy to see why they are famous. The pastry shop itself is huge, with never ending rooms that are necessary to cater for the tour bus loads of people that pour into there daily.
After gorging ourselves a little we headed off down to the waterfront to look at the big monument there – then the group split up. Andy attempted to get some ridiculously slow Wi-Fi at Starbucks and then we both went to check out the monastery. This was pretty, but nothing super exciting or memorable. At 12pm we jumped back on the tram to town and had enough time to pick up pork sandwiches, more cod cakes, fresh fruit, black ham and a box of pastries before meeting the group again at 2pm.
Lots of travelling followed – after four and a half hours on the metro and train we arrived in Olhao, a small town in the Algarve. First impressions of this town weren’t really amazing… it is quite run down with a lot of graffiti. We checked into our pension before meeting the Australian owners on the rooftop terrace (they gave us free wine, beer, chips and a warm welcome). Then off to dinner down at the waterfront… here the city was significantly nicer, with a street full of trees, cafes and restaurants. For dinner I had a ‘Steak on Stone’, which was basically a steak served on a sizzling hot plate that I had to smother in butter and finish cooking myself. Andy shared a Caldeirada with Catherine, which is a traditional Portugese fish stew with prawns and mussels and all kinds of things. Food was enjoyed by all and we soon headed back to the hotel for an early night. Day of beaches tomorrow!
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