Lisbon, Day 2

Everybody on the morning walking tour started gathering around the guides.  Before our English tour got started, the guide, as we stood around him, asked us to tell where we were from and to share something unique about ourselves.  There were a number of young Germans on the tour, guys from France, girls from Amsterdam, couples from Spain and Poland, plus a family from Indiana.  I shared that I grew up in LA (Lower Alabama), but now live in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina, and that I enjoy taking people out hiking in the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains.  Just as I finished saying it, the lady from Indiana blurted out, "Asheville is very beautiful."  As we walked along, Simon, one of the young Germans, kept asking me about hiking in the Asheville area.  He had been to the USA once, and is planning a visit to New York soon.  Loves the outdoors.  Let's see if Simon makes it to Asheville for a "Blue Ridge Mountain High."  On the day, counting this walking tour, Jeff and I walked about 7.5 miles.  It seemed like 12 miles, since the city is so hilly, and it's hot!

This monument tells the story of the Jews who were expelled from Spain and welcomed into Portugal, only to be blamed for the earthquake, tsunami and fires that later destroyed Lisbon.  The "new Christians" (progressives) were also blamed for this curse since they made a case for accepting the Jews, convincing the Portuguese crown to let them in.  Many of them were burned alive for their tolerance.

tuk-tuks

I first ate Portuguese custard tarts in Bangkok, Thailand - this was back in the early 2000s.  At that time I didn't know where they came from originally.  They were just some tasty treats I got in a Bangkok mega-mall.  But early last year, when I started thinking seriously about traveling to Portugal, I discovered their famous custard tarts.  On every travel blog and Portugal YouTube video, there they were!  And they looked just like the ones I had tried in Bangkok!  I started thinking a bit.  Portugal once had a colony named Macau, which is not far from Thailand.  I also remembered that Portuguese merchants and settlers had a fairly prominent presence in Ayutthaya, the once thriving capital of Siam before Bangkok.  In fact, today in Ayutthaya, there's an archaeological dig of a section of a cemetery where you can see remains of some of the first Portuguese in Siam.  Maybe the custards appeared in Thailand centuries ago?  Or maybe the recipe had been brought down to Thailand by Chinese immigrants who once lived in Macau, the former Portuguese trading port and colony. There are lots of Chinese-Thais (called Thai-Chinese in Thailand).  Possible.  One thing's for certain:  The custard tarts we had in Portugal were really delicious.  My cousin and I ate a lot. One of the places we visited was Pasteis de Belem, a custard tart bakery that was founded in 1837.  Initially I didn't want to go stand in line for the custards, but I decided to go along  In the end, I was so happy I did, even if just to say I did it.

Another Portugal-Thailand tie is the tuk-tuk - the motorized golf cart type thing used for transportation.  According to our walking tour guide, a Portuguese traveler to Thailand loved the tuk-tuk so much, he brought the idea back to Lisbon.  We saw them everywhere.