On the trail of the Pastel de Belem in Lisbon

We got into Lisbon this morning, stood in line a lot to get into the country and then get a cab. But never let lack of sleep get you down! I went off to a lunch meeting with Rui Cadima and Joao Grillo at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, then met up with Jeremiah Spence, pictured at right, who is working with me on his doctorate at UT, met up with another Nova professor, Cristina Ponte (second from left) and Lidia, who had been my student at UT last spring, and went off to a bar by the river, at the spot shown here, to have a meeting, to plan a research project. (Honest, we really did -- got a great outline done.)

Here is Sandy, enjoying the breeze and kibitzing in on the research planning.

Then we finally got down to more serious business, ate at a Brazilian steakhouse called Picanha, which served exactly that (the best beef cut in the known world). Then we walked across the street to where the mothership awaited, the Pastelaria de Belem, named after the neighborhood, not the original Bethlehem, but the home of one of the world's best pastries, the pastel de Belem. There is a huge cafe right alongside the factory where they make them. It looks very modest in the next photo, but that is part of its charm. Pastry perfection does not have to advertise or use really hideous clown mascots or anything like that.