The Big 50!

We arrived in Lisbon, Portugal and got a Pastel de Nata right away at the airport!

Oh, and another mini one when we checked in at our hotel.

And then off to explore! 

Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes. Birthdays are a great time to reminisce. What better way to think about the old days than to visit Sao Jorge (St. George) Castle. It is a castle built in the 12th century overlooking the city.

Today it is filled with olive trees, peacocks and old cannons and a great little museum of artifacts found on the site.

We had to keep moving to stave off the jet lag so we walked around this hilly town and saw some exquisite tile work

and a mini Notre Dame (it's actually 16 years older than the one in Paris).

We ended the day by taking an evening food tour, which is in our opinion the best way to get introduced to a new city and meet some fellow travelers from around the world. We got to try some national dishes like salted cod

and of course enjoy some Port wine.

It is interesting how the Portuguese connected so many cultures during the colonial era. We stopped at a Mozambiquean restaurant which was in some ways similar to Indian food.

But I'm sure many of you know that deep down I'm more of a beer guy, and probably the best thing I had was a bifana (a simple pork sandwich) and a beer.

Today we are heading to a small royal town called Sintra. Saude!