We have really enjoyed our brief sojourn in Lisbon. On Friday, we climbed the Torre de Belém, saw the Jerónimos Monastery and savoured pastéis de nata nearby. Today, we found “cornucopia” with the same delicious filling in a pastelaria near the Cafe A Brasileira.

This establishment was the favourite haunt of the famous and fascinating Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, whose bronze statue watches over the patio.

The Castelo de São Jorge overlooks the city and yesterday we ascended in an ancient tram to see the finely preserved defences.

In the evening, we entered the Barrio Alto and after sampling Portuguese wines, went to the Tasca Do Chico for tapas and Fado music. The instrumentation and singing is unique and evocative. Ever since we saw a documentary about the music a few years ago at the Vancouver International Film Festival, we have been eager to experience it first hand and were not disappointed. The bar was overflowing by the time we left.

As usual, we have been sampling the espresso bars and discovered two that we scored at 9 and 10/10! This morning we visited the Museum Nacional de Arte Contemporânea and saw very interesting examples of Portuguese art which reflected trends in Europe in the last century. Lois was particularly taken by the works of Lourdes Castro.

Tomorrow is Day 1 and we will be cycling north to Torres Vedras to visit the Campus Neurológico Sénior , where we will be meeting with and hosted by Dr Joachim Ferreira, a neurologist specializing in Parkinson’s Disease and other movement disorders. We will spend the night there in the Campus residences.