Pastéis de Belém

Gáspár and I deliver a workshop this morning. It goes well. Afterwards I collect Kerry, and we join the rest of the conference-goers for lunch. It’s a hot buffet and not bad at all.

Joel offers to take us to try the best Pastel de Nata in Portugal this afternoon, but when we meet him at reception he has been called into a meeting. Rescheduled for later in the afternoon, we take a short walk down Liberdad to a small park.

Later than expected, Joel arrives. The meeting is still in progress, but he plugs it into his car system and takes us into Lisbon’s rush hour traffic. We’re going back to Belém, to the lovely famous Pastéis de Belém cafe.

The drive is long and tortuous. There are road closures and accidents. And Joel regularly disagrees with his satnav. We get there eventually and there are no queues, which apparently is very unusual. Behind the diminutive facade, there’s a huge number of rooms and an operation of military precision.

Within minutes we have a plate of four Natas, three coffees, and a beer delivered to our table. The Natas are excellent - way better than any we’ve tasted before - and they’re gone in a flash. So, we order for more.

It’s dark outside now as we drive back to the hotel. Two hours later, we take the lift to the restaurant on the twelfth floor. There are five speakers, Maryam, Gáspár, Erik, Bas and me; four PSTQB officials, Philippe, Joana, Ana, and Joel; and Kerry.

The meal is excellent - entirely a choice of meat or fish, naturally. A lot of cod is ordered. And a lot of beef. As well as a couple of really nice bottles of wine. Thanks PSTQB!