In my ignorance I completely forgot about the 5th of October. It was just another Sunday, sunny day (thanx God), almost beach day and very quiet like all the Lisbon days. I wanted to eat pasteis de Belém and as my wish had to be granted, we passed by Jerónimos, the Presidency building and so on-it was soooo crowded and didn't have a place to park. In the end we managed to find a remote place and we headed for the cakes. Seeing so many people at Palácio de Belém, innocently asked if we can visit it-the answer was yes. So we entered, stayed in line, visited the beautiful gardens, entered the palace and ....here comes the question - me, asking with a very shy voice "faz favor, hoje é um dia especial?" -excuse me, today is a special day? the answer was-sim, o 5 de Outubro!!! and I went ooooohhhh yes, o 5 de Outubro - my history knowledge ran in front of my eyes in a few seconds and realized that yes, the 5th of October was indeed a special day and it was the day of the Republic-the day in which Portugal ended the monarchy in 1910.
This time it was celebrated with a lovely sunset, a lot of people, the presence of the President with his wife. Thanx to all these, I got to discover this lovely band called Deolinda http://www.myspace.com/deolindalisboa u can look for them on youtube as well - they are lovely - vivid, happy songs with terrific lyrics and a singer who loves performing (Ana Bacalhau) - ain't that sweet? :-))
