After a lovely breakfast at the hotel (featuring succulent cantaloupe!) and a much-needed nap, I (Jenia) headed out with a few friends to LX factory. A hidden gem of Lisbon, LX Factory houses a number of small, artisanal businesses and restaurants within a former industrial factory. In order to make up for our very non-Portuguese lunch of crepes, we sought out the holy grail of Portuguese pastry: pasteis de nata, or Portuguese egg custard tarts in puff-pastry dough. Despite my dad being obsessed, I had never before tried them, so we finished off our meal with a wonderful treat and a new experience!
As it turned out, the mysterious allure of pasteis de nata was felt by many a glee clubber, including myself (Robert). Taking a small group of singers in tow, I sought out Lisbon’s first bakery to produce the signature pastry, titled Pasteis de Belem. After discovering the quaint bakery in the city’s historic Estrela neighborhood and enjoying its famed product, we roamed the ornate gothic cloisters of the nearby Jerónimos Monastery, taking our time to soak in the floriated columns, trefoil arches, and decorated tombs. Making the most of the warm, sunny weather, we had a casual outdoor lunch in the Jardim da Praça do Império, a series of gardens just a stone’s throw from the famed Tower of Belém.
Following our afternoon of exploring around Lisbon, both of our groups headed back to the hotel, and soon after, to the iconic Sé de Lisboa for our concert later that evening. Even before entering, we were awestruck; the Sé appeared as a towering stone cathedral with striking stained glass windows and medieval crenellations lining the roofline. It was scarcely imaginable that we would have the privilege of performing in such a space. The magic continued into our afternoon rehearsal and evening concert, where we experienced the resonant and warm acoustic that the twelfth-century Sé had to offer. It is often difficult to sing within the immense volumes of cathedrals, as the reverb can make it hard for singers to hear each other clearly, but the Sé seemed to strike a perfect balance. As the final plea of “Danos la paz” rang out to end our set, we both felt exceedingly fortunate to be invited to sing in such a culturally significant, architecturally arresting, and intimately sacred location, especially for our final international concert as President and Manager of the Glee Club.
With high spirits and bittersweet feelings, we embarked, as per tradition, towards our final destination of the evening—the farewell dinner. Upon entering into a decorated Victorian ballroom, the Glee Clubbers found seats at eight-person tables throughout. We enjoyed three courses of Portuguese cooking before being unexpectedly treated to an incredible performance by a band of traditional fado musicians, who serenaded us as we toasted to the hard work of all those who had worked tirelessly to make this tour come together. Speaking for ourselves, we simply couldn’t help but reminisce upon how important and enriching the Glee Club had been to our Princeton experience and to our lives more broadly, especially considering how much of an honor it had been to serve Glee in executive roles. As we prepare to depart from a memorable Iberian tour, return to the Orange Bubble, and elect a new officer board soon after, we’re so grateful for everyone who has made Glee so overwhelmingly special, and we can’t wait to see what’s next in store.
Jenia Marquez ‘25 and Robert Mohan ‘26, signing off :)
