The Calouste Gulbenkian Planetarium was built in 1965 and in 1973 had a very exotic attraction on display: a small fragment of stone from the moon that was given to Portugal by the US President Richard Nixon. The stone didn’t stay too long… it was stolen in 1985. Coincidentally, the place started to decay year after year until the renovation of 2004.

I’m a big fan of Star Trek and Star Wars, and well… all things related (even if remotely) to the stars and planets, fictional or not. I’m always very intrigued by all things that surround our tiny little planet and so a visit to the Planetarium was, of course, a good thing to start the day.

I started by convincing my 3-year-old that, unfortunately, we wouldn’t be meeting Chewbacca that day, but luckily we’d be seeing a few stars and planets and we would learn a bit more about our Universe. He was ok with that and so we went to Belém.

My toddler was a bit disappointed at the end – he couldn’t believe that Chewbacca had missed this, but if you’re travelling with older kids, this is always a good thing to keep them entertained. There are planets and stars and although some sessions are in Portuguese, the experience is quite interesting and your kids will love it for sure.

The best thing? It was in August and the city was packed, whereas here… there was no one. Enjoy this journey, and live long and prosper!