Sad Songs and Seafood: Three Days in Lisbon, Portugalby Judy Wylie
And if you squint a bit you can almost believe you boarded the wrong plane and landed by mistake in San Francisco. It’s the hills, the colorful trolley cars, and the elegant bridge that is a spitting image of the Golden Gate--both bridges were created by the same designer.. This city also nestles near the water, on the edge of an estuary lake formed by the Tagus River as it runs to the sea. For centuries seafarers have set out from here to encounter and discover the world. Just as in San Francisco with its mansion-studded Pacific Heights, the rich or royal in Lisbon have chosen to live on just two of Lisbon’s famous hills. On one sits the Saint George Castle in the ancient Alfama district, conquered in the 12th century by the first King of Portugal, Dom Afonso Henriques. The Right Neighborhood
Built in 1870 as the former home of the Count of Valenca, and surrounded by lush gardens with a towering rubber tree, pools and a wandering stream, this pink confection even has its own Rapunzel-style tower. Every room has a balcony or terrace so you can have dinner in the fresh air and view the gardens or the Tagus River in the distance. My room was large, 14’ by 16’ and gold silk damask drapes with swags and tassels and a huge marble bath. Wandering around downstairs we discovered the Columbano room, where visitors were received and treaties signed, with its marble fireplace, gilt sconces, gold columns and painting on the ceiling of beautiful 18th century figures looking down. My favorite guest room was the Algarve room, as fresh as a country cottage, with painted wood furniture and a big swirled wrought iron bed, but the Indo Portuguese room was pretty amazing, too, with its ornately carved Indian headboards, silk walls and separate tiny sitting room, all created to recall the island of Goa. Before dinner one night in the hotel’s elegant Embaixada restaurant we had some Serra cheese, a famous soft Portuguese cheese that melts in the mouth, and a vinho verde, or green wine called Quinta Da Aveleda, described by one of the diners as “frivolous” which described our mood perfectly after we’d downed a bottle. The seafood in Lisbon is famous, and the Acorda stone bass with vinho verde sauce for dinner was tender and flaky, and the spiced goat cheese salad with hazelnut and mushroom essence was perfect with it. Sightseeing in Lisbon
It was drizzling and windy the next night as we set out for dinner at the modest restaurant Flor des Arcos, recommended by a friends having good food at a good value. The cab stopped in the Alfama district and the driver gestured vaguely up a narrow cobblestone street that rose up the hill. About halfway up we stepped down into the tiny restaurant, its ten tables sporting blue and white checked cloths, the ceiling warmed with wood beams overhead and bright faience pottery dotting the walls. The young waitress approached with tentative but perfectly good English, and soon brought a starter of octopus and onion salad, a plate with the soft sharp cheese of the region, and crusty rolls. A mixed salad and a whole grilled sea bass were both delicious, and cost under $15 per person. When it was time to leave, the owner sent the same agreeable waitress out in the rain to call us a cab. It was 10:15, just about time for the performance at the area’s fado bars to begin, where the sad songs of separation and loss form the national cultural melody. We headed for Senhor do Vinho’s, reported to be one of the best in Lisbon. Sad MusicFado means fate. As the lights dimmed, the blond Fado singer Alexandra raised her head, closed her eyes and sang the sad laments of futility and loss that make up Portugal’s signature Fado music. Sung in the minor key with Moorish overtones, the songs are about pain, love and loss, but somehow also communicate acceptance and the courage to go on. . As Alexandra sang, the fringe on her shawl fluttered as her chest heaved with emotion. . The audience of well dressed diners were silent as if holding their breath. The women in the audience were serious, contemplative, studying the tablecloth or closing their eyes, as if witnessing to the pain she sang about. Separation and loss are big factors in Portuguese history, when the men set off as explorers in ships that might or might not ever return. When a male Fado singer came out he leaned against a pillar slightly, and I could almost picture him standing with his back to a ship’s mast, longing for home. How is it possible that a singer can have you hanging onto every word when you don’t even know what the words mean? Sipping sherry and captivated by the voices, we didn’t get out of there until well past 1 a.m. Retail Therapy: Shopping in Lisbon
Antique maps and prints are hard for me to resist, so we drove up to 48-50 R. do Alecrim, to the a shop called Centro Antiquaro do Alecrim, which specializes in antique maps and historic engraved prints. Inside, it was almost empty of people except for the proprietor, a gray- haired man with rounded shoulders sitting at a small wooden desk, bending over a manuscript with a magnifying glass. Around him were tables and shelves covered with stacks of maps and prints: a 1771 map of Asia, an 1868 map of France, and many maps showing the oceans, complete with decorative engravings of sailing ships being blown by good winds across the page. One had a sinking ship, as humor or fair warning, it was hard to tell. Engravings lay about on tables, images of tribal people in New Hebrides, a Hawaiian maiden depicted in the early 1800s, and many scenes of Portugal. Many of the prints were under $15, but the one I couldn’t resist cost five times that. Titled “Travelers in Portugal,” the 1810 print depicted a first class traveler carried in an enclosed wicker sedan chair by porters, with several burros and bearers in the entourage, including a priest leading the way. Dramatic mountains rose in the distance. It reminded me how much first class travel has changed. On my way to Portugal on British Airways, I had been bumped into First at the last minute, and in lieu of the sedan chair got to stretch out and wriggle around in one of the BA’s new mini-cabin flying cradles, a seat which makes into a 6’6” bed, enclosing you in your own private unit complete with personal video system with a choice of 30 movies. The attendant covers you with a cozy duvet and offers special pajamas, which you get to keep. Tucking my print under my arm, I walked just a few stores down to the Sant’Anna ceramics shops on the same street at 95-97. Tiles lined the walls, and typical Portuguese ceramic dishes were painted with mythological themes. I bought an 11- inch oval dish in blue, yellow and white with handles and painted with a hunting scene of a strange beast that looked like a mastiff with horns and a tail. Other shops in the Barrio that were fun to browse held antique crystal, body armor, fine embroidery and needlepoint carpets called Arraiolos after the village where they’re made More Food“When you visit Lisbon, you must eat garlic snails washed down with a Sagres beer,” said one cab driver. We never followed his advice, but did try other Lisbon specialties. At the XL restaurant, a hot new restaurant on Calcada Da Estrela that caters to an international crowd, we tried deep fried cheeses and mushrooms, ate sea bass, and tasted a famous Lisbon dessert, which translates to “baking from heaven,” an airy concoction of sugar and eggs. XL was named for its owner Vasco Galego, whose wife Claudia is the cook. “She’s too good!” Vasco explained, revealing that he once wore XL size but then lost almost 50 lbs for his health. A drive west along the coast took us to Cascais, an old fishing port where it is thought the real discoverers of American came from. It’s now a resort town dotted with old palaces, gardens and big homes overlooking the sea. We ate at the Hotel Albatroz, a former 19th century villa built on rocky cliffs with great views. The terrace room looks out on the water through windows framed with lush tulip fabrics. We had the fried sole with clams and rice, and more of the luscious Portuguese mountain crema cheeses. You can pack a lot into a Lisbon visit in a short time. We were only in town for three nights and two days. Thanks to its layout and good transportation, the city is easy to get around in. The next time I have a long weekend, I’m going to stop thinking about L.A. and start planning a return to Lisbon. For reservations at the Lapa Palace, call Orient Express Hotels at (800) 237-1236 or Leading Hotels of the World at (800) 233-6800, or via email at reservas@hotelapa.com or www.orient-expresshotels.com . Rates start at $200 and up per room, but are less during the off-season. British Airways serves Lisbon from several U.S. cities. For reservations call British Airways at (800) 247-9297. |
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TM
I’m a pushover for soulful music and I love to eat. Two good reasons to go to Lisbon, Portugal. But there are other reasons: whole buildings covered with dazzling blue and yellow antique tiles, trolleys suddenly appearing over the crest of a hill like wind-up toys, droll and cheerful in their yellow and orange paint—Lisbon has a lot of eye candy. 
The other prime address if you had noble blood was the Lapa Quarter west of the port, a rolling neighborhood with jewel-like palaces and flowers cascading over high walls. . Several small palaces still remain, mostly used for diplomatic purposes or as grand homes. But not all. I recently stayed in one of them, the Lapa Palace, and swept through the miles of marble in the main receiving hall, feeling like a queen. 
Fall is a good time to go as airfares are a good value and crowds are down. It’s easy to get around Lisbon by foot, van or trolley, or by cabs, which are plentiful and inexpensive. The main tourist sites are the Castelo de Sao Jorge, the ruined castle in the Alfama with a great view down over the city, the sprawling Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, or Monastery of Jeronimo, with its intricately carved Manueline exteriors with rope and shell designs and where Vasco de Gama prayed before heading out to encounter India, and the Torre de Belem, the tower of Belem, where the sailors and explorers pushed off in their ships for worlds unknown. Wandering the steep Alfama district helps you picture the city as it was 200 years ago. The buildings are close together, flowers sprout from window boxes and laundry hangs high overhead as you stroll. 
After a long night of Fado it was hard to sleep, the emotions of the songs ricocheted in the brain and it was 3 am before sleep came. At 10 am I woke with a start. My last full day in Lisbon and I’d wasted almost half of it! Looking out from my balcony at the Lapa Palace, past the rubber tree and a gurgling stream, I could see the pink and white embassies in the neighborhood that surrounded the Lapa. After a quick buffet breakfast in the patio near the gardens, I hopped into one of Lisbon’s civilized beige cabs and headed for the Barrio Alta, an old section of the city with good antique stores selling everything from 17th century azuelo tiles to simple ceramic dishes in blue and green to such items as historic body armor. You can also get there by taking the cast iron 1898 Santa Justa elevator, or by a funicular.