SUNDAY IN LISBON

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We had a full day planned, but Jerry was sleeping so soundly, I just let him sleep while I finished up yesterday’s blog. We finally got going around noon. The original plan was to go to the Museu De Berardo and the Mosteiro dos Jeromimos, then head up the hill to the Alto da Ajuda area for brunch in the Botanical gardens of Ajuda. With our late start we headed straight to brunch at Estufa Real, a converted green house in the gardens. They severe lunch every day but on Sunday’s have a brunch from noon to 4. To get there we had planned on getting on tram 18, but it does not run on Sundays, so instead we took the 760 bus which took us to the Palacio da Ajuda and then walked down to the gardens. The gardens were not on our list, but we had to walk through them to get to Estufa Real. The palacio is just above the gardens, and of course there was a peacock to rule over the gardens.

Estufa Real

Originally this was the green house for the gardens, has since been turned into an upscale restaurant for the ladies the lunch. Brunch was very elaborate, starting with a glass of champagne. We then headed to the buffet. It is unlike any buffet you will find, or at least we have found, in the United States. The spread was very typically Portuguese food and tons of seafood, several different types of prawns, not peeled of course, oysters, snails, codfish cakes, codfish in a red sauce with capers, yes there were scrambled eggs and bacons. There was also a selection of cheese both French and Portuguese. The standard cured meats and don’t even get me started on the desserts, chocolate fountain and all.

I wish I could describe all the things we ate, but all of the signs were in Portuguese and there was just so much, I can say that it is a must do if you’re in the city on a Sunday. There were next to no tourists, it was all Portuguese families, and locals.

After brunch we walked down the hill, to work off all we ate, towards the Mosteiro dos Jeromimos. The monetary was not done in the traditional style but in the Manueline style of building which is specifically Portuguese as it was developed by Joao de Castilho and named after King Dom Manuel I. The details in the design is more intricate and elaborate than gothic and is rounded like Romanesque not square as in the Gothic Style. The church is free and the double tiered cloisters are included in the Lisbon Card.

We walked to the Berardo, but Jerry did a quick look at the artists on display and we opted out and headed for an hour boat ride on the river. This was not to be, as once again the New York Times, article was dated.

Both the monastery and the light rail there and back was packed with tourists, it was hard to get on and off, in fact going we missed our stop because we could not get through the crowds on the train. Since the boat tour was a bust, we walked along the water front back to your hotel. It is a beautiful sunny day, in fact the weather for the next week is nothing but sun, of course it is since we are leaving, it appears to be cloudy in Paris at the moment. The locals were all enjoying the sun and the Sunday at various bars and beaches, (they are basically cement beaches) along the water front. When the sun is out Lisbon leaves a much better impression, but impressions will be discussed in tomorrow’s blog or perhaps on the TGV to Paris.

We are now in the room for wine-thirty and blogging. Also packing as we do leave tomorrow. Our train leaves at 9:34 at night, so we have made a massive change to our Itinerary and are spending the Day in Sintra instead of sightseeing in Lisbon. This choice was made for 2 reasons: 1) most museum in Lisbon our closed on Monday’s and 2) everyone back home says that Sintra is a must. Pedro are man at the front desk is from Sintra and gave us the prefect 1-day itinerary. Take an early train there and an evening train back.

Fado

For our last night in Lisbon, we decided to go to a Fado show. Fado is very popular all through Portugal but especially in Lisbon. There are probably over 30 Fado clubs in the city, so choosing the right one is a hard choice. Pedro recommended two, but we opted for one recommended by Fodor’s, they actually got the location correct. The place is called SrVinho, and it is supposed to be one of the best in the city. It is noted not only for the Fado but also the food. Pedro made the reservations for us last night so we were good to go???

We were going to take the 25 Tram, but evidently most trams do not run on Sundays. So we had to take a cab, which was a good thing because we could have never walked there or found the place ourselves, it also was very hilly.

I guess I should explain Fado before I go on. The problem being I am not really sure how to describe it. You could say it is Portuguese folk music with a great deal of emotion in the singing. There is one singer who stands and three (in this case) guitar players. The singing is quite intense and very emotional. Obviously we don’t really know just how emotional, as it was all in Portuguese, but there was one song that I am pretty sure was about the love of Lisbon, since they kept saying Lisboa throughout the song.

When we arrived at the Fado club we were greeted by a very smartly dressed older gentleman. In our best Portuguese, we explained Pedro had made a reservation for us the night before and gave him my name. Well, we were not on the reservation list, there was a party of two with no name, but we were nowhere to be found. This did not appear to be an issue, as they gave us basically the best seat in the house, directly facing the Fado performers. One of the reasons Jerry picked this place was because it was supposed to have the best food of all the Fado clubs, and the food was very good. The only drawback to the evening, that it was a full house and thus a lot of body heat was generated, add that to the piping hot food and it was a bit uncomfortable for me, but I guess that adds to the emotion of the Fado.

We arrived at 8:30 and promptly ordered as we knew everything would have to be served between sets. We started with a smoked ham and cheese board. In addition, they brought bread, codfish cakes, and stuffed mushrooms, all part of their couvert, which is what they always call the first items they bring you. If you don’t touch it then you’re not charged, if you do, then you pay for them. We split a salad, full of lettuce, red onions, olives, carrots and balsamic, very good balsamic. We both had the same entrée as it just sounded too good, Portuguese Steak. This is a steak, good to your temperature liking, then served with thinly cut fried potatoes and a sauce on top that was the most favorable thing I think we ate. The sauce is a mirepoix of carrots, onions, garlic, a pit of red pepper and then some how they incorporate the drippings from the steak. It is all served in one dish so some of the potatoes are crispy and some have soaked up the sauce. It was my favorite dish we had in Portugal, not that the codfish was bad.

We were fortunate because I dinner was served just before the first set, others had to wait until the break. Some of the other food we saw also looked very good. The most popular dish seemed to be whole fish served, with boiled potatoes and an assortment of steamed vegetables. The poor server had to de-tail, de-head and de-bone the fish prior to serving, one table had 10 of these orders, but he worked through it in a matter of minutes.

We stayed for two sets, as it was 11 by the time we had finished our dinner and the second set was over. The second set was better than the first, both were good, just there was more emotion in the second set, it was also a different singer. We barely got out before the third set began as it took them some time to bring us the change. Since the trams were not running, and there wasn’t a cab in sight, I turned on the google maps and we began the 1.3 mile walk back to the hotel.

Now, this was also the night the BiFica, the Lisbon professional soccer team one the titled, so as is par for the course, the town was crazy with revelers, so much so that Pedro had locked the sliding glass door so they would not come in trying to use the bathroom. Unlike U.S. revelers, they were, for the most part, calm, loud but clam. The celebration went on through the night. But this was nothing as what we would experience the next day.

We slept pretty good even with the celebration in the streets as the windows were pretty thick. It is interesting to note that we seem to have a habit of being in Europe during the finals of soccer events. During our first trip, pre-blogging days, we were in Palermo when Italy; one the semi-final round and that same trip in London when Italy in fact won the world cup. They were insane in Palermo, driving on the sidewalks and nonstop celebration until the very early hours of the morning. In London it was even worse, we weren’t even in Italy and yet the Italians pretty much took over the streets of London in celebration. On our last trip we were again in Germany during World cup playoffs. We don’t even like soccer so I don’t know how this connection always seems to happen.

Only one day life in Lisbon and that is Sintra.

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