Lazing it in Lisbon; Notes and Rambling Thoughts from and Extended Stay
Apr 14th, 2016, 07:03 AM
#41
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<b>Saturday, April 10: </b>
First order of business was to stock up on groceries for the weekend. As per the local Fodorite’s recommendation we headed to the Saturday Market in Praça Príncipe Real. And stock up we did! We also stopped by the fishmonger located in Praça da Flores and overshopped on mussels, squid (she cleaned them) and tuna (no coherent dinner plan there!). Not being satisfied with the bounty we still went to the butcher across our building and got some chicken legs. Having secured a steady supply of good meals for the days ahead, we were able to relax.
The early afternoon was spent walking around Chiado and Principe Real. Then we went back to <b>Tapas 52</b> to get DH his fix of something that he had seen on the menu but seems to be largely absent in the local menus: fried calamari.
There is something that might need to be said as it may come up in the future. We each have our own obsessions, a Food Quest that we are devoted to following. His path to Nirvana is on the Calamari Camino, while my goal is to find the Holy Grail of Croquetas.
Though he had always flirted with Calamari in their fried form ( a.k.a a la romana, a la Andaluza, or a la Española), his love affair really started in Granada over a little tapa of Sepia a la Plancha; perfectly grilled cuttlefish with just enough sear to compliment the touch of salsa verde that lightly dressed them. It was perfection and we have not been able to reproduce them at home or get them in restaurants. But we will continue The Search while sampling skid, cuttlefish, sepia, choco or chipirones that come our way.
We can talk about my croquetas later; though we had already had some at <b>Ti Camila</b>, a café in the little Praça behind the Museu do Fado. The nice waitress brought them ‘complimentarily’ after we ordered wine and olives. Their ‘homemade’ white wine was not bad at all, I took that to mean that the produce it under their own label. The croquetas were made with beef, very tasty but rather on the dry side and lacking the crunchy exterior and creamy interior that makes them so appealing to me.
So even though I had bought some whole ‘Chocos’ to make for dinner, I had no intention of frying them in a hermetically shut rental apartment and stink up the place for the next two weeks. Thus, the pilgrimage to the tapas place. I will only say that there is no need to stop in this place along the Calamari Camino. Totally bland batter, tiny portion and very overpriced at €9. Serves us right for ordering something which we knew beforehand was not a Lisbon specialty.
However, their take on Patatas Bravas was totally awesome and we both agreed that we could even go back to the place just to have them again. My only –truly nitpicking- criticism was that the potatoes were cut too small. The sauce had enough heat to make it interesting and just a hint of sweetness.
We continued our wanderings until we wound up on the way home.
I’m happy to report that MY grilled squid we had for dinner was awesome. I also made steamed mussels and sacrificed one of the squid bodies to be cut into rings and made into rice. Too bad that I didn’t get the ink sacks from the fishmonger.
<b>Sunday, April 11: </b> More Wanderings
I had planned to go to the Gulbenkian Museum but the weather was decidedly yucky, shifting from misty rain to fat-drop downpours. So we stayed put.
The only picture I have taken of this day is of the dinner I made, a mushroom ragout served with fried eggs and lentil rice. So I’m guessing that we did not do much but walk around in the afternoon and lounge around writing Trip Reports (me) and playing computer Solitaire (DH).
<b>Monday, April 12: </b> The Chicken and Fodorites
According to the Weather Channel App, we had a few hours of sunshine to the day before the forecasted afternoon downpours. We opted to skip the massive breakfast that we have been having and instead go out for lunch.
Our destination was what seems to be an obligatory Lisbon experience, eating the roasted chicken with piri piri sauce at <b>Bom Jardim</b>. To get there we walked through the pedestrian Rua das Portas de Santo Antao. This was an experience by itself with all the waiters trying to pull you into their restaurants! When the Rick Steves guidebook (Yes, I do read RS’s books, take the occasional hint from him, and have no problem admitting it) names it ‘Restaurant Row’, he wasn’t kidding. The only place I can think of where we have been as gawked-to was in Athens.
We were decidedly early at 12:10 for lunch when we arrived to our destination. Even though it was sunny, the wind was blowing and we opted to eat inside. Downstairs is smoking (Really? Still on this day and age!?!?) so we went to the upstairs dining room.
I had read so many guarded, almost cautionary, comments about the décor and service that I was really expecting a greasy spoon kind of joint and surly waiters with dirty aprons. For a moment I even wondered if we were in the right place.
Ok, I must not be going to enough Michelin starred, white tablecloth restaurants but… this place was perfectly fine. True, it is nothing fancy, just standard ‘tasca’ style dining room but it was immaculately clean and the service was efficient and attentive. I mean, certainly not the ‘Hi my name is Bambi and I’ll be your server/BFF tonight!’ type of service but the businesslike yet pleasant demeanor of professional waiters that I actually prefer.
As part of the ‘cubierto’ we were brought two codfish croquetas, bread and a few cheeses. I ate both croquetas (Grade: Adequate) but we sent the other stuff back. We ordered some wine and the food arrived 90 seconds after placing the order. This is fast food Portuguese style.
Speaking of which, so far I have seen two McDonalds, one Burger King and no other recognizable (by us) fast food chains. Maybe in suburbs? Hopefully not. There is certainly enough good and cheap food to go around. Also, if you keep walking up that Sao Antoao street past the pedestrian segment and all the way to the height of Marqués de Pombal, the food offering is very varied and the price for ‘menu del dia’ reduces by 10% every 100 meters. We saw plenty of €5 meals (1ro, 2do, sobremesa & café).
Now to the chicken. I must insert a disclaimer in here: there is good chicken to be had almost everywhere in Puerto Rico. There is even outstanding chicken to be found without difficulty. Even grocery store roasted chicken is quite decent, being very tasty and always moist inside. We are used to very good chicken.
This was a good chicken. It gets extra marks for crispy skin but loses a few points for the seasoning not really penetrating the meat itself. Without the piri piri sauce I would not have been particularly impressed. But the sauce is really good and complimented the seasoning on the chicken very well. We ordered French fries and rice as sides.
The French fries were really good, nice and crispy with barely a hint of the fresh oil they had just been cooked in. I thought there was only the ‘a la brasileira’ type of rice so I just said ‘rice’ when I ordered. I got plain rice, instead of the nice looking dirty rice everyone around us was having (it had chopped chicken livers). This was my mistake so, maybe next time I’m in the neighborhood I’ll get the chance to try it.
By 1:30pm we were done, by then the place was packed with and tourists and quite a few locals. For €29,60 total bill, it was not bad at all!
Since the sun was still shinning we decided to explore another neighborhood, the Mouraria for the afternoon. Funky, gritty, eclectic and ethnically diverse this might be the right area to head to for deals on cork-made shoes, bags and everything else. We had fun taking pictures of tiles, stonework and doors. We also went to the very lovely Igreja de São Cristovao where they had a weird installation. In the main church they projected this guy kicking around a big chunk of ice around Mexico city until it melted and then in the pitch black sacristy hall they showed something similar but with a ball of fire.
We started making our way home with a quick stop into the Madalena church, there they had an exhibit and reproduction of the Shroud of Turin.
I have been using with great success the new AT&T Wifi service that is now provided for Iphone 6 users after the latest IOS update. It enables you to use your phone –as long as you have wifi!!!- just as you would at home. This includes receiving and making phone calls or text messages. However, since I’m not always connected to wifi, I had not seen until we got ‘home’ a message from fellow Fodorite and basically neighbor, Luz de Lisboa, wanting to meet for drinks.
But a few quick messages and less than 20minutes afterward we were happily sharing a bottle of white wine in a nearby restaurant. We had a wonderful chat and I sure hope that we will repeat it before we depart Lisbon at the end of the month.
First order of business was to stock up on groceries for the weekend. As per the local Fodorite’s recommendation we headed to the Saturday Market in Praça Príncipe Real. And stock up we did! We also stopped by the fishmonger located in Praça da Flores and overshopped on mussels, squid (she cleaned them) and tuna (no coherent dinner plan there!). Not being satisfied with the bounty we still went to the butcher across our building and got some chicken legs. Having secured a steady supply of good meals for the days ahead, we were able to relax.
The early afternoon was spent walking around Chiado and Principe Real. Then we went back to <b>Tapas 52</b> to get DH his fix of something that he had seen on the menu but seems to be largely absent in the local menus: fried calamari.
There is something that might need to be said as it may come up in the future. We each have our own obsessions, a Food Quest that we are devoted to following. His path to Nirvana is on the Calamari Camino, while my goal is to find the Holy Grail of Croquetas.
Though he had always flirted with Calamari in their fried form ( a.k.a a la romana, a la Andaluza, or a la Española), his love affair really started in Granada over a little tapa of Sepia a la Plancha; perfectly grilled cuttlefish with just enough sear to compliment the touch of salsa verde that lightly dressed them. It was perfection and we have not been able to reproduce them at home or get them in restaurants. But we will continue The Search while sampling skid, cuttlefish, sepia, choco or chipirones that come our way.
We can talk about my croquetas later; though we had already had some at <b>Ti Camila</b>, a café in the little Praça behind the Museu do Fado. The nice waitress brought them ‘complimentarily’ after we ordered wine and olives. Their ‘homemade’ white wine was not bad at all, I took that to mean that the produce it under their own label. The croquetas were made with beef, very tasty but rather on the dry side and lacking the crunchy exterior and creamy interior that makes them so appealing to me.
So even though I had bought some whole ‘Chocos’ to make for dinner, I had no intention of frying them in a hermetically shut rental apartment and stink up the place for the next two weeks. Thus, the pilgrimage to the tapas place. I will only say that there is no need to stop in this place along the Calamari Camino. Totally bland batter, tiny portion and very overpriced at €9. Serves us right for ordering something which we knew beforehand was not a Lisbon specialty.
However, their take on Patatas Bravas was totally awesome and we both agreed that we could even go back to the place just to have them again. My only –truly nitpicking- criticism was that the potatoes were cut too small. The sauce had enough heat to make it interesting and just a hint of sweetness.
We continued our wanderings until we wound up on the way home.
I’m happy to report that MY grilled squid we had for dinner was awesome. I also made steamed mussels and sacrificed one of the squid bodies to be cut into rings and made into rice. Too bad that I didn’t get the ink sacks from the fishmonger.
<b>Sunday, April 11: </b> More Wanderings
I had planned to go to the Gulbenkian Museum but the weather was decidedly yucky, shifting from misty rain to fat-drop downpours. So we stayed put.
The only picture I have taken of this day is of the dinner I made, a mushroom ragout served with fried eggs and lentil rice. So I’m guessing that we did not do much but walk around in the afternoon and lounge around writing Trip Reports (me) and playing computer Solitaire (DH).
<b>Monday, April 12: </b> The Chicken and Fodorites
According to the Weather Channel App, we had a few hours of sunshine to the day before the forecasted afternoon downpours. We opted to skip the massive breakfast that we have been having and instead go out for lunch.
Our destination was what seems to be an obligatory Lisbon experience, eating the roasted chicken with piri piri sauce at <b>Bom Jardim</b>. To get there we walked through the pedestrian Rua das Portas de Santo Antao. This was an experience by itself with all the waiters trying to pull you into their restaurants! When the Rick Steves guidebook (Yes, I do read RS’s books, take the occasional hint from him, and have no problem admitting it) names it ‘Restaurant Row’, he wasn’t kidding. The only place I can think of where we have been as gawked-to was in Athens.
We were decidedly early at 12:10 for lunch when we arrived to our destination. Even though it was sunny, the wind was blowing and we opted to eat inside. Downstairs is smoking (Really? Still on this day and age!?!?) so we went to the upstairs dining room.
I had read so many guarded, almost cautionary, comments about the décor and service that I was really expecting a greasy spoon kind of joint and surly waiters with dirty aprons. For a moment I even wondered if we were in the right place.
Ok, I must not be going to enough Michelin starred, white tablecloth restaurants but… this place was perfectly fine. True, it is nothing fancy, just standard ‘tasca’ style dining room but it was immaculately clean and the service was efficient and attentive. I mean, certainly not the ‘Hi my name is Bambi and I’ll be your server/BFF tonight!’ type of service but the businesslike yet pleasant demeanor of professional waiters that I actually prefer.
As part of the ‘cubierto’ we were brought two codfish croquetas, bread and a few cheeses. I ate both croquetas (Grade: Adequate) but we sent the other stuff back. We ordered some wine and the food arrived 90 seconds after placing the order. This is fast food Portuguese style.
Speaking of which, so far I have seen two McDonalds, one Burger King and no other recognizable (by us) fast food chains. Maybe in suburbs? Hopefully not. There is certainly enough good and cheap food to go around. Also, if you keep walking up that Sao Antoao street past the pedestrian segment and all the way to the height of Marqués de Pombal, the food offering is very varied and the price for ‘menu del dia’ reduces by 10% every 100 meters. We saw plenty of €5 meals (1ro, 2do, sobremesa & café).
Now to the chicken. I must insert a disclaimer in here: there is good chicken to be had almost everywhere in Puerto Rico. There is even outstanding chicken to be found without difficulty. Even grocery store roasted chicken is quite decent, being very tasty and always moist inside. We are used to very good chicken.
This was a good chicken. It gets extra marks for crispy skin but loses a few points for the seasoning not really penetrating the meat itself. Without the piri piri sauce I would not have been particularly impressed. But the sauce is really good and complimented the seasoning on the chicken very well. We ordered French fries and rice as sides.
The French fries were really good, nice and crispy with barely a hint of the fresh oil they had just been cooked in. I thought there was only the ‘a la brasileira’ type of rice so I just said ‘rice’ when I ordered. I got plain rice, instead of the nice looking dirty rice everyone around us was having (it had chopped chicken livers). This was my mistake so, maybe next time I’m in the neighborhood I’ll get the chance to try it.
By 1:30pm we were done, by then the place was packed with and tourists and quite a few locals. For €29,60 total bill, it was not bad at all!
Since the sun was still shinning we decided to explore another neighborhood, the Mouraria for the afternoon. Funky, gritty, eclectic and ethnically diverse this might be the right area to head to for deals on cork-made shoes, bags and everything else. We had fun taking pictures of tiles, stonework and doors. We also went to the very lovely Igreja de São Cristovao where they had a weird installation. In the main church they projected this guy kicking around a big chunk of ice around Mexico city until it melted and then in the pitch black sacristy hall they showed something similar but with a ball of fire.
We started making our way home with a quick stop into the Madalena church, there they had an exhibit and reproduction of the Shroud of Turin.
I have been using with great success the new AT&T Wifi service that is now provided for Iphone 6 users after the latest IOS update. It enables you to use your phone –as long as you have wifi!!!- just as you would at home. This includes receiving and making phone calls or text messages. However, since I’m not always connected to wifi, I had not seen until we got ‘home’ a message from fellow Fodorite and basically neighbor, Luz de Lisboa, wanting to meet for drinks.
But a few quick messages and less than 20minutes afterward we were happily sharing a bottle of white wine in a nearby restaurant. We had a wonderful chat and I sure hope that we will repeat it before we depart Lisbon at the end of the month.
Apr 14th, 2016, 07:29 AM
#42
Glad Bom Jardim worked out OK. Yes, it is all about the sauce - and the skin! I've never eaten upstairs. Did not mean to imply it was a greasy spoon, just more basic than a lot of Fodorites seem to want. I've always had very good service there.
Apr 14th, 2016, 07:54 AM
#43
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Since you are staying a few more days, I take the liberty of suggesting my favorites:
- for chicken: "Cervejaria Perus", Almirante Reis 151 (metro station Arroios in Metro green line).
- real taberna (low end of price and sophistication) - "Tasca João dos Cornos", Rua Pascoal de Melo 50 (metro station Arroios in Metro green line), chicken guizzard (moelas) enough for 2 (5.20 euros). excellent Chouriço assado, other "petiscos" available, cod fish cozido or grelhado. Closed Saturdays, otherwise closes at 8pm.
- Café Império - classical atmosphere, 1950's style. My favourite dish - "bife da vazia à império com ovo", with wine, 25 euros pp. They have thematic diners (Italian, Mexican, Brazilian, etc, once a month) (metro station Alameda in Metro green line).
- Adega das Gravatas - very good portuguese food (my favorite is a combo of Açorda de Gambas first and Secretos de porco preto after). Complete meal around 20 euros pp. (it's in a totally different area of town, Carnide (read "car need").
Even if you don't have the chance to explore any of the previous, at least I thing it could be funny to google them, a plus considering the unfair weather.
- for chicken: "Cervejaria Perus", Almirante Reis 151 (metro station Arroios in Metro green line).
- real taberna (low end of price and sophistication) - "Tasca João dos Cornos", Rua Pascoal de Melo 50 (metro station Arroios in Metro green line), chicken guizzard (moelas) enough for 2 (5.20 euros). excellent Chouriço assado, other "petiscos" available, cod fish cozido or grelhado. Closed Saturdays, otherwise closes at 8pm.
- Café Império - classical atmosphere, 1950's style. My favourite dish - "bife da vazia à império com ovo", with wine, 25 euros pp. They have thematic diners (Italian, Mexican, Brazilian, etc, once a month) (metro station Alameda in Metro green line).
- Adega das Gravatas - very good portuguese food (my favorite is a combo of Açorda de Gambas first and Secretos de porco preto after). Complete meal around 20 euros pp. (it's in a totally different area of town, Carnide (read "car need").
Even if you don't have the chance to explore any of the previous, at least I thing it could be funny to google them, a plus considering the unfair weather.
Apr 14th, 2016, 08:54 AM
#44
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thurdsday, I know you never implied that, lol. But I had read reviews from others before. I was happy with the place. We will not cringe (too much) at greasy spoons if there is really good food to be had. We are flexible gluttons like that. ;-)
Lobo, we really need to do something about this weather! I bought some razor clams and dourada fillets this morning in the Ribeira market, with the intention of cooking them tonight after a brisk walk through town. But it is not really fish weather. Though I just found a recipe for cream braised bream....
Instead I'm sitting in the apartment, watching the rain from the window, sweaters on and everything, braising the ossobucco that I also bought on a whim. Maybe I'll even make potatoes au gratin. Full winter fare, lol. It never gets this cold in San Juan (or most of PR for that matter!).
Thank God it is a nice and comfortable apartment! (once you get up) We have seen a lot more of it than we intended.
If this keeps going we might just need to get some rain gear and start doing day trips anyway.
Lobo, we really need to do something about this weather! I bought some razor clams and dourada fillets this morning in the Ribeira market, with the intention of cooking them tonight after a brisk walk through town. But it is not really fish weather. Though I just found a recipe for cream braised bream....
Instead I'm sitting in the apartment, watching the rain from the window, sweaters on and everything, braising the ossobucco that I also bought on a whim. Maybe I'll even make potatoes au gratin. Full winter fare, lol. It never gets this cold in San Juan (or most of PR for that matter!).
Thank God it is a nice and comfortable apartment! (once you get up) We have seen a lot more of it than we intended.
If this keeps going we might just need to get some rain gear and start doing day trips anyway.
Apr 15th, 2016, 01:42 AM
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MmeP, in my weird mind fish is something 'light' to have on hot evenings or deep fried by the beach, though I know that there are a gazillion recipes out there for hearty fish dishes.
Bilbo, I have already unraveled a scarf and restarted knitting another, lol. This rain must not continue!
Bilbo, I have already unraveled a scarf and restarted knitting another, lol. This rain must not continue!
Apr 15th, 2016, 03:55 AM
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<b>Tuesday, April 13: </b> What Is THAT!?!?!
Weather was still not cooperating but we set out for a walk around what the phone is informing me by the tags on my pictures, was Mercês, Bica and São Paulo. I have mixed feelings about these GPS tags added to all pictures. On one hand the Big Brother feeling is a bit creepy, but on the other, it is just SO useful to know where each one was taken.
I finally gave in and started taking pictures of tilework. I had hesitated because I knew that once I started, they would just pile up. I mean, I took 27 different pictures in just a street less than 150m long. The wonders of digital photography! Takes nothing but storage space, battery charge, and then hours of editing and filing.
We keep finding our way to the Ribeira market (maybe because it is the flattest route –though certainly not the shortest- from the apartment to the Baixa). But today DH had something else in mind, he wanted to make a stop in his Calamari Camino.
So we follow the drill; hustle for seats among the throng of tourists, I get assigned the Guarding of Our Place, and DH goes in search of the place he had seen the fried calamari on the menu. Then he comes back with two glasses of white wine and the buzzer that will buzz when the order is ready. The thingie finally goes off and he goes to retrieve his treasure, while I wait. And wait. And wait some more.
Then I see him, coming back , with a decidedly sheepish smile, carrying a tray with…. WTF?!? Yeah, I did say it out loud. From a few feet away I thought it was a plate of morcillas (blood sausage), which I really like but he only tolerates and would never order them for himself. Did he get the wrong order? But no, it is not a cased sausage as the surface was not shiny or smooth. He finally sets it down on the table.
‘WTF is THAT?’ I ask. ‘Fried Calamari’ he answers. ‘The guy says there is ink in the batter.’ Ohhhh…. Out come the reading glasses, as this truly merits close inspection. I see that there are little suckers (as the ones in an octopus’ leg) molded out by batter. The only thing I could come up with was an episode of Top Chef where they had a Halloween Challenge and the goal was to make visually shocking dishes. OK, I am VERY far from squeamish, but this unequivocally looked like a plate of (there is no polite way of stepping around this without losing the intensity of the moment) poop. Yeap. With tiny strips of julienned basil over it for… aesthetical purposes!?!? Really? Now I start thinking of the digestive system of herbivores. Again, WTF? OH, I have neglected to add that there was a little brownish and thin sauce on the bottom of the plate. Seriously?!?!?
So we both sit there looking out our plate of poop, feeling the collective horror of the diners sitting around us, and we burst out laughing. We bravely take our knives and forks and cut into one of the –ahem- segments. The flesh of the cuttlefish is pristine white inside! Ok, this begins to be recognizable. The bodies are cut into strips, not rings, thus the elongated pieces. We think for a moment of Andrew Zimmerman and his Bizarre Foods, hope for the best, and finally take our bites… It was delicious.
The black batter was tasty and perfectly fried to crispy. The calamari inside was tender and very well seasoned. The brown sauce was a tangy / vinegary, cutting through the richness of the batter. We both agreed that we would even be willing to have it again. This one certainly made it into the Calamari Camino Hall of Fame. If only for the shock factor.
We lingered for a second round of white wines while striking up conversation with a family group sitting across from us. They had quite the interesting composition: Korean born brother and sister, he is married to a Japanese American woman and live in Southern California, she is married to a Swiss guy from Zurich and they live in the Algarve. It took all of two minutes of conversation to get into the Puerto Rico Financial Crisis. Oy!
The rain held almost long enough to get home, we only got drenched in the last 2 minutes. Dinner was very plain and highly recognizable chicken legs with asparagus and carrots. We had had enough shock for one day.
Weather was still not cooperating but we set out for a walk around what the phone is informing me by the tags on my pictures, was Mercês, Bica and São Paulo. I have mixed feelings about these GPS tags added to all pictures. On one hand the Big Brother feeling is a bit creepy, but on the other, it is just SO useful to know where each one was taken.
I finally gave in and started taking pictures of tilework. I had hesitated because I knew that once I started, they would just pile up. I mean, I took 27 different pictures in just a street less than 150m long. The wonders of digital photography! Takes nothing but storage space, battery charge, and then hours of editing and filing.
We keep finding our way to the Ribeira market (maybe because it is the flattest route –though certainly not the shortest- from the apartment to the Baixa). But today DH had something else in mind, he wanted to make a stop in his Calamari Camino.
So we follow the drill; hustle for seats among the throng of tourists, I get assigned the Guarding of Our Place, and DH goes in search of the place he had seen the fried calamari on the menu. Then he comes back with two glasses of white wine and the buzzer that will buzz when the order is ready. The thingie finally goes off and he goes to retrieve his treasure, while I wait. And wait. And wait some more.
Then I see him, coming back , with a decidedly sheepish smile, carrying a tray with…. WTF?!? Yeah, I did say it out loud. From a few feet away I thought it was a plate of morcillas (blood sausage), which I really like but he only tolerates and would never order them for himself. Did he get the wrong order? But no, it is not a cased sausage as the surface was not shiny or smooth. He finally sets it down on the table.
‘WTF is THAT?’ I ask. ‘Fried Calamari’ he answers. ‘The guy says there is ink in the batter.’ Ohhhh…. Out come the reading glasses, as this truly merits close inspection. I see that there are little suckers (as the ones in an octopus’ leg) molded out by batter. The only thing I could come up with was an episode of Top Chef where they had a Halloween Challenge and the goal was to make visually shocking dishes. OK, I am VERY far from squeamish, but this unequivocally looked like a plate of (there is no polite way of stepping around this without losing the intensity of the moment) poop. Yeap. With tiny strips of julienned basil over it for… aesthetical purposes!?!? Really? Now I start thinking of the digestive system of herbivores. Again, WTF? OH, I have neglected to add that there was a little brownish and thin sauce on the bottom of the plate. Seriously?!?!?
So we both sit there looking out our plate of poop, feeling the collective horror of the diners sitting around us, and we burst out laughing. We bravely take our knives and forks and cut into one of the –ahem- segments. The flesh of the cuttlefish is pristine white inside! Ok, this begins to be recognizable. The bodies are cut into strips, not rings, thus the elongated pieces. We think for a moment of Andrew Zimmerman and his Bizarre Foods, hope for the best, and finally take our bites… It was delicious.
The black batter was tasty and perfectly fried to crispy. The calamari inside was tender and very well seasoned. The brown sauce was a tangy / vinegary, cutting through the richness of the batter. We both agreed that we would even be willing to have it again. This one certainly made it into the Calamari Camino Hall of Fame. If only for the shock factor.
We lingered for a second round of white wines while striking up conversation with a family group sitting across from us. They had quite the interesting composition: Korean born brother and sister, he is married to a Japanese American woman and live in Southern California, she is married to a Swiss guy from Zurich and they live in the Algarve. It took all of two minutes of conversation to get into the Puerto Rico Financial Crisis. Oy!
The rain held almost long enough to get home, we only got drenched in the last 2 minutes. Dinner was very plain and highly recognizable chicken legs with asparagus and carrots. We had had enough shock for one day.
Apr 15th, 2016, 04:33 AM
#50
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Dear Marigross:
I have 2 suggestions for the intervals between your knitting activities.
The 1st is an album of 90 photos aged 60 years on average. Most of the photos were taken in places you are familiar with. Try to spot the differences between then and now. My comment is that once the cars were much more the owners of the public space than now.
http://observador.pt/2016/04/13/um-p...lisboa-antiga/
The 2nd is the best kept secret of Lisbon. Is a huge green house with exotic botanical species from all over the world. It's nice, relaxing and hopefuly doesn't rain inside
http://lisboacool.com/en/visit/estuf...-since-forever
I have 2 suggestions for the intervals between your knitting activities.
The 1st is an album of 90 photos aged 60 years on average. Most of the photos were taken in places you are familiar with. Try to spot the differences between then and now. My comment is that once the cars were much more the owners of the public space than now.
http://observador.pt/2016/04/13/um-p...lisboa-antiga/
The 2nd is the best kept secret of Lisbon. Is a huge green house with exotic botanical species from all over the world. It's nice, relaxing and hopefuly doesn't rain inside
http://lisboacool.com/en/visit/estuf...-since-forever
Apr 15th, 2016, 05:52 AM
#52
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<b>Wednesday, April 14: </b> The German Invasion and a Very Different Church
According to the Weather Channel, we would have a few hours of sun this day. We headed out in a different direction to explore new neighborhoods. First up Principe Real and then further up to Rato, making our way down to Marquês de Pombal and on to the other side. We basically just wandered the residential streets, taking pictures and looking into menus (this is a hobby of ours).
I mentioned before that if you keep walking from the Baixa up Sao Antoao street past the pedestrian segment and all the way to the height of Marqués de Pombal, the food offering turns from Standard Tourist Fare to Real Food. Downtown they had been apparently absent but in this area the ‘menu del dia’ are abundant and you can pick and choose between many restaurants offering €5 meals with 1ro, 2do, sobremesa & café.
We were still full from our brunch at home but we were beginning to get thirsty. We start looking for a place to drop down for a while and watch the world go by. Except all the cafés were full to the brim and the World that day seemed to be composed of the devoted fans of the Bayern football club, all dressed in red jerseys and quite a few wearing lederhosen. In the evening the Bayern would play Benfica in the Lisbon stadium and apparently every single airplane in Munich and the rest of Bavaria had been chartered to bring the fans in.
As to be expected anywhere that large amounts of Germans (well, or any kind of football fans for that matter) gather, lots of beer had been steadily consumed since early in the morning. From one end of the Praça de Rossio to the other, animated singing of what I assume are club anthems and Bavarian odes to the Fatherland was taking place under the watchful eye of a respectable portion of the Lisbon police force.
The outside of Pasteleria Suiça was one red and white mass of inebriated Germans. Now, don’t take me wrong, I’m not being (too) judgmental here. This type of gathering can be fun, but mostly when one is part of the inebriated crowd. And we were dead sober at that point, so no. Not in the mood. We start heading for the backstreets and suddenly I spy that the door to the church in the small Praça was open, of course we make a beeline for it.
The exterior is as about as lackluster as churches come, but once you pass the threshold… WOW.
The first sight of the interior of <b>Igreja de São Domingo</b> took my breath away. It was beautiful and impressive in a creepy sort of way. Raw was the adjective that came to mind. We were –both- completely awed into silence.
I suddenly found myself remembering one of the creepiest places that I have even been to, the basilica in the Valle de los Caídos in Spain, with its theatrical lighting and massive Fascist Propaganda meets Modernist Architecture style. Now, this has nothing to do with the church’s actual architecture –I’ll get to that in a moment- but all about the overwhelming feeling of Space. The air itself acts as an architectural feature.
Places like this must have been the inspiration for the stage settings of Batman’s Gotham, or maybe even post apocalyptic movies… Planet of the Apes (The Charlton Heston one, of course!) with the toppled Lady Liberty scene at the end came to mind.
I did not have any guidebooks with me, not that they would have helped as this church is not even mentioned in any of the three I have with me (Rick Steves’, Michelin Green Guide and Rough Guide). So I was having a hard time even comprehending what I was seeing. This can actually be a Very Good Thing, as it frees your mind to actually observe without rational pre-digested information.
I just looked and wondered, what had happened to this place? My theory at the time –though proven incorrect afterwards with a quick Wiki check - was that it had had its roof collapse in the 1775 (up to here it was true) and that it had been exposed to the elements until a recent restoration, leaving it with its weathered, almost inside-out interior. But it would take a deluge of acid rain to damage the interior so much in just two centuries… It did not add up. Did something Bad happen in here? Did it get bombed?
What actually happened was that it was severely damaged in a fire in the 1950’s. The subsequent restoration opted to rebuild the roof with very minimalistic half-cannon vaulting and ribbing, and leave many of the signs of raging fire in place. What you see are the actual remains of the scorched walls.
This church stands naked and proud in front you. Stripped of its former glories, when Royal Weddings took place and Kings were buried in its hallowed ground. You can just feel the passage of Time.
The size of the church is quite impressive, but the oddly terracotta-colored ceiling makes it so dramatically different to other churches that it almost humanizes the scale. The sculptures in the small chapels and the altar contrast against the plainness of smoky gray walls.
Okay, I’ll shut up now. I could go about it for ages. Go see it. Maybe it does the same thing for you as it did for us.
We were back out in the World and with all the footballers around we gave up on trying to find a place for a drink around. Surprisingly, we managed to find an open table at <b>Café A Brasileira</b> where we proceeded to wait at least 20 minutes for a waiter to take our order while watching two girls perform a belly dance show. When the waiter finally showed up he informed us that they do not serve wine by the glass, only by the bottle. This would not have been a problem for us but the wind was picking up and we did know if we wanted to seat outside that long. So we had beers instead.
We made it home with just about two minutes to spare before the downpour started.
According to the Weather Channel, we would have a few hours of sun this day. We headed out in a different direction to explore new neighborhoods. First up Principe Real and then further up to Rato, making our way down to Marquês de Pombal and on to the other side. We basically just wandered the residential streets, taking pictures and looking into menus (this is a hobby of ours).
I mentioned before that if you keep walking from the Baixa up Sao Antoao street past the pedestrian segment and all the way to the height of Marqués de Pombal, the food offering turns from Standard Tourist Fare to Real Food. Downtown they had been apparently absent but in this area the ‘menu del dia’ are abundant and you can pick and choose between many restaurants offering €5 meals with 1ro, 2do, sobremesa & café.
We were still full from our brunch at home but we were beginning to get thirsty. We start looking for a place to drop down for a while and watch the world go by. Except all the cafés were full to the brim and the World that day seemed to be composed of the devoted fans of the Bayern football club, all dressed in red jerseys and quite a few wearing lederhosen. In the evening the Bayern would play Benfica in the Lisbon stadium and apparently every single airplane in Munich and the rest of Bavaria had been chartered to bring the fans in.
As to be expected anywhere that large amounts of Germans (well, or any kind of football fans for that matter) gather, lots of beer had been steadily consumed since early in the morning. From one end of the Praça de Rossio to the other, animated singing of what I assume are club anthems and Bavarian odes to the Fatherland was taking place under the watchful eye of a respectable portion of the Lisbon police force.
The outside of Pasteleria Suiça was one red and white mass of inebriated Germans. Now, don’t take me wrong, I’m not being (too) judgmental here. This type of gathering can be fun, but mostly when one is part of the inebriated crowd. And we were dead sober at that point, so no. Not in the mood. We start heading for the backstreets and suddenly I spy that the door to the church in the small Praça was open, of course we make a beeline for it.
The exterior is as about as lackluster as churches come, but once you pass the threshold… WOW.
The first sight of the interior of <b>Igreja de São Domingo</b> took my breath away. It was beautiful and impressive in a creepy sort of way. Raw was the adjective that came to mind. We were –both- completely awed into silence.
I suddenly found myself remembering one of the creepiest places that I have even been to, the basilica in the Valle de los Caídos in Spain, with its theatrical lighting and massive Fascist Propaganda meets Modernist Architecture style. Now, this has nothing to do with the church’s actual architecture –I’ll get to that in a moment- but all about the overwhelming feeling of Space. The air itself acts as an architectural feature.
Places like this must have been the inspiration for the stage settings of Batman’s Gotham, or maybe even post apocalyptic movies… Planet of the Apes (The Charlton Heston one, of course!) with the toppled Lady Liberty scene at the end came to mind.
I did not have any guidebooks with me, not that they would have helped as this church is not even mentioned in any of the three I have with me (Rick Steves’, Michelin Green Guide and Rough Guide). So I was having a hard time even comprehending what I was seeing. This can actually be a Very Good Thing, as it frees your mind to actually observe without rational pre-digested information.
I just looked and wondered, what had happened to this place? My theory at the time –though proven incorrect afterwards with a quick Wiki check - was that it had had its roof collapse in the 1775 (up to here it was true) and that it had been exposed to the elements until a recent restoration, leaving it with its weathered, almost inside-out interior. But it would take a deluge of acid rain to damage the interior so much in just two centuries… It did not add up. Did something Bad happen in here? Did it get bombed?
What actually happened was that it was severely damaged in a fire in the 1950’s. The subsequent restoration opted to rebuild the roof with very minimalistic half-cannon vaulting and ribbing, and leave many of the signs of raging fire in place. What you see are the actual remains of the scorched walls.
This church stands naked and proud in front you. Stripped of its former glories, when Royal Weddings took place and Kings were buried in its hallowed ground. You can just feel the passage of Time.
The size of the church is quite impressive, but the oddly terracotta-colored ceiling makes it so dramatically different to other churches that it almost humanizes the scale. The sculptures in the small chapels and the altar contrast against the plainness of smoky gray walls.
Okay, I’ll shut up now. I could go about it for ages. Go see it. Maybe it does the same thing for you as it did for us.
We were back out in the World and with all the footballers around we gave up on trying to find a place for a drink around. Surprisingly, we managed to find an open table at <b>Café A Brasileira</b> where we proceeded to wait at least 20 minutes for a waiter to take our order while watching two girls perform a belly dance show. When the waiter finally showed up he informed us that they do not serve wine by the glass, only by the bottle. This would not have been a problem for us but the wind was picking up and we did know if we wanted to seat outside that long. So we had beers instead.
We made it home with just about two minutes to spare before the downpour started.
Apr 15th, 2016, 11:03 AM
#54
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Thanks for your report. I always like visiting Lisbon and Portugal because I love ceramic tiles. Nothing like a entire church or wall tiled from floor to ceiling. Of course, I love the south of Spain too.
Apr 15th, 2016, 09:15 PM
#55
Marigross, I agree with you about 'fish weather', but we have long, hot summers, so lightly cooked fish and salad is very common in Australia, and not so much the comfort food meals you'd expect in cold weather.
That calamari dish sounds like it took some courage.
That calamari dish sounds like it took some courage.
Apr 19th, 2016, 03:54 AM
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<b>Thursday, April 15: </b> Food Shopping
We really needed to stock up on a few things, as in there is NOTHING to be had for dinner except reservations if we don’t go shopping. Rain was not exactly imminent so we decide to go down to the Ribeira market and see what ‘real’ food they had.
I might sound a bit disappointed, but this needs to be qualified and put in perspective. Our last extended stay was in Valencia, Spain. We were able to get an apartment in the Ruzafa area, 25m away from a World Class food market. Valencia is known as the garden of Spain (‘Horta’) so the produce selection was beyond belief. The Ribeira market was not as abundant, but still had a lot more stuff than we are able to get back home. We got dourada fillets, razor clams, osso bucco (he said it was veal, but I think it was old cow, lol) and a <i>Borrego</i> (lamb) ‘paletilla’ as our proteins and some nice veggies to go along with them.
It was still early and most of the restaurants in the market were still closed so we opted for soups among the limited options. Caldo Verde for me and Sopa de Pedra for DH. Sadly they were barely lukewarm. The caldo verde was made vegetarian and the chouriço added upon request, naturally this process will not impart the flavor of the sausage to the soup. So no big recommendation from us for the soup stand.
We returned home with our bounty and hunkered down for the rest of the rainy afternoon. The ossobuco was splendid and went great with the incessant rain and distant thunder.
<b>Friday, April 16: </b> The Deluge Continues
We did not go out at all. Stayed cozy inside, portable heater moving along with us from room to room. Despite the cold weather we made the dourada fillets and gluttoned ourselves out with razor clams. I began to fear that we will not see much of Lisbon after all if the yuckiness continues.
<b>Saturday, April 17: </b> We Need To Get Out
‘Enough!’ I said. ‘We need to start doing things even though the weather is not good!’ This was declared from bed before the blackout shutters were lifted to reveal…. Not Completely Awful Weather. Ok! Let’s do this. I debated where to go over coffee. It was Saturday, not optimal for Belém where weekend crowds are notorious and should be even worse given that this was the first weather break in days. Cascais? Estoril? Hummm. But I had started the morning with a will to live dangerously: Belém it was.
We (well, Me) screwed up a bit with the transportation part as we took Tram 28 from San Bento to Praça de Comercio and then took Tram 15 to Belém when we should just have walked to Cais de Sodré and picked Tram 15 directly from there. Oh well, we were not in a hurry.
On the other hand, the good part about this was that we were already <i>inside</i> the tram when people started ‘sardineying’ into it by the Cais de Sodré stop. By the time we got to Belem, we were tightly packed. However, this would pale in comparison to the retun trip….
There are two stops to Belém, the first one is ‘Belem’ and the second is ‘Mosterio’, we wanted the second one and almost missed it because the conductor did not stop in the first one. Only when the car started emptying and we were able to see outside did we realize that we needed to scramble out.
I will not go into a long winded description of what is a trip-destination worthy site. Or at least I will try not to. The <b>Mosteiro dos Jerónimos</b> is a masterpiece of architecture. The Manueline style is known for the heavy use of decoration, but here it is combined with such airy and perfectly proportioned lines that the overall effect is incredibly elegant. I gawked at the outside for a while.
Entrance to the church is free (access limited during mass) but tickets are required for the cloister. We, very wisely, opted to get the tickets first as the line had maybe 50 people in front of us (11:15am) but by the time we got the tickets, the queue was at least 3 times as long. We bought the combined ticket with the Torre de Belem (more on that later too).
<b>The Cloister</b>… WOW! Such amplitude and height. The halls are wide, airy, and full of light. The Nautical motifs dominate the decoration, even the stonework on the ogival arcades is made to look like rope. Matter of fact, it is so ample that the intimacy of my favorite cloisters is on the verge of being lost.
Entering the church through the <b>Coro Alto</b> first was, by chance, the best way to be introduced to this wondrous space. At this height one can really see the size and scale of the soaring columns, almost flowering into palm fronds, decorated with carvings all the way to the vaulting.
There is a very interesting exhibit that has an extensive pictorial timeline combining the history of the World, the events related to the monastery and the history of Portugal itself. Overall we spent close to two hours in the cloister. This might be way too much time for most people, but I absolutely loved it.
The church proper was a beauty too! I must say that it never really felt crowded in either the cloister or church.
Our next stop was the <b>Perdrão dos Descobrimentos</b>, reached via an underpass across from the park. We were rapidly losing sunshine and opted not to go up (and there was a long line too!) and head straight to the tower. In hindsight, I thing I would have preferred to go up in the monument as –I think!- it would have had great views over the monastery itself. You know, 20/20 hindsight.
The <b>Torre de Belém</b> is a thing of beauty. Sitting majestically over the river, its graceful lines not hiding entirely the fact that this was a fortification. We smugly bypassed the (long!) line as we had bought combined tickets, and entered the little castle. We went into the dungeon and up to the little rampart/terrace only to find that there was another queue to actually climb to the top.
People are let into the tower in groups of 120. So we were standing out there a good 20 minutes before the line even started to move. We went in, only to find even more queuing. We missed getting into the next group by 8 persons. Another 20 minutes, but at least we were out of the wind which was really picking up. Finally the light goes green (literally) and we could go up.
This might not be for everyone, especially if claustrophobic. You must go up to the top via a corkscrew (spiral is too wide of a description, lol!) staircase, your face to the butt of the person ahead of you, and you need to do it in one shot. No space to step aside and take a few minutes to breath as the staff is blocking the two open spaces; if someone stops the entire line stops as well as there is no space to bypass. No pressure, riiiiight!
The view from the top must have been impressive on a clear day but the truth is that it was rather disappointing as the clouds had returned in full, and you cannot see the monastery from there. So, in a nutshell, in my perfect trip redo scenario I would have admired the tower from the outside and skipped the climb.
But it was not the last of the disappointments of the day….
There was one more thing I wanted to do before heading back, of course. We made a beeline through the park to the <b>Casa Pasteis de Belém</b>. There was a huge line in front but I remained confident as I was armed with the collective knowledge of Fodor’s. We found the door leading to the inside, and found the bar area to be completely full. Still, no problem, ‘we can go to the table service area’ (yeah, the one with the signs stating that there are 400 seating spaces). There were at least 50 persons in THAT queue. ‘I’m not making that line.’ DH stated in no uncertain terms. I had already made him climb up the tower, he had put up with my cloister gawking…. We left. Without trying the pasteis. Not a happy camper. Should have gotten them in the morning when we arrived. Again, 20/20 hindsight.
So I dejectedly, and somewhat pouting, drag my feet across the street to the tram stop. Along with at least 100 other persons with whom we were going just about to get very acquainted with. To say that this was a full-body contact experience is an understatement. It looked like those you tube videos of the subway in Japan where they forcibly push the people into the cars. I mean, there was not even space for the pickpockets to make an appearance (there are signs all over the tram cars warning the people to be aware) though a few suspects seemed to be scouting prospectively.
It was a very long short ride.
We had to fight our way out to be able to extricate ourselves from the tram at the Cais de Sodré stop. From there we plodded straight into the Ribeira market for a desperately needed restorative glass of wine.
Dinner was leg of lamb and roasted potatoes with carrots. And more wine. Lots of it.
We really needed to stock up on a few things, as in there is NOTHING to be had for dinner except reservations if we don’t go shopping. Rain was not exactly imminent so we decide to go down to the Ribeira market and see what ‘real’ food they had.
I might sound a bit disappointed, but this needs to be qualified and put in perspective. Our last extended stay was in Valencia, Spain. We were able to get an apartment in the Ruzafa area, 25m away from a World Class food market. Valencia is known as the garden of Spain (‘Horta’) so the produce selection was beyond belief. The Ribeira market was not as abundant, but still had a lot more stuff than we are able to get back home. We got dourada fillets, razor clams, osso bucco (he said it was veal, but I think it was old cow, lol) and a <i>Borrego</i> (lamb) ‘paletilla’ as our proteins and some nice veggies to go along with them.
It was still early and most of the restaurants in the market were still closed so we opted for soups among the limited options. Caldo Verde for me and Sopa de Pedra for DH. Sadly they were barely lukewarm. The caldo verde was made vegetarian and the chouriço added upon request, naturally this process will not impart the flavor of the sausage to the soup. So no big recommendation from us for the soup stand.
We returned home with our bounty and hunkered down for the rest of the rainy afternoon. The ossobuco was splendid and went great with the incessant rain and distant thunder.
<b>Friday, April 16: </b> The Deluge Continues
We did not go out at all. Stayed cozy inside, portable heater moving along with us from room to room. Despite the cold weather we made the dourada fillets and gluttoned ourselves out with razor clams. I began to fear that we will not see much of Lisbon after all if the yuckiness continues.
<b>Saturday, April 17: </b> We Need To Get Out
‘Enough!’ I said. ‘We need to start doing things even though the weather is not good!’ This was declared from bed before the blackout shutters were lifted to reveal…. Not Completely Awful Weather. Ok! Let’s do this. I debated where to go over coffee. It was Saturday, not optimal for Belém where weekend crowds are notorious and should be even worse given that this was the first weather break in days. Cascais? Estoril? Hummm. But I had started the morning with a will to live dangerously: Belém it was.
We (well, Me) screwed up a bit with the transportation part as we took Tram 28 from San Bento to Praça de Comercio and then took Tram 15 to Belém when we should just have walked to Cais de Sodré and picked Tram 15 directly from there. Oh well, we were not in a hurry.
On the other hand, the good part about this was that we were already <i>inside</i> the tram when people started ‘sardineying’ into it by the Cais de Sodré stop. By the time we got to Belem, we were tightly packed. However, this would pale in comparison to the retun trip….
There are two stops to Belém, the first one is ‘Belem’ and the second is ‘Mosterio’, we wanted the second one and almost missed it because the conductor did not stop in the first one. Only when the car started emptying and we were able to see outside did we realize that we needed to scramble out.
I will not go into a long winded description of what is a trip-destination worthy site. Or at least I will try not to. The <b>Mosteiro dos Jerónimos</b> is a masterpiece of architecture. The Manueline style is known for the heavy use of decoration, but here it is combined with such airy and perfectly proportioned lines that the overall effect is incredibly elegant. I gawked at the outside for a while.
Entrance to the church is free (access limited during mass) but tickets are required for the cloister. We, very wisely, opted to get the tickets first as the line had maybe 50 people in front of us (11:15am) but by the time we got the tickets, the queue was at least 3 times as long. We bought the combined ticket with the Torre de Belem (more on that later too).
<b>The Cloister</b>… WOW! Such amplitude and height. The halls are wide, airy, and full of light. The Nautical motifs dominate the decoration, even the stonework on the ogival arcades is made to look like rope. Matter of fact, it is so ample that the intimacy of my favorite cloisters is on the verge of being lost.
Entering the church through the <b>Coro Alto</b> first was, by chance, the best way to be introduced to this wondrous space. At this height one can really see the size and scale of the soaring columns, almost flowering into palm fronds, decorated with carvings all the way to the vaulting.
There is a very interesting exhibit that has an extensive pictorial timeline combining the history of the World, the events related to the monastery and the history of Portugal itself. Overall we spent close to two hours in the cloister. This might be way too much time for most people, but I absolutely loved it.
The church proper was a beauty too! I must say that it never really felt crowded in either the cloister or church.
Our next stop was the <b>Perdrão dos Descobrimentos</b>, reached via an underpass across from the park. We were rapidly losing sunshine and opted not to go up (and there was a long line too!) and head straight to the tower. In hindsight, I thing I would have preferred to go up in the monument as –I think!- it would have had great views over the monastery itself. You know, 20/20 hindsight.
The <b>Torre de Belém</b> is a thing of beauty. Sitting majestically over the river, its graceful lines not hiding entirely the fact that this was a fortification. We smugly bypassed the (long!) line as we had bought combined tickets, and entered the little castle. We went into the dungeon and up to the little rampart/terrace only to find that there was another queue to actually climb to the top.
People are let into the tower in groups of 120. So we were standing out there a good 20 minutes before the line even started to move. We went in, only to find even more queuing. We missed getting into the next group by 8 persons. Another 20 minutes, but at least we were out of the wind which was really picking up. Finally the light goes green (literally) and we could go up.
This might not be for everyone, especially if claustrophobic. You must go up to the top via a corkscrew (spiral is too wide of a description, lol!) staircase, your face to the butt of the person ahead of you, and you need to do it in one shot. No space to step aside and take a few minutes to breath as the staff is blocking the two open spaces; if someone stops the entire line stops as well as there is no space to bypass. No pressure, riiiiight!
The view from the top must have been impressive on a clear day but the truth is that it was rather disappointing as the clouds had returned in full, and you cannot see the monastery from there. So, in a nutshell, in my perfect trip redo scenario I would have admired the tower from the outside and skipped the climb.
But it was not the last of the disappointments of the day….
There was one more thing I wanted to do before heading back, of course. We made a beeline through the park to the <b>Casa Pasteis de Belém</b>. There was a huge line in front but I remained confident as I was armed with the collective knowledge of Fodor’s. We found the door leading to the inside, and found the bar area to be completely full. Still, no problem, ‘we can go to the table service area’ (yeah, the one with the signs stating that there are 400 seating spaces). There were at least 50 persons in THAT queue. ‘I’m not making that line.’ DH stated in no uncertain terms. I had already made him climb up the tower, he had put up with my cloister gawking…. We left. Without trying the pasteis. Not a happy camper. Should have gotten them in the morning when we arrived. Again, 20/20 hindsight.
So I dejectedly, and somewhat pouting, drag my feet across the street to the tram stop. Along with at least 100 other persons with whom we were going just about to get very acquainted with. To say that this was a full-body contact experience is an understatement. It looked like those you tube videos of the subway in Japan where they forcibly push the people into the cars. I mean, there was not even space for the pickpockets to make an appearance (there are signs all over the tram cars warning the people to be aware) though a few suspects seemed to be scouting prospectively.
It was a very long short ride.
We had to fight our way out to be able to extricate ourselves from the tram at the Cais de Sodré stop. From there we plodded straight into the Ribeira market for a desperately needed restorative glass of wine.
Dinner was leg of lamb and roasted potatoes with carrots. And more wine. Lots of it.
Apr 19th, 2016, 05:06 AM
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<b>Sunday, April 18: </b> Just the Right Amount of Art
One of the possibilities we had thrown around for the day was going to the Gulbenkian museum, which is free on Sundays. Waiving entrance fees is something that always perks DH’s interest. He voted ‘yay’. The next decision we needed to make was how to actually get there. We do not have a convenient metro stop (read that as without climbing uphill). We could take a bus almost in front of the apartment house but that only goes to Rato. But Rato is on the yellow metro line, so we would still need to change by Pombal. Maybe just get a taxi as has been suggested 10000 times over…. ‘It’s so nice outside, why don’t we just start walking and see how far we get?’ DH said, admiring the beautiful clear sky from our window.
So we go up to Rato on foot and then continue on foot all the way up the Eduardo VII park where we joined dozens of Lisbonites (?) and tourist enjoying a day in the sun. We thought of visiting the greenhouses but the day was so nice that we decided to leave that for another yucky day. The view from the top of the hill by the fountain is worth the steady climb, Lisbon lies at your feet sprawling into the river.
We eventually found our way to the museum from the wrong side, via the garden and through the adjoining music hall. The <b>Museu Gulbenkian</b> showcases the private collection of oil Tycoon Calauste Gulbenkian. I find these individual compilations somewhat mind boggling, that a single person (well…in the persona of a corporation) can own so much tangible wealth in the form of art in the modern era is… just plain weird and not quite <i>right</i>. It also somewhat brings what a fortune really is into human scale.
Anyway, this is one of the most visitor-friendly art museums I have been. It flows seamlessly from room to room and subject matter. The collection is varied and interesting enough to be enjoyed by casual admirers of Art (such as DH, that just resigns himself to following me around on most of my museum marathon visits). He even exclaimed ‘Is that it? No more?’ when we had finished the tour; the highest compliment he can pay.
Of special interest were the textiles and tiles, some of the paintings, a particularly breathtaking Rodin sculpture and the Lalique room. I just loved this ‘little’ museum.
We wandered the backstreets somewhat parallel to the Avenida Liberdade and found ourselves attracted to a small but tightly packed restaurant; the kind with zero ambiance and the TV set on the soccer match. The daily menu offered enticing options so we decided to go in. <b>O Cantinho de S. José</b> will live forever in our memories as one of the best cheapest meals. We ordered the <i>Cocido Portuguese</i> and a <i>Arroz con Polvo</i>.
The cocido was outstanding! This is not a dish for chicken-breast kind of people! It has trotters, pork belly, tongue (I think), morcilla (blood sausage) and farinata (fat and flour sausage). These are boiled with white beans, cabbage and potatoes and served over rice and some of the resulting broth. It is quite hearty and very tasty.
The other dish was octopus cooked in a very soupy rice. I expected a drier or at least a creamier consistency, but it was still very good. It was closer to a Puertorican <i>asopao</i> soup than to a paella/dirty rice style dish. The octopus was very tender but the flavor of the rice did not stand up in comparison with the cocido. It was way too much food, even the cocido by itself would have been more than enough for both of us. Thankfully we had declined bread, cheese and butter so were able to soldier through most of it. With a bottle of wine and two coffees the bill came to an almost ridiculous €21.30.
Satisfied with a remarkable meal we rolled down Rua de São José into the gloriously sunny, bright blue skied afternoon. We managed –after some jostling- to snag an outside table at <b>Pasteleira Suiça</b>, ordered two white wines and settled to observe the Progress of The World. When the glasses ran empty, DH just said ‘maybe we should have ordered the bottle…’ I will only add that even at that point, we should have STILL ordered the bottle. We did not get up from the table until sundown. It was heavenly. Bill was €18,40 for 8 glasses of a delightfully light and ever so slightly fizzy Vinho Verde.
Yeah, we are digging Lisbon in the Sun.
One of the possibilities we had thrown around for the day was going to the Gulbenkian museum, which is free on Sundays. Waiving entrance fees is something that always perks DH’s interest. He voted ‘yay’. The next decision we needed to make was how to actually get there. We do not have a convenient metro stop (read that as without climbing uphill). We could take a bus almost in front of the apartment house but that only goes to Rato. But Rato is on the yellow metro line, so we would still need to change by Pombal. Maybe just get a taxi as has been suggested 10000 times over…. ‘It’s so nice outside, why don’t we just start walking and see how far we get?’ DH said, admiring the beautiful clear sky from our window.
So we go up to Rato on foot and then continue on foot all the way up the Eduardo VII park where we joined dozens of Lisbonites (?) and tourist enjoying a day in the sun. We thought of visiting the greenhouses but the day was so nice that we decided to leave that for another yucky day. The view from the top of the hill by the fountain is worth the steady climb, Lisbon lies at your feet sprawling into the river.
We eventually found our way to the museum from the wrong side, via the garden and through the adjoining music hall. The <b>Museu Gulbenkian</b> showcases the private collection of oil Tycoon Calauste Gulbenkian. I find these individual compilations somewhat mind boggling, that a single person (well…in the persona of a corporation) can own so much tangible wealth in the form of art in the modern era is… just plain weird and not quite <i>right</i>. It also somewhat brings what a fortune really is into human scale.
Anyway, this is one of the most visitor-friendly art museums I have been. It flows seamlessly from room to room and subject matter. The collection is varied and interesting enough to be enjoyed by casual admirers of Art (such as DH, that just resigns himself to following me around on most of my museum marathon visits). He even exclaimed ‘Is that it? No more?’ when we had finished the tour; the highest compliment he can pay.
Of special interest were the textiles and tiles, some of the paintings, a particularly breathtaking Rodin sculpture and the Lalique room. I just loved this ‘little’ museum.
We wandered the backstreets somewhat parallel to the Avenida Liberdade and found ourselves attracted to a small but tightly packed restaurant; the kind with zero ambiance and the TV set on the soccer match. The daily menu offered enticing options so we decided to go in. <b>O Cantinho de S. José</b> will live forever in our memories as one of the best cheapest meals. We ordered the <i>Cocido Portuguese</i> and a <i>Arroz con Polvo</i>.
The cocido was outstanding! This is not a dish for chicken-breast kind of people! It has trotters, pork belly, tongue (I think), morcilla (blood sausage) and farinata (fat and flour sausage). These are boiled with white beans, cabbage and potatoes and served over rice and some of the resulting broth. It is quite hearty and very tasty.
The other dish was octopus cooked in a very soupy rice. I expected a drier or at least a creamier consistency, but it was still very good. It was closer to a Puertorican <i>asopao</i> soup than to a paella/dirty rice style dish. The octopus was very tender but the flavor of the rice did not stand up in comparison with the cocido. It was way too much food, even the cocido by itself would have been more than enough for both of us. Thankfully we had declined bread, cheese and butter so were able to soldier through most of it. With a bottle of wine and two coffees the bill came to an almost ridiculous €21.30.
Satisfied with a remarkable meal we rolled down Rua de São José into the gloriously sunny, bright blue skied afternoon. We managed –after some jostling- to snag an outside table at <b>Pasteleira Suiça</b>, ordered two white wines and settled to observe the Progress of The World. When the glasses ran empty, DH just said ‘maybe we should have ordered the bottle…’ I will only add that even at that point, we should have STILL ordered the bottle. We did not get up from the table until sundown. It was heavenly. Bill was €18,40 for 8 glasses of a delightfully light and ever so slightly fizzy Vinho Verde.
Yeah, we are digging Lisbon in the Sun.
Apr 19th, 2016, 06:23 AM
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Yay, some nice sun for you !!! Devouring every line of your live report.
Watched the Spanish newscast last night (Telediario de las 9 en TVE 1) and understood from the weather forecast for the peninsula (extremely well explained and detailed compared to what I get where I live) that there is a stubborn low pressure system just off the coast in the Atlantic that is not seemingly going anywhere ... The entire western half of the Iberian peninsula is affected. Hopefully this system it will finally move on soon.
Oh, and a minor point on your travel log, it seems that your dates are all off by one day, for example Sunday was the 17, not the 18 etc. Perhaps you are using a calendar where the printed beginning of each week is the Monday (far left) and ending on Sunday (far right) and causing confusion?
All the best with your continuation.
Watched the Spanish newscast last night (Telediario de las 9 en TVE 1) and understood from the weather forecast for the peninsula (extremely well explained and detailed compared to what I get where I live) that there is a stubborn low pressure system just off the coast in the Atlantic that is not seemingly going anywhere ... The entire western half of the Iberian peninsula is affected. Hopefully this system it will finally move on soon.
Oh, and a minor point on your travel log, it seems that your dates are all off by one day, for example Sunday was the 17, not the 18 etc. Perhaps you are using a calendar where the printed beginning of each week is the Monday (far left) and ending on Sunday (far right) and causing confusion?
All the best with your continuation.
