As always Lobo, thanks for the fado and the history.

Want snow? Come to DC we have enough for everyone but it is going fast!

Barb

Recipe question! I had wonderful grilled sardines in Lisbon, and I've just discovered that my local Whole Foods sells frozen Portuguese sardines. While not as good as fresh, of course, likely better than nothing. Does anyone have a good recipe?

lobo_mau. Is there anything that is not developed in the Algarve today?
We haven't had as much snow as DC but in Western PA we have had enough.

Lobo-mau,Thank you for the restaurant tip of Adega das Gravatas and others. We will be visiting Lisbon from June 30 to July 4th. We will stay in an apartment on Rua Garrett.

Are there any special events taking place during this time period? Do you know of any nice, inexpensive restaurants in this area?

Floods in Funchal (Madeira island)
Play the slide show

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Madeir...0madeiraisland

The tourism infraestructure (airport and hotels) was not hit, but the general population will need some time and support to recover.

Today, there are no isolated areas in Madeira since rescue workers can achieve all areas of the Island. Anyway, the area which suffered bigger damage was the capital city downtown.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gall...floods-funchal

Dear Thursday, I don't know any recipe. I checked with Loba and she doesn't know either. The grilled sardines are, well ... grilled.
Wash them, spill over them some salt, put them over "brasas" and when they look "assadas", remove the skin and "visceras" and eat them.
The proper way is to eat them over a "fatia" of bread (the more rustic possible) with a help with your bared hands (not fork and knife) but I warn you them the smell will last for some hours, no matter how many times you wash your hands.
The side food for this is 1 or 2 cooked potatoes (just let them in boiling water, nothing else) until they are "cozidas" and a salad of some lettuce and onions.
This food (sardines, potatoes and salad) requires some drops of Portuguese olive oil. Loba would add a some vinegar, but I would say "thanks, but no thanks".
I can not guarantee that your sardines will taste the same as those eaten in Alfama in a summer, late, open air dinner, but face it as an opportunity to book a flight and come again :-)

As you can see, there are some words requiring translation. If they are not self explanatory, I require some kind soul to help me.

And a glass of verde or mature Portuguese white wine (cold).

I experienced real snow 23 years ago in Vila Boim (Alentejo). It was quite a snow fall. The winter Olimpics could have been held there that year. It was like 5 inches of snow and every roofs and trees turned white. Very beautiful, but for me, was snow enough for the rest of my life time.
However, young wolf baby boy has a infancy trauma, since he has never experienced real snow, except in TV and internet. I am working on the process to overcome his trauma, as a few selected members of this board will notice.

lobo-mau - many thanks to you and your wife!

Babelfish translated "brasas" as "live coals" (although I'll unfortunately be using an electric broiler, so I already know the results won't be as good as the original) and "assadas" as "baked", which I take to mean they look done. "Viscera" hardly needs translation (just as well, as babelfish won't do it!), although I would have expected to take out the insides before cooking rather than after. Maybe that's the secret! And you don't eat the skin?

Would love to revisit Lisbon, but right now I'm working on a trip to Central Asia...

thursdaysd. I had grilled sardines on a beach near Sintra that Laurie told us about. I didn't use my hands, thank heavens, because I didn't know about the smell lingering.

Lobo, I have a cure for your "baby boy"'s "infancy" trauma (for those who don't know, the baby in question is almost six feet tall). A trip to New England in the winter would almost certainly provide some snow to ease those growing pains.

And we could provide enough warmth and entertainment to decrease your own snow aversion disorder.

Budget travelers who stay in Hotel Dom Carlos Park or vicinity of Marques de Pombal can have decent low cost meals in Escondidinho, Rua Sociedade Farmaceutica 2, tel 213536493.
Todays' special + drink + bread + coffee = 6.50 euros.
Better than Escondidinho, only my very favourite eating place (around 4 euros) but it is the place where the average reader of this forum would never enter by his/her free will. In fact I don't enter it, patrons just seat in chairs and tables located in the sidewalk, and the food keeps coming to them. If some adventurous reader of this forum wishes to join the wonderful world of Portuguese disgusting food, please let me know, and I may arrange a guided meal (It's the place where I eat on a daily basis, so it's not difficult to meet somebody there). Jews may have a hard time there, not because cultural/religious prejudice, but because pork meat is eaten there in all possible ways, from nose to tail (literaly).
As a person with interest in social sciences, I found it very rich, from interaction point of view, because anybody from any background feels free to seat in the chair empty in your table and joins the conversation as if you are close friends. This is not common all over Portugal, but in this particular environment.
One day I was starving, and ask for everything I could remember (soup, souvenir, etc) and the bill came as 7.50 euros. It's very difficuld to "eat" more than this, excluding of course drinks like whiskies and brandies, which can round up the bill a little.

One day I was starving, and ask for everything I could remember (soup, dessert, etc) and the bill came as 7.50 euros. (failed acts, I know)

Federer is considering a carrer change after driving a tram in Lisbon.

http://www.menstennisblog.info/2010/...s-tram-in.html

Enjoy the photos

"career change" - my English dysgraphia is developing

Those grilled sardines straight off the boat and grilled on the quayside with copious jugs of vinho verde and among my best memories of Lisbon.

Gertie, you share the name with my best half.
Which dock did the boat use? I pass everyday by Santa Apolonia, but out of 3, it is the less used by cruisers, although the best located, only 100 meters from Alfama.

This was 10 years ago and I can't remember. We found several places around Lisbon with these grilled sardines as we walked about. Once we started we had to keep eating them! Small fishing boats they were, family businesses by the look of them.

Chaos in Lisbon (part I)

Benfica won yesterday it's 32nd national soccer league title. Over 100,000 have comemorated in Marques de Pombal area and Avenida da Liberdade and a little bit all over the country, in the Portuguese speaking world and in other countries with large Portuguese communities.

Chaos in Lisbon (part II)

Pope will be in town tomorrow for a mass in Terreiro do Paço. Major disruption is expected in the public transport system.

Chaos in Lisbon (part III)

Lisbon airport is closed due to the volcanic activity in Iceland. The same happens in Madeira and the Algarve. Porto airport is already opened. I don't know how this part III may affect part II, but this is a volatile situation, changing by the minute.