Lisboa
November 12th 2006 04:39
Lisbon…or Lisboa- capital of Portugal.
Note: To my readers, my apologies for the late posting…I will enter two so you can enjoy more posts.
Back to Portugal.
The good thing about being based in the UK was the proximity to so many other countries and of course the affordability of travelling to many.
I decided to join a friend on a Christmas shopping expedition to Lisbon. I had never been before while my friend had only previously travelled on a summer beach holiday.
I was curious to compare the difference between Portugal and nearby Spain. My knowledge only went as far as school lessons on Portuguese 16th century navigators and regular imbibing of Port with my favourite cheese!
We opted for a package where we could have our hotel-of-choice with the airline. I decided on an older style 3-star hotel with no meals to take advantage of eating at as many local establishments as possible.
On arrival we congratulated ourselves as the hotel was right around the corner from a main shopping thoroughfare,
It was mid morning and we were already famished. We soon learned that lunchtimes are taken later than we had planned (perhaps this is to make up for usually light local breakfast of coffee and not much else). Being an art nouveau fan, we made for and lingered over two large cups of delicious thick creamy coffee at the beautiful café Brasileira while admiring the décor. We then made our way to the famous pastry shop in Belem called Antiga Confeitaria de Belem where we purchased a packet of custard tarts or "pasteis de Belem".
Our next stop was the lookout point at Belem, which was built in the 60’s to commemorate "Portugal’s Age of Discovery". The monument features the prow of a ship and includes Prince Henry the Navigator and other famous seamen of the mighty exploration ages of the 15th and 16th century. We enjoyed our custard tarts while marvelling at the views afforded out to sea.
Lisbon is the only European capital with such a proximity to the sea. This no doubt led to its golden age of exploration, and the city’s fascination with, and large offering of seafood on its many restaurant menus.
At last time for lunch where we planned to try a local specialty. We started with a plate of grilled large sardines called ‘sardinhas assadas’ served simply with strips of charcoaled red capsicum, followed by the chef’s salt cod specialty or "Bacalhau". I had seen slabs of this salted fish in delicatessens before but had never tried it. I was told that the cod is washed several times in bowls of water to remove the salt from the fish. Our dish was stewed with vegetables, the liquid thick enough to be mopped up with the tasty Portuguese bread that reminded me of Spanish bread for its crusty exterior.
I drank ‘Vinho Verde’ with my meal. This refreshingly young light white wine is a favourite. The next day on a visit to a wine merchants I was astounded at the wide variety available…and the low price! There are many regional wines in Portugal as well as Port. These are definitely must-buys and we added this to our list.
The Alfama district dates back around the 12th century is one of the oldest parts of the city.
It also has historic connections to the Saracens (think Crusades etc). We heard of a large
Flea market held there during the week, but did not get to visit it. The hotel people told us not to venture into that area late at night.
After our large lunch I was pleased to hear that dinner is taken even later- after 8pm!
Even so, come dinner time- all I could manage was a shared fish stew with my friend, and we washed down with a bottle of local red Bucaco wine.
When we arrived back at the hotel, the porter told us that there was to be a political rally the next day around the city and suggested that we might want to avoid it by travelling out of town. Next morning we took a train along the coast south to Cascais, a lovely beachside town stopping at Estoril as well. The journey was beautiful as the rail tracks ran alongside the beach and the weather just perfect, warm and balmy with the coolest of breezes. There are many palaces overlooking the sea along the coastline. Apparently royalty lived in this region from time to time. Cascais itself served as a lookout point for maritime adventurers who would see this land fill first when returning from their journeys of discovery- bringing with them exotic spices from Africa and gold from the Americas.
We made for the Praia dos Pescadores or fishermen’s beach; the fishermen had long since brought in their boats and cleaned their nets in the early daylight. There are little beaches all in a row in Cascais and you can spend much time relaxing in the temperate climate and admiring the sea views.
Our lunch was a scrumptious seafood rice dish called ‘Arroz de Marisco- plump kernals of fragrant rice chock full of an assortment of little fish and shellfish. We decided that we could each manage a whole serve of our own!
Returning to Lisbon after a night spent in Cascais, we set about filling our shopping baskets with gifts. Intermittently we found excuses to have pastries before, during and after lunch!
We soon realised that little confections were gift wrapped if requested, and we could not resist having a single pastry or cake lovingly gift wrapped, admired and then torn apart so that we could enjoy the contents!
I made a point of going to a famous tile shop to get presents for architecture friends. Azulejos Sant’Ana has produced decorative ceramic tiles since the 18th century. Many of the designs available depict 17th and 18th century designs. Due to the weight, I had to confine my purchases to small tiles.
My other purchases in Lisbon included leather ware, embroidery and of course wine and Port. Nearly all of our presents were gift wrapped on purchase; it was a Christmas tradition of the shops to do so.
….Tune in again for travel experiences
Note: To my readers, my apologies for the late posting…I will enter two so you can enjoy more posts.
Back to Portugal.
The good thing about being based in the UK was the proximity to so many other countries and of course the affordability of travelling to many.
I decided to join a friend on a Christmas shopping expedition to Lisbon. I had never been before while my friend had only previously travelled on a summer beach holiday.
I was curious to compare the difference between Portugal and nearby Spain. My knowledge only went as far as school lessons on Portuguese 16th century navigators and regular imbibing of Port with my favourite cheese!
On arrival we congratulated ourselves as the hotel was right around the corner from a main shopping thoroughfare,
It was mid morning and we were already famished. We soon learned that lunchtimes are taken later than we had planned (perhaps this is to make up for usually light local breakfast of coffee and not much else). Being an art nouveau fan, we made for and lingered over two large cups of delicious thick creamy coffee at the beautiful café Brasileira while admiring the décor. We then made our way to the famous pastry shop in Belem called Antiga Confeitaria de Belem where we purchased a packet of custard tarts or "pasteis de Belem".
Our next stop was the lookout point at Belem, which was built in the 60’s to commemorate "Portugal’s Age of Discovery". The monument features the prow of a ship and includes Prince Henry the Navigator and other famous seamen of the mighty exploration ages of the 15th and 16th century. We enjoyed our custard tarts while marvelling at the views afforded out to sea.
At last time for lunch where we planned to try a local specialty. We started with a plate of grilled large sardines called ‘sardinhas assadas’ served simply with strips of charcoaled red capsicum, followed by the chef’s salt cod specialty or "Bacalhau". I had seen slabs of this salted fish in delicatessens before but had never tried it. I was told that the cod is washed several times in bowls of water to remove the salt from the fish. Our dish was stewed with vegetables, the liquid thick enough to be mopped up with the tasty Portuguese bread that reminded me of Spanish bread for its crusty exterior.
I drank ‘Vinho Verde’ with my meal. This refreshingly young light white wine is a favourite. The next day on a visit to a wine merchants I was astounded at the wide variety available…and the low price! There are many regional wines in Portugal as well as Port. These are definitely must-buys and we added this to our list.
The Alfama district dates back around the 12th century is one of the oldest parts of the city.
It also has historic connections to the Saracens (think Crusades etc). We heard of a large
Flea market held there during the week, but did not get to visit it. The hotel people told us not to venture into that area late at night.
After our large lunch I was pleased to hear that dinner is taken even later- after 8pm!
Even so, come dinner time- all I could manage was a shared fish stew with my friend, and we washed down with a bottle of local red Bucaco wine.
When we arrived back at the hotel, the porter told us that there was to be a political rally the next day around the city and suggested that we might want to avoid it by travelling out of town. Next morning we took a train along the coast south to Cascais, a lovely beachside town stopping at Estoril as well. The journey was beautiful as the rail tracks ran alongside the beach and the weather just perfect, warm and balmy with the coolest of breezes. There are many palaces overlooking the sea along the coastline. Apparently royalty lived in this region from time to time. Cascais itself served as a lookout point for maritime adventurers who would see this land fill first when returning from their journeys of discovery- bringing with them exotic spices from Africa and gold from the Americas.
We made for the Praia dos Pescadores or fishermen’s beach; the fishermen had long since brought in their boats and cleaned their nets in the early daylight. There are little beaches all in a row in Cascais and you can spend much time relaxing in the temperate climate and admiring the sea views.
Our lunch was a scrumptious seafood rice dish called ‘Arroz de Marisco- plump kernals of fragrant rice chock full of an assortment of little fish and shellfish. We decided that we could each manage a whole serve of our own!
Returning to Lisbon after a night spent in Cascais, we set about filling our shopping baskets with gifts. Intermittently we found excuses to have pastries before, during and after lunch!
We soon realised that little confections were gift wrapped if requested, and we could not resist having a single pastry or cake lovingly gift wrapped, admired and then torn apart so that we could enjoy the contents!
I made a point of going to a famous tile shop to get presents for architecture friends. Azulejos Sant’Ana has produced decorative ceramic tiles since the 18th century. Many of the designs available depict 17th and 18th century designs. Due to the weight, I had to confine my purchases to small tiles.
My other purchases in Lisbon included leather ware, embroidery and of course wine and Port. Nearly all of our presents were gift wrapped on purchase; it was a Christmas tradition of the shops to do so.
….Tune in again for travel experiences
| 98 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
