Category: Lisbon

^^^Bye street.

Today was the day I had sort of dreaded – the day that we would have to get our Covid tests to meet the “day before” or 24 hour time limit before leaving for the United States. It ended up being easy, thanks to our host who arranged the appointments for us at a clinic in Tavira. Afterwards we hung out for a while at Pastelaria & Padaria Venezuela and had pastries and orange juice, then sat at the train stop a couple of blocks away.

This train trip was uneventful except that I had filled a water bottle with tea and put it in the side pocket of my backpack. Sandy put my backpack up on the rack, the cap to the bottle came off, and tea poured and sprayed all over the place, including on some of the passengers. So we got some paper towels and cleaned the mess up best that we could.  Damn Americans!

I was not monkeying around with walks uphill any more so when we got to Lisboa-Oriente station, I got a taxi to take us a short but steep uphill walk to our next place. It was a converted over-garage studio apartment in a cute neighborhood and was one of the cheapest and most comfortable places we stayed. When we headed downhill to find a place to eat dinner, Sandy asked a passerby her advice. It turned out that she was the cousin of our landlord and she recommended nearby Restaurante Alegria and walked along with us, showing us walking paths that were shortcuts. So friendly and helpful!

Here’s where I talk about the wildflowers in Lisbon – what many people would call weeds. I was so pleased to see an appreciation for letting them grow everywhere. Most of the time I saw them growing in the cracks of the streets, on walls, and on roofs. This lovely path took us through a small meadow of grasses and wildflowers Most people in the U.S. would have seen this as an overgrown vacant lot.

Alegria was a small rock music themed restaurant – they used 33 rpm records for placemats. Sandy had a beef dish and because I was not very hungry, I decided to try the fried codfish balls that you see in snack bars everywhere. I didn’t particularly like them, but what I loved was the rice and beans that they served with them. I could have eaten just that side dish and bread and have been perfectly happy.

We got our negative results through email and hit the sack early during our last night in Portugal.

And the less said about the trip home the next day and the next the better. Let’s just say that we made it home to Greensboro via Dublin and Boston and Newark by Friday night. So many flights were delayed and canceled that we were lucky to get home as soon as we did. I wrote a bit about it here: https://slowlysheturned.net/2022/05/28/saturday-morning-post-portugal-coffee-pot-post/

We both eventually got our checked luggage. Whew!

And that concludes the story of our 2022 trip to Portugal.

This was the morning I was really excited about…meeting artist Alex Castro Ferreira at the Feira da Ladra! I had not gotten to look as much as I wanted at the Tuesday market, and there were a few more vendors there. At once I was mesmerized by tables of old books, zeroing in on the ones that were oldest and small enough to fit in my luggage and would be great for collage or upcycling. Well, I don’t know if I will be able to tear these up. One was fallen apart already, and it had handwriting and pieces of ephemera inside. It was about 160 years old and another was around 180 years old. I was quoted 10 euros for four books which I thought was good, then Alex got there and when she tried to bargain down the price, he would not go lower, but he said we could get a fifth book. I had already gotten more books than I should have, so I picked up a 1948 book on decorating that I liked and gave it to Alex.

Then we went to her favorite vendor who specialized in old photos and documents and lots of cool brass thingies. I picked up a few more and several metal compacts and a small pill box. At the next table where I had bought the packet of letters on Tuesday, a different woman was there. A round paper box with dried rose petals in it was firmly priced at 5 euros on Tuesday. I got it for 2 euros this morning.

Then I went looking for keys and spent the rest of my cash on a variety of knick knacks, and only one key. But I was very happy with what I bought. Alex bargained hard for everything I bought, and got prices down for me. Interestingly, she was not so successful at bargaining for her own stuff. Before we walked up to this table, she said, “This man cries all the time, waa waa waa.” I saw that she meant the bargaining process…he wasn’t so willing to negotiate as others were.

(More photos later – most of my stuff is in my lost luggage, which has been located and I hope to get in a couple of days.)

We went to a nearby cafe and ordered vegetarian crepes, which were terrific. I was embarrassed to discover that I had left my credit card in the apartment and had spent all my cash! I could have easily paid her back because she was parked almost in front of the apartment, but she wouldn’t have that. I gave her the gift I brought for her. I knew that she loves natural tones and threads, so I gave her a small driftwood stick with several colors of my natural dyed silk threads wound around it, all very subdued colors.

It was very hot and humid in Lisbon. We didn’t do much else that afternoon, other than walk down to the river and eat Italian food on the riverfront terrace at Casanova. The lasagne was really good! The breeze had finally come in and I was almost chilly for the first time. We cleaned up and packed that night, and turned in early. I was quite sleep deprived.

Today we decided to take the train to Cascais. This was a cute, very touristy little beach town where the real estate prices are high. I had such a completely different mental picture of it! We had cheeseburgers for lunch, and I think this is when I realized that if you ordered a beef dish, it was probably gonna have a fried egg on it. Also, everyone we met had a different way of pronouncing Cascais. We wandered in and out of shops until I insisted on putting my toes in the Atlantic.

In my original plan, we were also going to nearby “don’t miss” Sintra. Well, we will have to see it next time we’re here.

Back to the apartment for a rest and a shower, then we headed back to the center of Lisbon to meet a friend’s sister and her husband. Now they are our friends too! We really hit it off with Emily and Van, who live in Braga, near Porto, and encouraged us to come back and visit that part of the country. They moved there five years ago and, as pretty much every American expat has told us so far, never regretted it. We wandered to the big square at the arch and then around to different restaurants until we finally settled on one. Emily and I had different kinds of paella. I went for the regional flavor and chose the seafood colored with cuttlefish ink. We had sangria and a bottle of Casal Garcia vinho verde, which I was happy to find in groceries later for 3,99 euros. (Note from home: Deep Roots carries it for $9.99! Yay!)

Before we met them, I insisted on going to the world’s oldest bookstore, established in 1739. I was disappointed because I had it confused with one of the world’s most beautiful bookstores. The building and business itself may have been old, but the interior was unimpressive and it was owned by a chain named Bertrand. Which reminds me…most of Lisbon and many other coastal towns was destroyed in the earthquake, tsunami, and fires of 1755. The oldest looking part of the bookstore was the ceiling. I noted that it had an art book about the Portland Japanese Gardens, one of my favorite places thousands of miles away that I hope to visit again.

Pastries in the window of a shop:

Busker with accordion at the arch. Some people were dancing:

We had another bad Uber experience, mainly because they have certain pick up places in Lisbon and I can’t identify them on a map by the addresses quickly enough. They canceled on me again. I suppose I will get better at that. The metro stop was right there so we took it back to the apartment.

This trip has certainly been a huge reality check so far. Sandy has been miserable with back pain. Lisbon is definitely off the list for places to live, although I never wanted to live in a big city anyway. We made a lot more room in our schedule for less sights and more rest.

Today we slept very late and Sandy really wanted pizza for lunch so we had a light lunch in one of the little cafes in the train station. I had a pastry with bacon and cheese. The bacon was more like chopped cubes of ham at home. Perfect for a snack. 

Then we got on the Metro and went to the Gulbenkian Art Museum, a private art collection from a very rich man who came to Portugal and fell in love with it, so donated his vast collection to the country. We took a quick walk through a refreshing garden to get there.

The collection ranged from ancient Egyptian art to 20th century. We were disappointed that the modern art building was closed for renovation, but the museum with the ancient to 18th century art was fascinating. Of course, I took special interest in the textiles. The fine silk tapestry panels were amazing. The second photo is showing part of a glass collection with a window looking out to a courtyard behind it. Below that, self portraits of Rembrandt and Van Dyke.

I was determined to get to the high spot in Lisbon: the Castilo de Sao Jorge. I called an Uber and actually managed to get it to pick us up! The driver was from Pakistan and we had a great conversation about his move to Lisbon. He dropped us off as close as possible to the pedestrian only street leading to the castle.  Sandy needed to sit so we lucked upon Chapita a Mesa with gorgeous views over Lisbon. It was around 3 pm so it was almost empty.  I drank three glasses of Vinho verde, the young sparkling wine that Portugal is famous for. Sandy had a fresh minty lemonade which I don’t think has been beaten yet for taste, and he drinks lemonade or iced tea everywhere. We had some bread and olives to soak up my wine. I think that this was the first time I relaxed since we left Greensboro.

There was also a Theater of the Absurd (?) outside the entrance to the restaurant with a lot of young people practicing. One young woman did a beautiful handstand in front of us, but we were not allowed to take photos because they were minors.

The walk up to the Castle wasn’t destined to happen, but I had had enough wine that I wasn’t too concerned about it any more, ha! An Uber took us back to the apartment. We had a nap before going around the corner to Tapas 129 for one of the best meals I had in Portugal so far…a salad with a sesame seed crusted tuna steak and sliced mangos on top. Sandy had barbecued spare ribs, which were very tender and tasty…rivaled NC sweet barbecue sauce. (He hates this photo – I asked him to look up and he was goofing. I love it because the looks happy.) And hallelujah, they had stout!

One very good thing about Portugal during a pandemic was that most of the time we ate outside and it was pleasant.

Sandy ended up taking the bed and I slept on the sofa bed, which I found more comfortable. With the fan blasting, the heat was not so bad. Everyone in Lisbon was complaining about the heat. The two issues I had was that the curtains were sheer and there was a bright streetlight next to the balcony doors, and the street noise was loud. In Lisbon, the garbage was picked up around 1 a.m., which made sense because of the crowded narrow streets. Our street was tiny but very, very busy.

We went to a pastelaria a few doors down and had ham and cheese omelets, then walked to the nearest museum… Museu Militar de Lisboa. This was an effort to make my miserable husband happier, but it exceeded my expectations. The building itself had seen a lot of its own history by the riverfront, as a arsenal and a palace. The displays ranged from suits of armor and medieval weapons, to the Napoleonic wars, to World War I. There were ridiculously sumptuous displays of gold and statuary. There was a room full of sculpted cartoonish figures from a contemporary artist that depicted dozens of the different kind of military workers, soldiers, and officers throughout time.

It was the sculpture above that captured me. I looked at it a long time and I could have spent more time. It depicted soldiers pulling an artillery cart at Flanders under attack as their commanding officer motioned them forward. The road was muddy and they could barely move. Death and shock is here.

We had planned to do more, but given the reality of our situation, we went back for a rest and a shower before going to the busy heart of Lisbon to meet some of my Women Over 50 Moving to Portugal Friendship FB group for happy hour and dinner at Granja Velha Restaurante. This time we rode on the Metro to a stop uphill and walked down to the restaurant. We went early so that we might have a little time to shop. I bought a small purse made from cork and some lovely cheap earrings. To my surprise they did not hurt my ears, so I must be allergic to silver. (Later I lost one, of course.) We rested near the famous Santa Justa elevator that was designed by the architect of the Eiffel Tower.

We had a great time meeting and chatting with my Facebook group, women who had come to Portugal from all over the world, but mostly the US. Some of us had made the move and some, like us, were checking the country out for the first time and considering emigration. I didn’t take photos of the event, but we had a great time. I had grilled salmon and Sandy had shrimp with garlic.

This morning we could see the edge of the Feira da Ladra from our little balcony. This is the big street flea market in Lisbon. It was next to the little park we sat in the evening before, next to the National Pantheon. It was a great mix of antiques, junk, more junk, new stuff, and your typical street vendors selling imported clothing.

I got lucky and found someone right away who was selling paper ephemera, old letters, and postcards. As I was looking over a pack of handwritten letters, an American woman leaned over me and said, “Please buy those so I don’t!” I offered them to her, and offered to split them with her, but she was serious. I asked her if she was a mixed media artist, but no, she said that she collected paper. Then she advised me on how to bargain. Sandy and I are NOT bargainers, but I showed the seller everything I had that should have totaled up to 20 euros and offered 15. She accepted, then as I walked away she came up behind me and handed me this. “A gift for you.”

It was a napkin with a handwritten note in ink on it, dated 1929.

I want to go back on Sunday and buy some old keys.

We had brunch at a little cafe next to the market, an omelet and scrambled eggs with toast that came with marmalade and a soft cheese that resembled the taste of ricotta. We went back through the market and bought sunglasses and straw fedoras to save our scalps from the sun. Mine was from an artist who was upcycling clothes into other items, especially neckties.

Sandy was struggling. He had to sit down every few minutes and there wasn’t any seating around. At one point he leaned against a tree and an older woman ran over with a folding chair for him to borrow. We walked back to the apartment, and I blogged about the day before, as I’m doing now. 

A few hours later, we decided to take a ride on the iconic tram of Lisbon, #28E. Actually, there were several other trams but this one happened to have the closest stop. Ouch, the stop was back uphill through the flea market and on the other side of a large church. When it got there, it was full so we stood with others in the aisle and nobody offered to give up a seat. Sandy finally snagged a seat about 20 minutes later when someone in front of him got up, and I leaned against his seat. It was a beautiful ride, but he was pretty miserable because he felt sick. Then at the end of the line, the tram stopped, and everybody had to get off. Fortunately there was another tram there that had seats for us both and we got on. I didn’t know where it went and we didn’t care. Then it happened again and again. Finally I spotted a Metro stop, and we took it back to the train station near our apartment.The Metro is underground, modern, and easy.

After we departed the Santa Apolonia station, we sat down at the first restaurant we saw. Continuing with my plan to get in the special things of Lisbon, I ordered a ginginja, a sweet cherry liqueur, and grilled sea bass. Whoops, it had a face! But it was simple and delicious. Even Sandy liked it, and he is not a fan of fish. His dish, however, was horrible. He ordered shrimp with spaghetti, which was drowned in a pink sweet sauce that tasted like a combination of Japanese steakhouse white sauce and Velveeta cheese, something neither of us would ever have guessed to put on pasta. Truly one of the nastiest things I have ever put in my mouth, and I will try almost anything. Hopefully we will have better luck tonight.

The walk to the apartment was very short but very steep. The stairs to the apartment are very steep and uneven. When we got there we both collapsed, but I spent the next few hours getting advice and researching a new plan for the next portion of our trip, which was meant to be Porto. I told Sandy that this vacation is not worth killing him. So we resolved to go next to a flatter place, and to use Uber. I cancelled the room in Porto and I found a nice old place in the center of Tomar with a terrace with a view, close to a train station. That’s where we will go after Lisbon. And then, I did not sleep until about 3 a.m. I am worried. This is a huge reality check for both of us.