Local Flavors

Three of Portugal's four major largest are situated on major rivers. Lisbon sits near the mouth of the Tagus River, Porto at the mouth of the Douro, and Coimbra on the Mondego. Only Braga is more or less landlocked, lying between the Cávado and Este rivers. The landscape of Portugal's river cities rises rather steeply from the shoreline, with one or more major hills defining both the low town (baixa) and high town (alta). For the traveler, this means wonderful vistas and a LOT of uphill travel. There are, of course, elevators/funiculars to get to the top of most hills, but the views are much better from between the buildings and among the staircases.   In Coimbra there is one major hill that leads up to the area where the University is located. The hill is very steep, although the view over the river is beautiful. There is also a "shortcut" - a very old, very steep set of stairs up the hillside to the top of Coimbra Alta with no handrails, just stairs carved int

Quando nós fomos no Sesimbra, nós visitamos uma corretora de imóveis. Nós procuramos um apartamento barato. Nós queríamos um apartamento com três quartos, uma cozinha pequena com os moveis, um elevador, e um terraço mas não uma varanda. Sesimbra tem uma boa praia, nós queríamos de ver a praia de nosso terraço. Quando nós retornamos de Estados Unidos, nós  conversamos regularmente com essa corretora de imóveis. Nós temos esperança de um apartamento perfeito. When we went to Sesimbra, we visited a real estate agent. We're looking for a cheap apartment. We wanted a three bedroom apartment, a small kitchen with furniture, an elevator, and a terrace  - but not a veranda. Sesimbra has a beautiful beach, and we wanted to see the beach from our terrace. When we returned from the United States, we talked regularly with this real estate agent. We have hope to find the perfect apartment!

With our return to northern Portugal, we were finally able to take our long-delayed trip to Guimarães. It was certainly worth the wait! (But that overview will be a different post.) In Gumarães, we stumbled across the  Museu Arqueológico da Sociedade Martins Sarmento. Housed in the former 14th century convent of São Domingos, the museum displays works of the famed archeologist, Martins Sarmento. Sarmento was known for his work on the nearby Iron Age Citânia de Briteiros and Celtic settlement of Castro de Sabrosa. He began his work at the  Citânia de Briteiros in 1875 and the museum housing his discoveries was inaugurated in 1885.  It is one of the oldest in Portugal, with a collection that includes thousands of pieces gathered from his lifetime, including many pre-Roman Celtiberian and Roman artifacts.  In addition to tiles, weapons and other tools, it showcases Celtic and Roman sculpture, gravestones and statues.  It took the sting off of the ruins in Viana do Castelo being

Viana do Castelo is a nice little town in northern Portugal near the Spanish border. It has what I'm told is a very nice beach, but we did not have time to take the ferry to it on the day we visited. The downtown is also nice, with tons of the types of tourist shops and restaurants that you would see at any beach town. It also has a medieval fort at the river's edge. But the real attraction is the  Santuario de Santa Luzia that sits at the top of a steep hill (accessible by a funicular.) Santa Luzia is a brand new chapel, by Portuguese standards - it was started in 1904 and completed in 1959. It sits on the site of what had been a medieval hermitage dedicated to St. Luzia - the patron saint of sight. A local cavalry captain, Luís de Andrade e Sousa, came to the hermitage to pray for help with his eyesight. When his sight improved, he instituted a fraternity to take care of the hermitage in 1884 in gratitude. The chapel (and later, a complete temple) was erected to serve

It's either the creepiest example of recycling ever, or a sobering reminder of how fleeting this life is. Either way, the  Capela Dos Ossos, or Chapel of Bones, in Évora is among my  favorite Portugal side trips, so far. The bones used in this chapel are those of the inhabitants of the area who were disinterred from the local cemetery to make room for newer corpses.   Beyond the somewhat macabre idea of creating a chapel from actual human bones, the place held a weird beauty, as well. The bones weren't simply stacked to make a space - the chapel is laid out meticulously in the same baroque style as the cathedrals of the day - with "decorative" columns of human bones and high arches outlined with skull and filled with bone filigree. There was something oddly peaceful about the place. The only bones that were even slightly disturbing were the complete human skeletons laid out in display in one room - a reminder that these are not simply architectural elements, bu

I’m studying Portuguese in Lisbon. There are a lot of people who live in Lisbon who do not speak Portuguese. The people in my class come from all over the world – from Canada, Venezuela, France, Albania, and, of course, Spain. Most of them live in Lisbon now. They want to speak Portuguese better for many reasons. Some want to be able to talk with their family members who are native Portuguese speakers.  Other wish to speak more correctly for work opportunities. One is a doctor who wants to be able to converse with is colleagues in Portugal. One is a journalist who needs to be able to speak fluent Portuguese to cover Portuguese news. Most of the class has about the same understanding of Portuguese. Our instructor is very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. We are learning not only Portuguese grammar, but also regional differences. For example, she explained to us that people in the north of Portugal, slur their words together more. I noticed that when I rode the Metro in Porto. I

I n Portugal, history is everywhere. It is, in fact, literally just below your feet in many spots. In Braga, we happened upon a Roman bath in the underground car park for the train station. In Conimbriga, of course, an entire Roman city lay just below the top of a hill among farms.  In Viana do Castelo, the same was true for a Celtic settlement at the top of a hill.  In Evora, there was a Roman temple, beautifully preserved behind the walls of a slaughterhouse for centuries. In every major city there were castle walls and cathedrals from medieval times, and homes with foundations that went back many centuries.   Among the most fascinating finds on our trip, was  ruins - going back nearly 2,500 years - found under the foundation of the Millennium BCP Bank in downtown Lisbon. While finding a few Roman artifacts is, apparently, no big deal - dig a hole in Lisbon and you'll hit an urn - finding extensive remnants of Celtic, Roman and Medieval civilizations all in one spot were. 

Buskers - street performers - can be found in just about every tourist area of Portugal. The types of performances vary markedly by location.  In Porto, for example, most buskers are m usicians and are confined for the most part to the waterfront Ribeira tourist area - although there are a particular concertina (small accordion) player who works the Metro, riding it back and forth between the airport and train station with a small chihuahua on his shoulder.  Another notable busker was the old organ-grinder (with a pet chicken) who used to play  a barrel organ in  front of the  Mercado do Bolh ão (a famed Porto market and landmark) . The mercado is closed for a couple of years for total renovation, and the market is now in the basement of a nearby mall. Much cleaner and not nearly as interesting. I wonder what has become of all of the  peripheral  people who made livings just on the edge of the market as performers, trinket sellers, etc. There is no place for them in the modern merc

Wherever you go in Portugal you are surrounded by beautiful mosaics and tiles. Many of the buildings in cities such as Porto and Lisbon are covered in distinctive azulejo tiles. The sidewalks, city streets and largos are paved in calçada Portuguesa  ( Portuguese pavement ).  Together, these tiles help give Portugal its distinctive ambiance.  São Bento train station in Porto Capela de Santa Catarina, Porto The term azulejo comes from the Arabic word az-zulayj, or "small polished stone." While the name comes from the Moors, the actual decorative tiles were introduced from Spain in the 15 th  century. King Manuel I was fascinated with the ceramic tiles decorating the Alhambra Palace when he visited Granada, Spain. He decided to have his palace in Sintra decorated with the same tiles. Soon they were all the rage in Portugal, decorating everything from churches and palaces, to ordinary houses, shops, and train stations.  The tiles were used to cover up the large area

It's Not Always About the Food, Part II Sometimes a meal is memorable for the amazing food. Other times it is the decor of the restaurant. Sometimes it is great service. And sometimes it is that one person you meet there. Our visit to the Jam Club in Bairro Alto is memorable for the owner, João.  To call him outgoing would be a big understatement. João greets you when you enter the small (actually tiny) bar/restaurant as if you were his best friend that he hasn't seen in ages. He introduces you to the other patrons ("these folks are from Michigan in the US - they have the best cars! Sorry, the people at the next table are from Germany where they also have the best cars. So Michigan has the best US cars and Germany has the best European cars! Cheers!") He finds something to complement the people from France at another table, as well.     Soon he is asking you to quiz him on various areas of knowledge - He'll bet you he knows all of the state capitals