Get a discount for seniors (guess who) and for having a Rick Steves book (covers Shaina and Mo)
Lots of history as we walk thru the city
The tile and mosaic walks are 19th century
2 oldest buildings - doll hospital from the 1800's and Confeiteria the official bakery of the monarchy from 1829 that makes bolo-rei (king cake) at Xmas time
Pastel de Nata is originally the monk's recipe from the 19th century made from egg yolks as the whites were used for starch
Dictator Salazar appeased the people with the 3 F's: Fado, Futbol and Fatima (religious city)
Hidden churches blend in with surroundings (King didn't want them seen)
1000 ways to make codfish (I think that was an exaggeration)
Sardines are a way of life
Big earthquake and tsunami of 1755 destroyed most of the city
Lisbon is known as the City of Spies from WWII.
It was neutral but spies used to meet here.
The Switzerland Hotel coffee shop has 2 exits used by refugees to the U.S. and Russians
Men came to Bon Parnas after work to see the 'good legs' of the refugees who wore shorter dresses than Portuguese women
Women came there to see the short hair and high fashion of the refugees
Ginjinha (cherry liquor started by a friar several centuries ago) 6 times a day keeps the doctor away. We have a tasting - sweet - needs to be sipped. Good any time of day - even for breakfast.
A wealthy man lost his house in a card game. It became a casino. Now a restaurant and dance hall. During our visit our group has to use the toilets. The women line up as usual for the 2 stalls. Two Portuguese women are already in line. Their friends show up and try to cut in line to be ahead of us. The war of the toilets breaks out. They all start play acting their needs. Portuguese 1, Tourists 3. We win.
There is an elevator you can ride instead of walking up the hill but too long a line, we walk
Rooster is unofficial symbol of Portugal, seen everywhere. Supposedly, a pilgrim passing thru a town and was accused of a theft and sentenced to hang. He said to prove his innocence, the cooked rooster would crow at the hour of his hanging. It did and he was set free. Thus, roosters everywhere - towels, statues, magnets, t-shirts...
The smallest shop in Lisbon is a glove shop - about 5 foot x 5 foot
Alheira sausage - invented by the Portuguese Jews (who were forced to convert and called New Christians) during the inquisition. To not be noticed, but not wanting to eat pork, they created a sausage made of whatever other meat was available.
Dried cod has to be soaked about three days before cooking it, changing the water frequently
After the 1974 revolution when Portugal became a democracy, mini-skirts and Coca Cola were now allowed
St Anthony is celebrated for both finding lost things and finding a groom
If he doesn't find you a groom quickly, you put him upside down in a dark bag until he does
The tour almost ends right outside our apartment - but no, one last thing - ride the trolley to the area between the castle and Alfama area
All 15 of us have to fit on one trolley
A totally full one arrives
The guide says 'plenty of room'
We enter one after another, squeezing into non-existent space.
Now I know why sardines are so popular here
Somehow, we all get on
Shaina is holding one hand on the bar overhead and one on me to keep me from flying
In such close quarters you get to meet your trolley mates
One is from Lafayette, CO where brother Lenny lives
Shaina and I actually get a seat part way thru the ride
Upon exiting, the tour is now over (30 minutes late), we say our good-byes, take in the contrasting view of roof tops, and head into the neighborhood outside the castle to find lunch.
Portuguese Wynwood
We pass a shop called 'Miss Can' where I find out that sardines actually grow in cans.
Lunch at a shaded tourist restaurant on the square
Being the savvy travelers we are, we know the 'get the tourists to eat and pay for food they don't want trick', by setting it out on the table ahead of time. We send back the bread, butter, tall white thin chips of some kind but keep the bacalhau croquettes and olives. On second thought maybe those chips would have been good. We probably just saved ourselves a whole euro or two.
They get back at us by not serving tap water - we have to buy bottled.
1 for the tourists, 4 for the restaurant
Today is 'Get daring and eat sardines day'
They are big grilled ones with the head and tail and all the bones
Ernie shows us how to fillet them since I'm not going to eat the bones
Not bad but 2 is enough for me and it comes with 5, Mo helps out
We also try bacalhau bras (not to be confused with the underwear bras) which is chopped up with scrambled eggs and onions and comes piled high in a nice presentation and tastes delicious
Predictably Shaina gets chicken bras (not to be confused with the underwear bras), but to give her credit she does try the fish
I head inside to wash my fishy smelling hands
The sink is outside the toilet area
I try to turn on the water - I pull, tug, twist right, twist left, lift and finally give up and go ask. It's an extra hard push down that doesn't look anything like a push down.
We ask for the bill without having coffee and dessert, as we are too full
We get the 'why aren't you having coffee and dessert' look but being tourists I guess anything is possible
Tipping in Portugal is maybe 5% if you want and tax is already included in the prices you see on the menu so no surprises
We wander the neighborhood with its narrow streets and laundry hanging out the windows
We enter a children's park which turns out to be a small park with a resting area with great views of the river. A few orange trees, passionfruit vine in bloom and few people make it a great relaxing spot for us.
For phone calls or superman?
Time to head down thru the Alfama area
The festival of St. Anthony happens in a week or so, so everyone in the Alfama area is building little stalls outside their doorways so they can sell port, cherry liquor and beer to passersby's for a Euro
Most restaurants and shops are closed in the afternoon so we just enjoy the stroll on deserted narrow streets
Back in town I can't resist stopping in a colorful 'Sardine Can' store. The cans are colorful and stacked floor to ceiling. How many different cans of sardines can there be? On closer inspection I see that they aren't all sardines. There is swordfish, mackerel, and even oatmeal balls. I didn't even know that oatmeal had balls.
More walking and we actually arrive back home for a rest.
It doesn't take long before we are ready to eat again
After much discussion we decide we want to hear/see Fado either tonight or tomorrow night
Tonight, makes no sense so we decide to walk down to the closest location (Povo) and make a reservation for tomorrow night
We easily find the place and find out we can go tonight at 10:00, it is now 9:15
Perfect - now we just have to walk around for 45 minutes
We are on what is called the Pink Street - night club street, can be crowded, noisy especially during the European cup finals taking place in Madrid shown in all bars here, which happens to be tonight
We wander the streets, arrive back at the restaurant a little early and sit at the bar until our table is ready
We don't get our order in before the 3 person Fado music starts
Once they start there is no talking or serving, you can breathe if you do it quietly
I sneak up to the bar to place our order
There is a guitar, a Portuguese guitar which looks like a mandolin with 12 strings and a female singer
They play 3 songs then break so we can eat and talk
The music is supposed to be about some sad love issues
I don't understand the words but it is pretty good to listen to
They come back and play another 3 songs and that is the entire second show
We can talk again
Great show, good tapas, what fun
It's now about 11:30 and everyone is just coming out to play- not us, walk back uphill and in for the night
