Waiting in Cascais

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Some visitors like to stay in Lisbon to have the excitement of the capital city on their doorstep. Others prefer the seclusion of Sintra with its romantic palaces and lush vegetation.

If you’re visiting the Lisbon region, there is a third option: you can stay in Cascais, a picturesque beach resort, 30 km north of the capital. From Cascais you can take the train to Lisbon, following a scenic route along the Tagus river. You can also rent a car and visit Sintra, Colares, and Cabo da Roca.

The great writer Samuel Beckett vacationed in Cascais in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Beckett stayed at the Cidadela de Cascais, an old fort converted into a hotel favored by Portuguese writers. This hotel has recently been beautifully renovated to add modern comforts to its historical location and expansive ocean views.

Once Beckett got to Cidadela, he simply stayed there, enjoying the moments when the sea paints the sky with white mist. It’s not surprising that the author of a play about waiting in vain knew to stay still when beauty arrives.

The Cidadela de Cascais is located on Avenida Dom Carlos I, Cascais, tel. 214814300. This hotel is part of a network of historical hotels called Pousadas. Click here for our post on the Pousadas and here for the Pousadas web site.

Why the British don’t eat salted cod

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Some British guidebooks tell their readers that eating salted cod is a strange Portuguese custom that they should avoid. There’s an historical reason for this point of view.  When Henry V married Catherine de Valois in 1420, England was in the midst of the One Hundred Years’ War. Perhaps for this reason, the royal couple had a frugal wedding feast. The 600 guests ate boiled salted cod served on slices of stale bread. The meal was so bad that the British have avoided salted cod ever since.

Portuguese restaurants offer many codfish preparations. If you’re a salted cod neophyte, we suggest that you start with something simple: codfish carpaccio. The codfish is sliced razor thin and combined with an infusion of garlic and olive oil.

You can taste a great version of this preparation at Mãe d’Água, a wonderful restaurant in Bombarral near Lisbon. Imagine how different British cuisine would be if Mãe d’Água had catered Henry V’s wedding.

Mãe d’Água is in Sobral do Parelhão, Bombarral, Rua 13 de Maio 26, 2540-467 Carvalhal, tel.262 605 408, email geral@restaurantemaedagua.com. Click here for their website and here for our post on the restaurant.

The cure for the vacation blues

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PerdiçãodeMaria

Much of a vacation’s pleasure comes from anticipation. The joy of saying: my holiday in Portugal starts next week! The vacation begins and you relax, enjoying the food and scenery. Then, someone up there presses the remote control and puts time on fast forward. Soon, you’re counting how many days are left, feeling the vacation blues.

Luckily, a cure for this malaise is right at hand: simply go shopping for some great souvenirs! No, we’re not talking about useless knick knacks. Buy items you can wear, like the T-shirts produced by the brand Perdição de Maria (Maria’s perdition). They feature local motifs: sardines, lamp posts, trams, Portuguese guitars, etc. You can’t buy these clothes anywhere else, they’re a piece of vacation you can take home. Because every time you wear them they’ll remind you of the fun you had in Portugal.

You can buy Perdição de Maria’s clothes in many stores in Lisbon. One convenient shop is Portfolio at the airport.

Humble art

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LisboaCacilheiro

Art is made of constraints. When architect Frank Gehry received a commission to build whatever he wanted, he turned it down. Sometimes, artists create their own constraints. The French writer George Perec wrote a 300-page novel, “La Disparition,” without using the letter “e.”

Other times, circumstances dictate the constraints. When artist Joana Vasconcelos was invited to represent Portugal in the Venice Biennale, the problem was that Portugal does not have a permanent pavilion at the fair. The artist’s solution was to use a ferry boat that was about to be dismantled both as a floating pavilion and exhibition piece. So, after spending a lifetime between the margins of the Tagus river, this humble boat has become a work of art!

The ferry boats that cross the river Tagus are called “cacilheiros.” They’re a great, inexpensive way to travel on the Tagus. Click here to see their schedule.

The art of the suffix

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O Malhadinhas

The Portuguese love to use the suffixes “inho” (pronounced eeño) and “zinho” (zeeño). They change the meaning of words in subtle, endearing ways. Instead of calling your friend Pedro, you call him Pedrinho. It means little Pedro, dear Pedro. It says you care about him.

If the gender of the word is feminine, you use “inha” (eeña ) or “zinha” (zeeña ). To greet your friend Maria you say “olá Mariazinha,” and Maria is guaranteed to smile.

These suffixes don’t apply only to proper names. To ask for a favor, ask for a “favorzinho,” and you’re more likely to see it granted. “Obrigado” means thank you, but to say a special thank you, you say “obrigadinho.”

In the 16th century, the Portuguese arrived in Japan where “obrigado,” became “arrigato.” But we didn’t stay for long, so the Japanese never learned to say “arrigatinho.”

In contrast, the Portuguese stayed in Brazil time enough for Brazilians to learn the ways of the “inho.” That’s why Brazil has been blessed with talented soccer players like Ronaldinho and brilliant bossa nova musicians like Toquinho.

Would the Japanese play beautiful soccer and sing bossa nova if they had mastered the art of the “inho”? You bet.

A Portuguese symposium

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Queijo de AzeitãoSymposium is a Greek word that means drinking together. It refers to parties in which people sat around, drinking wine and talking about life. One of these parties, attended by Socrates, was immortalized by Plato in his writings.

You can easily recreate a symposium atmosphere in Portugal. First, invite some great friends. Second, procure three great ingredients: rustic bread, Azeitão cheese and Piriquita wine.

Azeitão is produced with sheep milk in small farms in the Arrábida mountain with the same techniques used to make Serra cheese in the Estrela mountain. But different pastures make different cheese, so Azeitão has a taste all of its own. Piriquita is a wine from the nearby Palmela region, produced with a grape varietal known as Castelão or Piriquita.

This wine and cheese are a heavenly pairing. So, you’ll have a good time, even if no philosophers show up. But, if you’re lucky, the conversation will be so brilliant that people will still talk about your party in 2500 years.

The Azeitão cheese produced by Fernando & Simões in Quinta do Anjo is one of our favorites. 

Top 3 Lisbon tourist sites

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Jerónimos monastery, Maria Rebelo, digital print image, 2012.

Marie Rattazzi, a grandniece of Napoleon, was a beautiful socialite. She married an Italian prime minister and was friends with Alexander Dumas and Victor Hugo. The books she wrote about her travels give us a unique glimpse into the life of 19th century European nobility.

When Rattazzi’s “Portugal at a Glance” was published in 1880, the Portuguese complained that it was full of errors and misconceptions. But her list of favorite Lisbon sites stands the test of time. Here it is:

1) The Terreiro do Paço, bathed by the waters of the Tagus river. […] Yes, the Tagus is truly beautiful and I admire it with all the sincerity of my soul. […] It is vast, with spacious, luminous horizons and one of the world’s most splendid harbors.

2) The Rossio, a very beautiful plaza, the busiest in Lisbon.

3) The Tower of Belem and the Jerónimos monastery. The Tower of Belém has a square form flanked by turrets, watchtowers, oculi, lancet windows, and sculptured balconies. Its pure Gothic architecture produces an admirable effect. Near the tower rises the ancient Jerónimos monastery. The main entrance and the facade are one of the most beautiful examples of the opulent Gothic style. […] This remarkable monument was built in Restelo, the beach from where Vasco da Gama sailed to India. The convent, contiguous to the church, is immense. […] The Arab-style cloister has sculptured laces so perfect and beautiful that I would gladly spend consecutive days in contemplative admiration. It is wonderful!

If you’re in Lisbon for a short visit, you’ll be well served by these timeless recommendations.

A dream palace

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The Pena Palace, Maria Rebelo, digital print image, 2012.

The story of the Pena Palace begins in the 16th century. King Dom Manuel was hiking in Sintra when he sighted Vasco da Gama’s sailboats arriving in Cascais from their voyage to India. To celebrate da Gama’s feat, the king built a monastery on the top of the Sintra mountain. But, over time, the building fell into disrepair and was eventually abandoned.

When Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the husband of Queen Dona Maria II, visited Sintra, he saw the derelict monastery surrounded by a barren landscape. Ferdinand imagined a beautiful palace and an enchanted forest. He bought the property in 1838 and restored the old monastery to use as a Summer residence. Later, he built an adjacent palace with larger rooms to accommodate state functions. The monastery is pink and the new palace yellow, so they are easy to tell apart.

Around the palace, Ferdinand created artificial lakes and an irrigation system. He studied the soil and supervised the plantation of trees brought from all over the world.

In 1853, Dona Maria died and Pedro, the couple’s elder son, inherited the Portuguese throne. Ferdinand was offered the throne of Spain, but he loved living in Pena so much that he refused the offer. The Pena Palace is the dream of a German prince who fell in love with Portugal.

The art of traveling

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FrancesMayes

Travel is like many other things in life–we get what we put into it. So much of the pleasure of travel is anticipation: plotting the route, learning about history and culture, imagining the sights, preparing the senses for new tastes and aromas. Travel guides help us with the planning, but they often urge us to rush from site to site, accumulating tourist points until we’re totally exhausted and eager to return home.

There’s so much we can learn about the art of travel from the writer Frances Mayes. In chapter 2 of her book “A Year in the World,”  Mayes describes how she navigated through Portugal without compass, astrolabe or GPS. She knows when to slow down to enjoy the scenery, how to spot a good restaurant that no guidebook has noticed, how to be open to happenstance. And her writing places us on location, enjoying our vacation before it even starts!

Portuguese zen

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Bola de Berlim

A “bola de Berlim” (Berlim ball) is deliciously simple: fried dough filled with pastry cream and coated with sugar. How can we enjoy this treat in an era of constant calorie counting?

Here’s the strategy. Do you know those times when we’re annoyed by the small predicaments of life? We’re waiting in an endless line, lock our keys inside the car, step on a puddle of oil, or lose our umbrella as it starts to rain. Instead of getting frustrated, we smile and think: we earned a bola de Berlim!

We rush to a pastry store and ask without a trace of guilt: “uma bola de Berlim, por favor.” We then enjoy the bola for what it really is: a necessary moment of zen.

This Bola de Berlim is from Tartine, a wonderful new bakery in Chiado where you can enjoy breakfast, brunch and other light meals. Tartine is located on Rua Serpa Pinto, 15, Lisbon, tel. 213429108. Click here for their website.