The resilient beauty of Lisbon

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On November 1, 1755, Lisbon woke up with the rumble of a devastating earthquake. By the end of the day the city was covered with ashes and rubble, stripped of its magnificent buildings and opulent commerce.

What was left? In the words of Alfredo Mesquita: “There was still the Tagus river, blue and bewitching, cloaked in velvet by the crystal clear sky which is studded with stars by night and gilded with sunlight by day. And the noble, melancholic majesty with which the city reclines, its feet bathing in the waters, elegant and regal, on the throne of its seven hills.”

Alfredo Mesquita, Lisboa, Empreza da História de Portugal, Livraria Moderna, 1903.

Contemporary art in Cascais

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If you’re interested in contemporary art, be sure to visit the Cascais museum devoted to the Portuguese painter Paula Rego. Her work is housed in a striking building designed by Eduardo Souto de Moura, a Portuguese architect who received the Pritzker prize in 2011. Rego uses ordinary faces, objects, and landscapes from Portugal to paint unusual scenes that challenge visual and social conventions.

Memories of a lost cheese

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Marcel Proust could vividly recall the taste and smell of his aunt’s madeleines. Those memories inspired his masterpiece, Remembrance of Things Past.

Joana Garcia remembered the taste and smell of the cheese she ate as a child with her grandmother in Alentejo. Those memories inspired her to recreate that long-lost flavor. She quit her job as a lawyer, moved to Alentejo and bought 500 sheep. After trying endless combinations of milk, salt and cardoon, she found the taste of her youth. Garcia’s masterpiece is called Queijo Monte da Vinha. It is a delicious, soft, buttery cheese with the precious taste of a distant past.

You can try Queijo Monte da Vinha at the wonderful Tasca da Esquina restaurant in Lisbon. You can buy it at Mercearia Creativa, a gourmet grocery store where you’ll find many other great Portuguese products (Av. Guerra Junqueiro, 4A, Lisbon, tel. 218-485-198). Click here for the Monte da Vinha website.

Rossio’s wild memories

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Rossio, Maria José Rebelo, digital print image, 2012.

Rossio, one of Lisbon’s main plazas, is an aristocratic lady who has seen it all: prosperity, peace, poverty, and bloodshed. She also remembers crazy times, when bullfights were staged in the middle of the plaza. And that day in 1515! King Manuel had arranged a duel in Terreiro do Paço between an elephant and a rhinoceros. When the elephant saw the other beast, it broke its cage and fled to Rossio!

She remembers the story of the statue of D. Pedro IV, King of Portugal and Emperor of Brazil. His daughter, D. Maria II, inaugurated a monument that remained unfinished for 14 years. Finally, in 1867, a high column was built and a regal statue placed on top. A statue of emperor Maximilian was in Lisbon in transit to Mexico, when news arrived that Maximilian had been shot. Rumor has it that the statue was bought at a discount and used in Rossio. It was a fine way to save money, since all emperors look alike atop a high column.

But all that is the past. What matters is that every day Rossio is full of young people, and that their dreams can fill the future.

In search of the muses

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Martinho da Arcada, Maria José Rebelo, monochrome digital print image, 2012.

Martinho da Arcada, a café in Terreiro do Paço, is a time capsule. It shows us what Lisbon cafés looked like in the first part of the 20th century. It is an austere place and, yet, it was here that the poet Fernando Pessoa wrote some of the best poetry in the Portuguese language.

Do the muses still gather at Martinho da Arcada, waiting to whisper their rhymes to those willing to listen? There’s only one way to find out. Take a pen and a pad of paper, sit down at one of the tables, order some coffee, and watch what happens.

Pink glamour

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Lula, Rui Barreiros Duarte, ink on paper, 2012.

The squid is a sea socialite, always hopping from shrimp to smelt parties, elegant and glamorous in its pink-dotted design gown. This cephalopod has in recent years become a globe trotter. Every day, billions of squid travel by road, sea and air to the menus of fashionable restaurants around the world. But all this roving takes a toll on the delicate mollusk, which arrives tired and frozen, long on frequent-flyer miles and short on taste.

If you’re in Portugal, don’t miss the chance to try some fresh squid. The best way to cook it is “Algarve style” (lulas à Algarvia):  the squid is lightly fried in olive oil, garlic, and bay leaves. It’s a simple preparation and yet, it produces sublime results that do justice to the squid’s diaphanous freshness.

Portugal’s navigators

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The centerpiece of the 1940 Portuguese World Fair was a large plaster sculpture celebrating Portugal’s age of discovery. Two decades later, this sculpture was rebuilt in cement and stone. It has a terrace on top that you can reach by elevator. It is well worth the climb to enjoy the magnificent view of Lisbon.

The monument is shaped like a ship prowl. Both sides are crowded with statues of monarchs, sailors, scientists, missionaries, writers, and artists. They’re all jostling for a good position on the narrow decks, thinking that, if they’re going to stand still until the end of time, they might as well get a nice view of the Tagus river.

Prince Henry the Navigator secured the prime spot. He stands right in front of the monument with a stern look on his face. Some say that he’s thinking about the perils that Portuguese explorers had to endure. But a more popular theory is that he’s simply afraid of being pushed into the river. Despite his nautical fame, Prince Henry never learned to swim.

A supreme chicken

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One of the simple pleasures of Portuguese cuisine is roasted chicken with piri-piri, a spicy sauce made with peppers that came originally from Africa.

Frango da Guia, a small roasted chicken, is very popular in the Algarve. But the best roasted chicken we have ever had is from Frango Saloio, a tiny take-out place in the municipal market of the town of Lourinhã, 70 km north of Lisbon. You see no tourists there, only locals who wait while their chicken is cooked to perfection over red-hot coals. Lines can be long during the Summer, so please don’t tell anyone about this place!

Frango Saloio is located in Mercado Municipal, Loja 2, Lourinhã, tel. 917 272 385.

Sweet Algarve

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Algarve is much more than gorgeous beaches and perfect weather. It is also delicious sweets made with eggs, almonds or figs. The most famous are the Dom Rodrigos. But the prettiest are doces finos (fine sweets) like the ones shown in the photo, made with the wonderful marzipan that only almonds from Algarve can produce. These local treats are one more reason why life in the Algarve is so sweet.

The doces finos in the photo are from Pastelaria Beira-Mar, Avenida Infante Sagres 61-A, Quarteira, tel. 289 314 748.

A place of serenity

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You can have an unforgettable vacation at Casas da Areia, a beautiful retreat on the margins of the Sado river, one hour south of Lisbon. Here, you can rent one of four fisherman huts built from local materials. They have striking African-inspired thatched roofs and impeccable minimalist design.

There are many pristine beaches close by. But, once you settle at Casas da Areia, you’ll probably just want to enjoy the magnificent vistas and bike around the gorgeous Sado estuary. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself talking to Christian Louboutin about the serenity of this place; he has a house nearby.

After staying at Casas de Areia, it’s hard to stop asking your friends “did I tell you about my unforgettable vacation in Portugal?”

You can find more information about Casas na Areia here.