Putting the Port in Portugal

Portugal shares the Iberian Peninsula with Spain, so the two countries must have a lot in common, right? WRONG! The two major cities in Portugal, Porto and Lisbon, are understated, aging beauties who don't brag or show off, are a little rough around the edges, but become more alluring the more you get to know them. I came to find out that overall, they have a similar, but much different tradition, culinary and otherwise, from Spain.

(From Left to right: Exterior of Santo Ildefonso Church, Porto; Doorway near Bolhão Station, Porto, Exterior of Capela de las Almas taken from the hotel window, Porto; Terrace tile detail, Lisbon)

Throughout Porto and Lisbon, there were beautiful run-down buildings and churches with stunning tiled exteriors. We wandered into an aging food market and found ridiculously fresh fish and baked goods like I've never seen; balão do miel, pastéis de nata...the list goes on. Port was plentiful and offered at every turn. Most everything was surprisingly inexpensive. I'd love to return. I hear the beaches in the south are untamed and gorgeous.



(From Left to Right all in Lisbon: View of a triumphal arch looking down the Rua De Augusta; Exterior of the Se, or Lisbon Cathedral; Interior of the Se)

(Views of the Douro River and riverbank in Porto)

Both cities are built on riverbanks and there are steep hills that rise as you move away from the river. Climbing up those hills is hard, so that accounts for the number of funiculars, elevators and trolleys in these cities. It's not only fun to look at these retro modes of transport, but they are also part of the city metro systems, so you can take a ride for the rest and the views.

(Above from left to right: Santa Justa Elevator in Lisbon; Funicular in Lisbon; Trolley in Porto)

We visited the Castle of São Jorge in Lisbon. This place was pretty remarkable and there's evidence that people have inhabited that spot since the Iron Age! It's no wonder that this was one of the first places to be settled; you can see for miles from the top of the castle. While we were in the neighborhood, we stumbled onto a house restaurant near the castle. There was a menu and what we ordered they were out of, but we were pleasantly surprised with what they brought to the table; a carafe of house red wine, a super fresh salad with citrus dressing, cilantro and pineapple, rice and black beans, a tostada of sorts, with ham, some delicious spiced pepper jelly and melted cheese on some fresh bread, sliced fruit and cake with a chocolate dipping sauce and, of course, port. We were treated like personal guests rather than paying customers. Everything was very cheap, very delicious and very memorable.

(Above Left and Center: Views of Lisbon from the Castle of São Jorge; Above Right: street at the top of Alfama near the castle and sign advertising our house restaurant)

We traveled a bit further away by trolley to a suburb of Lisbon called Belém, home of the Mosterio dos Jeronimos and the Torre de Belem. Both of these sites are great examples of the Manueline style of architecture, which is best described as the Portuguese version of Late High Gothic. You'll never guess who's buried in the Mosterio dos Jeronimos -- VASCO DE GAMA, the famous explorer! Next to Prince Henry the Navigator, a major source of funds for explorers, and Christiano Ronaldo, a current top footballer/soccer player, these guys probably constitute some of the most famous Portuguese people in the world!

(Left to Right, all in Lisbon: Torre de Belem, Courtyard at the Mosterio dos Jeronimos, wrought iron window at the Largo das Portas do Sol in the Alfama neighborhood, Monument to Henry the Navigator)

(Above: A male and female Fado singer and the back of Mario Pacheco's head at Clube de Fado in Lisbon)

During this trip, we also discovered fado. Fado is to Portugal what Flamenco is to Spain. Essentially, it is a very emotional musical and singing tradition. We went to the Clube de Fado in the Alfama neighborhood in Lisbon. It is owned by a famous fado guitarist, Mario Pacheco (whom you can see a bit of in the picture), who performs almost every night at his club. Shows at fado clubs are an all-night event. When you make a reservation, you reserve a table for the night for the whole performance. These performances are interspersed through the night; sometimes with as many as eight and lasting until 2 a.m.! We didn't last quite that long but, still, we were entranced the whole time with the musicians and the singers. The fado show was as amazing as the tropical storm Megan and I walked into after our four dinner/show experience, but worth every moment.

(Above: The beautiful, graphically tiled streets of Lisbon and Oporto)

And some more fun retro storefronts:

(Above Left and center: Beautiful storefronts in Porto; Above Right: storefront in Lisbon)

We ate at some great places like the house restaurant mentioned above in Lisbon and drank some great wine. Here's the funny thing about wine in Portugal and beyond, at least in Europe. You can feel totally comfortable ordering a vaso de tinto (glass of red wine), without getting more specific as we've become accustomed to in the U.S. What you get will be relatively local, cheap and pretty good; I haven't been disappointed yet. But that also means that I can't really report more about the wines I drank in Portugal. Sorry!

Nevertheless, here are some food and wine highlights:

Cafe Majestic, Porto -- Cheese plate (mostly goat and sheep) and tawny port

Barão de Fladgate, Porto -- amazing location overlooking the city and river, classic tenderloin with port sauce, Tinto, Cabriz, Dao (2005), Taylor Port

Clube de Fado, Lisbon -- bacalao with oil, garlic and red peppers, Poças tawny port

O Muro, Lisbon -- caldo verde, grilled octopus, sheep's milk cheese, olives and pickled lima beans. Hospitable owner and staff. Great location overlooking the Douro

Ca'lem Port Cellars -- tour and tasting

(From Left to Right: White and tawny port tasting at the Ca'lem Port Cellars, Porto; A typical bakery window with Pastéis de nata, almond tart and donuts!, Porto; Workers at the famous Pastéis de Belém bakery packaging up warm pasteis de nata for hungry tourists like me, Lisbon)

Pastries from both cities:

Balão do Miel (which we lovingly nicknamed 'brown round')

Torta almendros (almond tart)

Tarta do Nata (tart with cream filling)

Pastéis de Belém (flaky pastry with baked cream pie-like filling)