Lisbon with Lauren

After Lauren arrived we found some lunch at the Young Liberty Cafe. Lauren had a hamburger and I had a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. The Portuguese take hamburger very literally. It was a burger with ham and mushrooms sans bun. We also enjoyed a tasty beer that is advertised all over called Super Bock. In the evening we walked to a little place tucked away on a side street and had essentially a fish and potato dish. We also drank Vinho Verde...Green Wine. This was excellent!!

The Vinho Verde is an unique product in the entire world with a blending of aroma and petillance that makes it one of the most delicious natural beverages!

Medium in alcohol, Vinho Verde has great digestive properties due to its freshness and special qualities. It is a highly regarded wine, specially for Summer drinking. The malo-lactic fermentation gives it a distinctive taste and personality. The reds are full-bodied wines with an intense colour and a rosy or light red foam. The whites usually present a lemony or straw colour.

The strong distinctive character and originality of these wines are the result of soil and climate characteristics and social-economic agents, on one hand, and of the grape varieties and the vinegrowing methods, on the other.

Friday, after I got back from the conference, we went to lunch at the Frog Cafe. Then we relaxed until the evening when we ventured out to dinner at a sidewalk cafe on Avenida da Liberdade. We both had a rice and meat dish. The sausage in it was tasty. The next morning was overcast and dreary. (Note: Dreary in Lisbon is almost equivalent to a sunny day in London.) Lauren wanted to see Alfama, so we walked in that direction. On our way, we detoured to the waterfront. The water is in fact the Rio Tejo and not the ocean. The ocean is in actuality about 15 kilometers away. The picture is of the City Municipal Building taken from the commercial square (Praça do Comércio) which was built on the site of the former royal palace which toppled during the earthquake of 1755.

We then continued up to the Castelo de Sao Jorge which offered some spectacular views of the river and the city below. The castle was originally built in the fifth century and then enlarged some 400 years later by the Moors who settled in the area. The walk to the castle takes place on narrow winding streets that rise in elevation at every step. It is quite an exhilarating workout. The Alfama area has many buildings and wall murals that are completed in the famous blue and white tile. They are quite breathtaking and many of the local artists sell the tiles as souvenirs.

That evening we went to an Italian place, Ristorante-Pizzeria Valentino, a suggestion in the Let's Go Spain and Portugal book. (Note to Tim and Greg: Pepperoni and sausage do not exist on pizzas in Portugal. It seems that many vegetable-like accouterments are abundant as pizza toppings.)

Sunday is a day of rest in Lisbon. There is not much that is open. Lauren and I walked to the park near our hotel (Parque Eduardo VII). It was built for Edward the Seventh when he visited Portugal. For lunch we went to A Brasileira. This cafe was a former haunt for many of Lisbon's great poets and intellectuals. The picture shows Lauren sitting with Fernando Pessoa. This was apparently his regular chair in the cafe.

There is ample metaphysics in not thinking at all.

What do I think about the world?
How should I know what I think about the world?
If I were ill I would think about it.

What idea have I about things?
What opinion do I have on causes and effects?
What meditations have I had upon God and the soul
And upon the creation of the World?
I don't know. For me, to think about that is to shut
me eyes.
And not think. It is to draw the curtains
Of my window (but it has no curtains).
   From The Keeper of Sheep
   ~Fernando Pessoa