A taste of Portugal

Zoomer | September 27th, 2007

There are two things you need to know about Lisbon: Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the sea route to India in the 15th century brought incredible riches to the city; and the earthquake of 1755 – one of the most destructive in history – wiped most of it out, killing 100,000 of the city’s 275,000 inhabitants. With an event of that size, it’s understandable Lisboans talk about the earthquake as if it happened yesterday, not more than 250 years ago.

Oh, and a third thing: the unbelievable, indescribable taste of pastéis de Belém, delectable browned-topped custard tarts with a light puff pastry crust. Dusted with cinnamon and castor sugar, and served warm, they’ve been making them for 170 years and still sell about 30,000 every Sunday (the record is 48,000). So join the pilgrimage and indulge.

But to earn the calories the pastries will cost you, start your tour of one of the world’s oldest cities at the Monastery of Jerónimos in Belém on the western waterfront of the city. Belém, an abbreviation for Bethlehem, was the scene of Vasco da Gama’s departure when he sailed off to find the route to India. The monastery was begun in 1501 by King Manuel to commemorate the explorer’s discovery (da Gama’s tomb lies within) and named after the king’s patron saint, Jerome. While King Manuel never saw his dream completed – it took a century to complete – the monastery was a private tomb for the royal family and built in the late Gothic style known as Manueline, with ship chains and ropes as well as plants and animals incorporated into the design. A jewel of the Manueline style, the monastery has been named a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.

Cross the Avenidade Brasilia to the Tower of Belém, an iconic symbol of the city of Lisbon and another UNESCO World Heritage site. Constructed to thwart enemy ships coming up river to attack the city, the exterior of the tower is elaborately decorated while the interior is rather austere. Climb its narrow staircase to the upper ramparts and gaze across the wide Rio Teja (Tagus River). A visit to the nearby Monument to the Discoveries, which was built in 1960 to honour the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator and commemorate his role and the role of Portuguese sailors in the voyages of discovery, is also in order.

Head back to the Antiga Confeitaria de Belém and enjoy the pastéis, whose name is spelled out in blue tiles in the sidewalk in front of this deceptively narrow shop on Rua de Belém. The take-out counter in the front room is crowded but walk through the warrens of rooms, each connected to the next for a city block, each one crowded with Lisboans who have been appreciating the bica (espresso) and, of course, the pastéis since 1834.

Lisbon is a city of cobblestones and hills – some too steep for cars – so comfortable shoes are a must. You’ll really appreciate that advice on the second day when you head up to the fifth-century Castelo de São Jorge with its incredible view over the city and the Tagus River. From the castle, make your way down toward the river through the twisted laneways of the Alfama, the whitewashed Moorish part of town where clotheslines loop two storeys over your head above the narrow laneways.

Or catch Tram No. 28, which drops down from the Castle of São Jorge through Chiado and Bairro Alto districts, ending at Estrela by the parliament building. In a city of trolleys – 59 trolleys on five routes covering 50 kilometres – the No. 28 tram is the best. The full tour takes about two hours at most. On Sundays, the women in black heading home from church chatter and laugh and seem to have stepped out of a Caravaggio painting.

Downtown, many of the tiled buildings are tagged with graffiti, defacing the beautifully crafted azulejos (painted tiles) for which the Portuguese have been famous for centuries. Several of the three- and four-storey piazzas have been renovated into condos or hotels, but many are derelict, trapped by strict laws enforcing rent control that allow for no increases over generations.

During the day, meander through Bairro Alto with its ubiquitous narrow cobblestone streets. With boutiques and bookshops, tea rooms and restaurants, it’s an eclectic and attractive neighbourhood. At night, the area is a different scene with fado bars coming to life around midnight. Uniquely Lisbon, melancholy fado music may have its roots in medieval times with input from African slaves and the nostalgic songs of the Moors. It’s the music of the marginalized, the songs of the vanquished and lost.

Stroll down to the historical neighbourhood of Chiado, a sophisticated shopping district and home to some of Lisbon’s oldest and fanciest shops – crowded, historic and totally charming. Then hop into the Santa Justa Street elevator, built in 1902, that will drop you 45 metres down to the Baixa area of central Lisbon, considered the real center of the city.

In contrast to the history of downtown Lisbon is the Parques Nationales, the site of Lisbon’s Expo98 and home to the world’s largest salt-water aquarium. Oceanário de Lisboa contains five million litres of water with 16,000 occupants representing 450 species from the four ecosystems of the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Antarctic oceans. Take a ride on the park’s kilometre-long cable car for great views.
Next day, head west to the Portuguese Riviera of Estoril and Cascais, and enjoy the romance of Sintra and Cabo da Roca, the most westerly point of continental Europe.

Sintra, with its steep, tiled streets lined with shops, is a UNESCO World Heritage site in the cultural landscape category. Lord Byron called it “a garden of the earthly paradise.” Drop into Hockey Caffee, its tasteful menu and modernity a contrast to the historic setting. And of course, the National Palace across the street is worth a tour with its lavish royal rooms and twin peak chimneys that are symbolic of Sintra.
Compare such royal luxury with the Franciscan friars of the nearby Convento dos Capuchos, built in 1560 and whose chapel was carved from rock and lined with cork. Its Christian austerity is mind-boggling, with doors to the monks’ small cells so low they were forced to bow every time they entered, a more than daily reminder of humility. The dark stone room in which they had their meals on their laps was furnished with a slab of granite as a low table at which the monks knelt. The convent was abandoned in 1834 with the extinction of the religious orders.

Another destination worthy of a visit is the Quinta da Regaleira, another UNESCO World Heritage site. Built at the turn of the 20th century, this fascinating and romantic place is a combination of Gothic, Manueline and Renaissance styles with overlays of early Christianity, Knights of the Templar and the Masonic Lodge. Within its exotic gardens lies an initiation well. Descend the spiral staircase with darkness encroaching as you make your way down to an inlaid pointed star lit by a pinprick of sunlight, then make your way through the underground labyrinth in the grottos to reach the ponds in the outside world.
Just south of Sintra is Cabo da Roca, the most westerly point in mainland Europe and immortalized by the epic Portuguese poet Luís de Camões in the 16th century as “the place where the earth finishes and the sea begins.” It’s a daunting place where the sky and the sea seem to go on forever, where intrepid Portuguese ships sailed off to the ends of the earth.

After the delights of Lisbon and environs, it’s down to the Algarve, about 300 kilometres south of the capital and the destination of choice for many sun-starved Canadians in the winter months, where temperatures average 15 to 30 C all year long and the sun shines 360 days a year. Dominated by tourists from the United Kingdom and Germany, the Algarve is a comfortable and affordable snowbird destination for Canadians.

History is everywhere on this 200-kilometre Atlantic coastline of cliffs, coves, caves and more than 100 sandy beaches. The Moors called this area Al-Agharb, meaning The West, and their legacy is obvious in more than its name. Castles, churches and lacework chimneys are evidence of their presence. The golden age of the Portuguese voyages of discovery involved the Algarve, too. The caravels (sailing ships) of Henry the Navigator set sail from Lagos and Sagres here on the most southwesterly tip of continental Europe.

Don’t miss the camera obscura in the former water tower of Tavira, a town whose origin dates to around 2000 BC. For 3.50 Euros, you’ll have a panoramic view of the city, using the principle law of optics used by Leonardo da Vinci. Ferries take tourists out to the beach, which lies beyond the salt pans.

Just west of the international airport at Faro is the popular tourist destination of Vilamoura, the largest tourist complex in Europe with a marina, five golf courses, four- and five-star hotels as well as tourist apartments and self-catering villas. Comfortable for first-time visitors to the Algarve.

Continue to the western tip of the Algarve and visit Cabo de São Vicente, a bleak stark land where 75-metre high cliffs rise straight out of the Atlantic, a landmark for ships travelling to or from the Mediterranean. Sacred grounds since Neolithic times, today the lone lighthouse built on the ruins of a 16th-century convent guards one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

In the town of Lagos, hop a jeep from Zebra Safaris for a tour north along the coastline north and into the Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina Natural Park, an unspoiled craggy coastal area of trails and cliffs, a birdwatcher’s paradise.

Near Lagoa is the small town of Porches, renowned for its pottery. Here, the Hotel Sofitel Thalassa Vilalara, with its 25 acres of tropical gardens filled with the cooing of turtle doves, is an elegant respite from days of touring. With its three seawater and two freshwater pools and as the first centre of thalassotherapy in Portugal, the Vilalara (named after the architect’s daughter) offers a wide range of seawater therapy treatments, saunas and massages.

The Algarve is synonymous with food: charcoal-grilled fish, seafood in copper cataplana pans, grilled sardines, olives, almonds and figs, oranges that redefine the meaning of citrus, cakes of figs, almonds and chocolate. The abundance of food means you never leave the table hungry, yet prices will surprise you.

All restaurants in Portugal must post a tourist menu by law with a fixed-price menu. But it’s not unusual to be charged for the fresh bread, olives and cheese delivered to your table as soon as you sit down, so if you don’t want any, ask the server to take them away. But why would you pass them up?

Then it’s time to go home – and spend the rest of your life attempting to replicate those delectable pastéis de Belém.