Not Fado Away

Myfriend, man-about-town Doug Heye, sent me a list of recommended restaurants for Lisbon, as he had been not long before we were coming.  The one that jumped out to me was Tosco do Chico, for it was a Fado place.

Our taxi dropped us off at the top of a narrow pedestrian street that was full of bars.  We wandered down the Rua do Diario de Noticias, past the lively restaurants till we got to number 39. We got in line until we saw others going right in the door.  Since we had a reservation, we were able to go right in.  It's a tiny place, and they seat four or more to a table, so we were eventually placed with a nice couple from Brazil (she) and France (he).  They live together now in France and are planning to be married.

We hurriedly ordered some tapas, mostly meats, cheeses, bread, and olives.  The Fado started promptly at 8:30, with the two guitarists playing a song to warm up.  Then, the first singer started in, an older male.

Fado is an art form of Portuguese music, and is popular in bars around Lisbon as well as Coimbra.  It may also be done in other cities, but I don't know.  Started in the 1820s, Fado is a must-do while in Portugal.  From Wikipedia:

In popular belief, fado is a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor, and infused with a sentiment of resignation, fate and melancholia. This is loosely captured by the Portuguese word saudade, or longing, symbolizing a feeling of loss (a permanent, irreparable loss and its consequent lifelong damage). 

It's definitely mournful, and somewhat haunting to listen to.  I say "somewhat" simply because, well, when you don't know Portuguese, it's hard to know exactly what they are singing about.  Is it a lost love, the death of a beloved family member, or a cat run over in traffic?  It's possible we heard songs about all three.

It's extra moving because we are all jammed into together into this small restaurant/bar.  Everyone is in good spirits, and the photo of the two guitarists below underscores that we are all right on top of each other.  

There were maybe 50 people total in the restaurant, and we were crammed in.  COVID was not a concern of this crowd (Portugal's rate per 100k right now is about 1/3 of the US rate, and 97-99% are vaxxed, depending on which source you see).  

The older male singer (readers:

no kidding Glen, we could tell!)

He sang three or four songs, and then there was a break.  We chatted with Marcella and Sebastian.  It was a pleasant chat.  They drove 12 hours from France to come to the WebSummit, which is a big tech deal going on in the city.  They are adopting two four-month old Portuguese Water Dogs, so we commiserated with them about the impending puke feast on the long drive home.  

They surprised us by buying a Fado CD from older male singer, Joao Carlos, having him inscribe it, and giving it to us.  Now we just need to figure out a working CD player. . .I think there is one in a couple of our cars!

The second singer was a more traditional female Fado artist.  She is young, and had quite the voice.  At some point, I turned to Carol and said, "I feel like this is something out of a Rick Steves show."  (If you don't know who Rick Steves is, google him. . .and then DVR some of his shows.  They are great adverts for European travel.)

The young singer.  There's not a lot

of room for them to perform, but

that's part of the charm.

During the breaks, the lights would

go up and the guitars would

be hung on the wall.

We stayed for probably four rounds of singing, two by Joao Carlos and two by her (never got her name).  It really was a magical experience.   

And the Rain, Rain, Rain Came Down. Down, Down In Rushing Raging Riv'lets

 As we made our way down from the castle, the rain just got heavier and heavier.  Carol and I gingerly picked our way down, cognizant of the dangerous combination of wet stone and bad knees. Fortunately neither of us wiped out.  

More street art.  This one is not actually

ruined by graffiti "artists."

We took a quick peak at Marta's direction into the cathedral, but did not go in.  Given how wet we were we were ready to keep going.  The write-ups on the Cathedral aren't exactly glowing, so we felt as though we were not missing much.

A few street more, we came to Praca do Comercio, a grand square along the river.  The square used to be the home of the royal palace until the earthquake, and is also famous for the being the location of the assassination of the last king and prince of Portugal in 1908.  We walked past the Arch of Triumph, hiding under the smaller arches providing cover from the rain.

The tour was great.  Marta really covered a lot of ground and imparted a lot of interesting information.  I'm not sure everyone is as interested in history as Carol and I are, but it was just the right amount of primer for us.  I've got Marta's What's App, in case anyone is going to Lisbon and wants a great guide.

Up to Castelo Sao Jorge

Under Marta's informative leadership, we towards the Castelo Sao Jorge.  First we went through a square (the Praca da Figueira) that looked like it would be a great place for lunch -- there were small wooden food kiosks selling cheese, desserts, meats, and wine.  There was a big tent with picnic tables.  Turns out it was the site of  former market.  The market had come down, but been replaced by a different type of market.  Definitely worth a visit if you are near there during lunchtime.

Under Marta's expert, chatty leadership, we made our way up numerous steep streets and stairways.  She timed our breaks to talk about something nearly perfectly.  We came to mural that had been ironically impacted by graffiti.  She told us about the different people on the mural, including the woman credited as the founder of Fado.  

Part of a mural about Fado

Across the sidewalk from the mural.  I don't

think the beautiful tiles will help this

sheet dry any faster in the rain.

The stylized founder of Fado, 

Maria Severa Onofriana

Marta also pointed out the different house styles in the neighborhood.  Then we made it almost to the top, to an elevator with another wonderful view. . .that was slightly dampened by the low cloudy weather.

At the top, Marta took us to Pastelaria San Antonio, where we enjoyed our first pastel de nata of the trip -- but certainly not our last!  It was a tasty stop.  We didn't go up to the actual Castel de Sao Jorge, as there is not much to see there, according to all my pre-trip research, and to Marta.

We started our way back down the jumble of streets that is the famed Alfama neighborhood, stopping for a great view of the neighborhood and the cruise ships that are just returning to Lisbon.

Remember, I'm only posting fewer than

half of the tiles I have photos of here.

Pretty amazing stuff.

A view of the Alfama

And the cruise ships.

I guessed wrong. . .thanks to Marta I learned

this is the Sao Vincente de Fora!

As we made our way down the steep, jumbled streets of the Alfama, the rain started coming down harder and harder.  We stopped briefly under a pedestrian overpass that included a brilliantly illustrated series of drawings showing, in cartoon fashion, the history of Lisbon.  Unfortunately, moronic graffiti was sprayed over significant portions, ruining an interesting work of public art just to make an idiot happy.

The first panel of the interesting illustrated

history of Lisbon.  I refused take pictures

of the destruction by graffiti.

Tours by Locals. . .Marta

 In recent years, we've enjoyed occasionally hiring a guide for a few hours walkabout.  I rely on the website "Tours by Locals" as a good way to sort through the options.

I had booked Marta for a 2pm walking tour of Lisbon.  We immediately hit it off with her.  She did a great job taking us around the storied Alfama neighborhood, the Baixa neighborhood, and the Mouraria neighborhood.

We spent a bunch of time in the Pedro IV Square as Marta gave us some basic primers on Portuguese history.  Other than Vasco de Gama, Magellan, Henry the Navigator, and a little about Salazar, neither of us knew much about the country's history.  (By the way, Christiano Ronaldo is another famous person from Portugal, but that's current history).

The square itself has some beautiful fountains, an amazing wavy tile pattern, and oddly enough for October 28th, a huge Christmas fake tree (jumping the gun).  We later saw Christmas decorations hanging from building to building across streets.  Talk about Christmas creep. . .the earlier and earlier signs of Christmas.  At least in America that is 100% commercial, such as toy sales at Wal-Mart and decorations for sale early in November at Home Depot.

Pedro IV Square.  The tip of my umbrella

in the photo means it was raining.

Up close on the fountain

Christmas comes early.

Pedro IV stoically suffers

with a pigeon on his head.

After that, we walked over to the Church of Sao Domingos, which was a center of the Portuguese Inquisition.  There is also a recent, simple monument to the Massacre of the Jews in 1506, that started there in the square.  It was 14 years after the Spanish kicked the Jews out of Spain.  Initially welcomed by the king of Portugal, the Portuguese people did not like having the Jews there and they were expelled in 1496. 

Some stayed and tried to act like they had converted to blend in and stay in Portugal.  In Sao Domingos in 1506, a Jewish man questioned the vision of a Christian woman in that church.  Words were exchanged, the Jewish man was slaughtered, and then the mobs went after more.  

The memorial for the massacre of the Jews.

Carol's Spanish language skills enabled her to 

translate this.  

The cross on top of the 

Church of Sao Domingos.

Wrapping Up Our Stroll

 After Convento do Carmo, we walked over to the Elevador de Santa Justa, which connects to lower Baixa with the higher Bairro Alto/Chaido.  Built in 1902 by an understudy to the great Eiffel, it's very cool looking structure.  The platform leading up to it afforded additional great views of Lisbon and the river.

Across the Tagus River

Some of the only semi-blue sky we've seen so far.

Castle and city.

Elavador de Santa Justa

After that, we retraced our steps to Largo do Carmo and crossed down to Rua Garrett, which features the Cafe A Brasileira, a 100+ year old Art Nouveau decor coffee shop.  We popped in, looked around, and left, much to the chagrin of the maitre d. We then walked down Rua Garrett to see the variety of fancy shops.

Our impending guide, Marta, had sent some restaurant suggestions for lunch near the Pedro IV Plaza, where we were meeting for our walking tour.  We were able to get an outside table on the small street through the arch at A Licorista.  I had the fresh grouper and, taking a chance, a large beer.  It's a chance because I'm not a good day drinker, and jet-lagged, I could easily fall asleep.  Fortunately, I did not.  The hardest part of a meal in Portugal is getting the check.  I had to ask four times before it finally showed!  (Alas, I don't remember what Carol had for lunch and she is sleeping during my early morning blogging.)

Convento do Carmo

Of the places we went on our morning walkabout, the Convento do Carmo was the coolest thing we saw.  Before we went into the convent, we stopped for a drink (water for me, Coca-Cola Zero for Carol) in the pleasant Largo do Carmo square.  This is the square where the peaceful Carnation Revolution happened in 1974, ending the long dictatorship.  It is quite pleasant, with a beautiful fountain and many jacaranda trees brought from South America to provide shade.

The convent itself was destroyed by the 1755 earthquake.  The decision was made not to rebuild, or to tear down.  Instead, it was to be left as a memorial to the quake.  There are beautiful Gothic arches supporting nothing but the sky, along with a small museum with lots of artifacts from the Bronze Age, the Romans, and even Peruvian mummies.  It was a combination of quick and interesting. . .the best kind of museum!

Don't go for the museum, go for the open air, arched convent.  It's a very peaceful place.

Amazing place, arches still

standing by amazing grace.

A caravel, the Portuguese sailing vessel

 that meant so much to this nation's history.

Incredible that the carved crown

did not break in the earthquake.

The earthquake caught this fellow by surprise.

Definitely out of place, not sure

whether I like this art or not.

Nothing says "religious art" like

a cherubim holding a skull.

I ain't lion to you, I always like

taking this sort of picture.

Why did you include a gross picture

of a Peruvian mummy? It's

Halloween!  I had to!

Ending with the money shot.

A Stroll Around A Lisbon Neighborhood

 We've had good success by using "Tours by Locals" to hire a guide for a walkabout tour.  I had one scheduled for 2pm our first day in Lisbon, but that meant we had all morning to ourselves.

Our hotel allowed us to get into our hotel upon check-in around 7 am, so we promptly took a two hour nap to try to make up for our fitful dozing on the plane.  Being able to shower and put on clean clothes put us in the right frame of mind for the day.  

We got a great price on the hotel room at the Hotel Corinthia Lisbon.  The only downside is that the hotel is in the business district, outside of the city center, so there is no walking from the hotel to the sights.  The nearest Metro is a mile walk away, so we've been taking taxis.  We haven't Uber'd yet, because as soon as we step out, there's a taxi.

I did an incredibly thorough job of preparing for the trip, so we made sure to do sight-seeing that was not on the agenda of our guide.  We did the Rick Steves "Bairro Alto and Chiado Stroll," which is a nice way to cover that whole neighborhood.

Dropped off by our taxi at the Praca dos Restauradores (a major square that seems most famous for the Hard Rock Cafe. . .at least that's how everyone refers to it).  We had an arduous climb up the C. Da Gloria.  About halfway up I was regretting not ponying up the money for the "Elevador da Gloria," a funicular that whisks people up the steep, steep hill (did I mention it was steep?).  

Eventually we came to the Sao Pedro de Alcantara Park, which offers grand views much of Lisbon.  We could see the Cathedral towers, the castle on the hill across the way, and the skyscrapers of the new city to the left.  Most impressive, however, was the views of the red-roofed houses, undulating up and down the hills of the city.

A view of Lisbon

Sao Jorge Castle

Little Pink Houses, for You and Me

The River Tagus off in the distance

This is us.

From there we wandered through a cool old neighborhood, the Bairro Alto.  Walking up and down hills on small streets, we passed restaurants, bars, and homes.  Many of the buildings had beautiful tiles covering the outside walls, instead of using paint.  

One example of the tiled walls

Knife-sharpener plying his trade

Would love to know the backstory about this

Typical neighborhood street

Yes, my Shutterfly book is going to have

two pages of different tiles.  These are

 just a few of them.

Our stop was the absolutely beautiful (inside) Sao Roque Church.  Built in the 16th Century, the church has incredibly exquisite side chapels.  A Jesuit church, it is also famous for the design of the perfectly flat ceiling, which results in excellent acoustics.  Note to self: take off your hat before entering a church in Portugal, or else you get hat-shamed by the security person.  We skipped the museum next door, preferring to get pictures with the sculpture of the lottery-ticket salesman.  Even though lotteries are for people who are bad at math, the charming fellow is worth the selfie.

Prediction: This fellow will be cancelled

One of the side chapels

Do not think of this photo while trying to fall

 asleep tonight.  You won't be able to sleep.

Our friendly neighborhood lottery ticket salesman.