Life in France: New Year in Lisbon

To our disappointed our hotel in Lisbon turned out to be not in the heart of the old town, so we'll have to take the metro. Fortunately the station was right next to the hotel. And as compensation our hotel room had a view on the Tagus river with the Vasco de Gama bridge crossing it, at 17.2 km the longest bridge in Europe.
The restaurant turned out to have a fixed menu (less costly than the 100€ one, but still expensive), but we were not hungry after our good meal in Obidos.
According to the very talkative porter, Marco (who also informed us of a South African guy living in the hotel trying to teach the local team to play better rugby), the annual festivities in the old town will not take place this year due to the crisis. But the hotel staff recommended us to go to another area where you'll find some nightlife and people plan to gather and might have fireworks.
Hesitating which direction we should go, the old town or the party gathering (as they are in opposite directions on the metro), we chose the old town. It was quite chilly and already dark, so we've decided we'll come back to the hotel after a while and then go to the party gathering shortly before midnight.
Now, I have to admit, I am not bad with direction. Except when I ascend from these European undergrounds. Then I have no idea which direction to take. In Paris the Eiffel is like Table Mountain in Cape Town, always guiding you. And the name of the sortie is the name of the street into which you'll arrive. In Lisbon, the name of the street on the exit sign and the name on the map are two different things. I still do not understand how to match these. And to ascend in the dark from the underground is even worse. So we've tried to memorise our way as we walk around, having no idea which direction the ocean is. Eventually we found a square and could see the castle, but even that didn't help us, as we had no idea where we are. As we were studying the map under the street light, an American couple passed us with their kids. They weren't sure of their way either, but at least they could tell us where we were! (180° from where we wanted to be)
After walking down to the Tagus river, we've returned to one of the main streets with restaurants in the middle of the wide paved street (with its patterns), fortunately with some plastic blinds and heaters against the cold. The streets and little restaurants were busy, but not packed. We've decided to take a light dinner with water as JL was saying Portugese wine is either vinegar or corked. With my brain clutching out between the many languages I could only manage to get out obrigado in Portugese, but I was amazed at the positive response and even better service I got from the waiters when saying it. For me, if I am in a country where people cannot understand me, my brain tells me to speak French, it just happens. But in Portugal, they speak Portugese, many a good English, less but not so few speak French and some only Portugese (and JL had to use his Spanish). At the end of the holiday we were completely confused between the different languages.
By the time we got back to the hotel Marco couldn't wait to chat to us again, I have never met such a talkative guy, but at least good for him, as he talked us out of €10 for a tip. We decided to sit down in the elegant bar, that seems more like a lounge, and drank a small porto before going to the party gathering (since we are well educated after our tasting in Porto). After the drive, the toll gate drama, the big meal in Obidos, the walk in Lisbon - we were kapoet after the small glass of porto. I took my bath, we've watched the new year being announced with colourful fireworks from our hotel window and went straight to bed.
Lisbon is not a big city, as in Porto we've decided to take the hop on hop off bus, especially as some sights are out of the way and not easy to reach by feet. Like Porto, it is a steep city and has many hills. I was surprised to learn that Lisbon was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake, followed by a tsunami, in 1755. Hence, the city is not that old, the streets are wide, designed in a grid, with beautiful buildings. On the hills you find the steep, narrow winding streets, which is also where you find the heart of the fado, to me the highlight of our visit to Lisbon. Fado is the music of Lisbon and has been sang in small cafés and restaurants for over 150 years, with little change to the music. Both JL and I loved it and I still regret that we didn't buy a CD. I've included two short videos in this blog, I hope you enjoy it! The two songs are different, hence the reason for including both to give you an idea of the possible variation.

The area around the exhibition centre (the party gathering area of the previous evening) is very modern:

And so often you'll see washing hanging outside. In Porto we were making the joke that it rains in the evening - they wash it in the evening, hang it outside and then all the water drips onto the pavement where you're walking!

Below: casa dos Bicos, with its diamond-shaped stone façade, built in 1525 for an illegitimate son of the king

Different patterns on the pavement

And the beautiful wide streets

Once again an aid to the inhabitants to overcome the steep hills (we took it in the evening on the way to our fado show):

I would have loved to visit this place. The tiles in Portugal are truly remarkable.

I like Portugal's colourful buildings

Below: the beautiful station building

Above: the triumphal arch in Praça do Comércio (below)

You can see the Tagus river behind. This is where the presidential palace was located for 400 years, destroyed in the earthquake and rebuilt. The arcaded buildings cover three sides of the square, today hosting government administration offices. After the revolution in 1911 the buildings were painted Republican pink but has since been restored to the royal yellow.

A bit further away is the Belém area, where the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos is situated. This is a spectacular example of Manueline architecture and a reminder of the heydays of Portugal when they were a strong force during the "age of discovery". It was commissioned by Manuel I in 1501, soon after Vasco da Gama's return from his historic voyage establishing the spice route. It was financed by "pepper money", the profits made from the spice trade.

It is incredible how much gold there is in some of these European churches!

Above: as one could expect, the grave of Vasco da Gama is also there

Opposite the monstery is praça du imperio with gardens, a fountain and also beautiful paving. We were fortunate to see a group dressed in traditional outfits singing and dancing, as we cross the square towards the Monument to the Discoveries

Below: the Monument to the Discoveries, standing on the bank of the Tagus river, was built in 1960 to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator (the guy right in the front of the statue). The other stone statues are of other Portugese heroes linked with the Age of Discovery. The monument is shaped like a boat. The paving of the square around the monument resembles waves!

Above: the Torre de Belém was built as a fortress in the Tagus river in 1515-1525 and was the starting point for the navigotors who left to discover the trade routes.

Below: tiles along the road decorating walls

Inside the old funicular, on our way to find a restaurant in the fado area

We didn't have much hope to find a restaurant that will have a fado show, as it was Sunday night and 1 Jan. The first one we've tried is also the most known one, as one could expect - already fully booked. Fortunately we found a restaurant in a small side street not far from there and we could make a booking for an hour and a half later, as it was still too early. We had a bad experience in Porto, making a reservation in the afternoon for dinner and on our arrival the evening were told they cannot accommodate us, they are fully booked (never mind that wé also had a booking!). So I told the guy straight I do not want a repetion of that sort, but he promised we'll have a good experience (and they treated us like kings that evening). It was cold and we didn't want to eat tapas before dinner, fearing it will spoil our appetite, so while walking through the streets, to our delight we found a wine tasting room. Perfect! We've spend the time there and were almost late for our dinner. Telling the guy that we are sure there must be good wine in Portugal but to date we haven't found it yet, he went out of his way to bring us different wines that we could taste by the glass. JL was horrified, asking me whether I realised I've opened the door to receive a huge bill at the end. Fortunately it was less than what he expected, we had a great time drinking excellent wines and walked out with the name of one of the Portugese grapes we know we'll always look for in a Portugese wine in the future. We even had a musical show, even though not fado - including 'the lion sleeps tonight'!

Below: the outside of our restaurant (also a tiled building)

You need to wait about 2 seconds before you'll hear the music. (For the older generation: Make sure the vol is on and click on the play button, the triangle on the bottom left) I hope you won't get seasick at the end of this one, I didn't realise it is still recording...(so just listen to the music)

As it is dark in the video clips: that you can see the music instruments and decorations! There were 3 singers, the best one a young lady, but unfortunately the video clips of her didn't record succesfully!