Lisbon

I started my day in Lisbon (Lisboa), the capital of and largest city in Portugal, by taking the Metro to downtown, and then I walked through the squares along the main street for a few minutes. Then I started hiking up the large hill through the Alfama district toward the city's historic castle. On my way up to the castle, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon the ruins of a Roman theater. That is an example of what makes Europe so intriguing. I did not know about the Roman theater ruins, nor did I intend to walk up the hill that way. I was doing my best to guess which windy streets would lead me up the hill and to the castle, and on the way, I literally wandered into them. This experience reminded me of my visit to the Rock of Cashel in Ireland roughly 9 years ago, when we stumbled upon the ruins of an abbey in the middle of an Irish field. The structure, Hore Abbey, was 900 years old, and we had an amazing time exploring it, but until we stumbled upon it we neither knew of it nor intended to seek it out. (Before I continue, my album with some of my favorite Lisbon photos is here.)

The views from the castle and its grounds were amazing in all directions. My favorite views, however, were the ones out to the 25 de Abril (April 25th) Bridge, which reminded me a great deal of the bridges at home in San Francisco. From afar, this bridge looks much like the Golden Gate Bridge, and it is a double-decker suspension bridge like the western span of the Bay Bridge. In fact, it was built by the American Bridge Company, the same company that constructed the Bay Bridge (but not the Golden Gate). Next to the bridge, across from the city, you can see the monument of Cristo Rei (Christ the King), which is reminiscent of the larger Corcovado statue situated above Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Cristo Rei was built after World War II had ravished Europe, and it is a symbol of gratefulness to God for Portugal being spared from the horrors of that war.

However, the 25 de Abril Bridge was not the only reminder of home. Many things about Lisbon reminded me of San Francisco--the city lying right on the water; the mix of trams, trolleys, buses, commuter trains, and subways; the neighborhoods up on the hills; and more. In fact, they are even a bit similar geographically if you compare the San Francisco Peninsula and the Sacramento River to the Lisbon area, where the Tagus River meets the Atlantic. The cities are also similar in scale both in terms of size (by area) and population (SF being slightly larger by both counts). I met a couple from Palo Alto who agreed that to them, Lisbon felt a great deal like home.

But unlike San Francisco, which was founded as a Spanish mission and really grew with the gold rush of the late 1840s, Lisbon has many layers of history. The Roman theater (mentioned above) is about 2000 years old, and after the Roman rule ended, the city was controlled by the Moors during the Iberian Peninsula's Islamic period (the Moors controlled parts of Spain and Portugal for a period of 700 years, which is why southern Spain has so much Islamic architecture--it's also why Spanish has so many words derived from Arabic). The Lisbon Cathedral was built after crusaders took the city from the Moors in 1147, and it was built over the site of a Moorish Islamic mosque. In addition, the city has been rebuilt several times after being severely damaged and even destroyed by past earthquakes. The particularly tragic earthquake of 1755 destroyed almost the entire city, which may remind you of Voltaire's discussion of the Lisbon earthquake in his satirical work Candide.

On my way down the hill from the castle, I stopped for a coffee, and then went back to the Baixa district to see the Praça do Comércio. This is the large square in central Lisbon. Three sides of the square are bordered by large yellow buildings, and the fourth side faces the water. Two middle-aged men approached me with weed in this square ("Good price!")--they must not know me very well.

During the 1400s and 1500s, Portugal was a leading naval power, and its ships led the "age of discovery." To commemorate this time, in 1960, the Portuguese built the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries) to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator.

A few hundred yards away from this monument lies the Tower of Belém, which was built in the 1500s as a fortress to protect the path to Lisbon from the Atlantic. It never ceases to amaze me that men could construct structures such as the many grand fortresses, castles, and cathedrals of Europe before modern machinery.

Next, I went to see the outside of the Praça do Império (the tower appears in both pictures and gives you an idea of how large this building is), and about a block away, I bought a traditional Portuguese egg tart, which has a crispy outer shell with creamy egg custard in the inside. The textural contrast made this famous pastry very enjoyable. Well done, Portugal. (Thanks for the tip, Jady.)

After Belém, I took the tram back toward downtown and then walked around the hilly districts of Bairro Alto and Chiado, which is the main shopping district. Since it was about 100 degrees outside, I stepped into the Port Wine Institute's Lisbon lounge for a "Portonic," something that a guide had discussed in Porto the day before. A Portonic is a splash of white port with tonic and a lemon wedge, served over ice (based on the tonic and citrus, I would bet this was a British invention). It was very refreshing and hit the spot on a hot day in which I drank about 5 liters of water.

In the evening, Nathan and I met up after he returned from his day-trip to Fatima, an important Catholic site in Portugal. We ate Portuguese tapas for dinner--mussels, Andaluz sausages (often called linguiçia in the US), peach quarters stuffed with tuna (an interesting concept that was not particularly successful as an executed dish), cheese, mushrooms stuffed with parmesan and Serrano ham, bread, and aioli.

After dinner, we each had a small glass of LBV port to cap off the meal, and then it was back to the guesthouse.

Lisbon was a beautiful, very charming city. It felt a bit like being home for the day, sans my amazing wife. It was fun to see the bakery windows full of egg tarts, the old Portuguese women with folding fans (some adorned with images of Mary), the buildings finished with patterned tile, and the incredible monuments and historic sites scattered about the city. (Again, I have posted some of my favorite photos from the day in this album.)

Tonight we are in Seville (Sevilla), Spain. On Sunday morning, we took the train south for a quick trip to Lagos, and I will post about the Algarve region very soon. It was beautiful. Thanks for reading!

- R

Porto!

Three words: Porto. Is. Amazing. (Full album here.)

Porto (or Oporto), Portugal's second city, is a beautiful, quaint city situated where the Duoro River (which starts deep in central Spain) meets the Atlantic Ocean. There are beautiful steel bridges, and the city seems to rise straight uphill out of the river. Technically, the area on the north shore of the river is Porto, and the area on the south shore of the river is Gaia.

Nathan and I arrived in Lisbon at about 8 am on Friday morning. We went to our (amazing) hostel, ate breakfast, and then I left right away for the Lisboa Oriente train station (pictured) for the 3-hour train ride from Lisbon to Porto. Between the overnight train from Madrid and the 7-hour round-trip journey to Porto and back, I spent about 16 out of these 24 hours on a train. Back on solid ground, I still felt like I was rocking quite a bit. All in all, it was worth it.

I arrived in Porto, took a local train into downtown Porto, and then walked down the hill to the river. Within the first few hours of being in Portugal, it became clear to me that the Portuguese are, in general, extremely friendly and helpful. First, a teenage boy on the train opened up my Lisbon map and talked about his favorite sites in the city. Then, a girl on my train took me to the ticket machine so I could buy a local train ticket and stayed until I had finished the transaction. After that, a local man had me follow him down the hill from the local train station to the river.

Porto (technically, Gaia) is home to the port lodges of all the famous port-producing families. Overwhelmingly, they have British names. And so begins the story.

Many people around the world appreciate port wine ("port"), but as a nation, I'd venture to say that no one loves it quite as much as the British, not even the Portuguese. I am currently reading a massive Churchill biography, and after almost every formal dinner, he rounded out the evening with some port. The British also love French wines such as Bordeaux and Champagne, but during past wars and international disputes, there were times when they could not get French wine from across the English Channel. Seeking other sources, they looked to Portugal, but the Portuguese coast was too hot to ship still wine to England without spoiling it. Therefore, the winemakers began to fortify the wine. Instead of letting all of the grape sugar ferment, they let fermentation consume about 50% of the grapes' sugars, and then they pour in brandy, which kills the yeasts immediately and ends fermentation. This creates a sweeter, fortified wine, and port can ship in heat without "cooking" and ruining the wine. Thus, the British obsession with port was born.

Two quick asides. First, it's interesting that port is so acclaimed given that the winemaking method is so different from practically any still wine in the world, which are mostly made using fairly uniform methods. Second, port is not the only beverage that grew in popularity due to a challenge in meeting British requests. The British had many thousands of troops in India for decades, and in order to ship beer to them without spoiling, they had to make the beer extremely "hoppy"--i.e., bitter. Thus, "India Pale Ale" (IPA), was born.

Back to Porto. I walked down to the river, and then did the extremely crowded Porto Pilgrimage walk across the bridge.

After living to make it across the bridge, I walked about 1/3 of a mile along the river and then up the hill to Taylor's. It has been quite hot in Portugal--roughly 100 degrees in Lisbon today--so walking up the steep, narrow streets was fun, but got me a little winded.

I made it to Taylor's just in time for a free English-language tour of the facilities in Gaia. This is where a bit more explanation is required. Port is aged in oak and bottled in Gaia, but the grapes are grown about 100 miles up the Duoro River in eastern Portugal (and the area where these vineyards lie has been named a UNESCO World Heritage site). Grapes need to stay cool and be crushed as soon as possible after harvest, so the grapes are also crushed and the juice is fermented near the vineyards. Historically, all of the crushing was done by foot, and 5-10% of Graham's is still crushed by foot (which takes about 10 men 3-5 hours per tank)--the rest is done by silicon crushers today). The young port wine was then sent down the treacherous Duoro to Porto so that the barrels could be collected and the port wine aged near the coast. This river journey used to take about a week, and often boats, barrels, and lives were lost.

Today, however, roads reach the terraced wilderness where these vines are grown, so they can truck the young port to Gaia instead of risking the river.

Taylor's and Graham's were great. I chose these two port lodges because they make some of the best ports in the world. Both of them had very high-quality tours, and I learned a great deal about the science of port (e.g., reduction vs. oxidation during the years in oak) as well as how they make the different styles (ruby, vintage, late-bottled vintage, tawny, Colheita, white). At Taylor's, I was fortunate enough to try the 2007 Vintage Port, which was delicious and extremely impressive. I'd say 95-96.

At Graham's, I was blessed to be able to experience the greatest tasting flight of my life: 1985 Dow's Vintage Port, 1994 Quinta do Vesuvio (single-vineyard) Vintage Port, and 2000 Graham's Vintage Port. Every single one was an absolute blockbuster, but I didn't prefer any one to the others. They were all simply amazing representations of their respective house's traditional styles, as well as a great example of how top-quality vintage port ages over 25 years. I'd say 96-97 for each. Simply amazing--I will never forget it.

After Graham's, I caught the Graham's bus, which took me down the hill and across the bridge, and I said goodbye to Porto. But since I have loved Lisbon and Porto so much (and will likely love Lagos and the Algarve, as well), I doubt it was goodbye forever. It would be fun to bring Jen to Portugal, and I know Matt Dean (shout-out) will need to do this now, so maybe the four of us can make the trip down the road.

Again, the full album is here. I loved Lisbon and cannot wait to write about it, but I need to be up in about 4 hours, so this will have to do for now. Please forgive any typos--I will fix them in the next couple days. Look for Lisbon and Lagos posts over the next day or two!

- R

Madrid

Hello from across the Pond!

I wanted to post in Madrid, but the Internet connection there was not reliable and I was not able to make it happen. Tonight, I am in Lisbon, and I decide it's about time I post something. There are a few pictures on this post, but the main album is available here.

Nathan and I flew from SFO to Madrid (via Atlanta) with no problems at all. Jen drove me to the airport at about 5:30 am on Tuesday (I posted a picture of my last view of the Bay Bridge for a while), and I took off at 8:30 am.

We landed in Spain around 9:45 am Madrid time on Wednesday. At the airport in Madrid, we just jumped on the Metro, went to the city, and checked into our first hostel. I called Jen on Skype to let her know that we had arrived, and by noon, we were out and about.


Madrid was quite interesting. I was struck by a few things. For one, a very high proportion of younger northern Europeans speak English as a second language, but in Spain, English-speakers were few and far between. For the most part, I would have made my high school Spanish teacher proud, because I remembered a lot of nouns and basic infinitives, but I can no longer conjugate (beyond simple present tense) to save my life, so when things became complicated, I threw the conversation over to Nathan. Also, the Spaniards were not nearly as friendly as I expected them to be.

In addition, Iberians love their ham. For the Spanish, this is jamon, and if you're going to be traveling to Madrid, I sure hope you like it. The traditional jamon for Spain is Serrano-style, and it's basically Spain's answer to prosciutto. It's not like the US where you have ham, turkey, beef, and probably five other meats any time you order a sandwich. In Madrid, there is a good chance that your choice is jamon or no jamon. I love prosciutto, so I didn't mind so much, but Nathan grew a little tired of it after eating it twice in the first day. On the first day we ate jamon sandwiches for lunch, and then had a plate of jamon slices at dinner. Then the next day, I had a jamon sandwich for dinner. (Today in Lisbon my choice of sandwich was ham & cheese or toasted ham & cheese, but in Portugal the ham is like the ham you would think of in the US.)

Overall, Madrid was neat, but I wouldn't say I loved it. It's in the middle of a desert or semi-desert region, and I didn't feel that there was much natural beauty, which adds a great deal to cities for me. It was also difficult to navigate, as the streets wind every which way, but that can be kind of fun since every block or so you stumble on a new little plaza. Parts of it reminded me a lot of NYC's Soho and Upper East Side neighborhoods, and the area that most reminded me of the UES had a park with a look and feel that was very similar to Central Park--it was even home to El Museo del Prado, just like the UES has the Met right on Central Park.

After our first few hours of walking around the city, Nathan and I started wondering where all the people were. There were people around, but not nearly as many as you would expect for the largest city in and capital of Spain. What we found was that the Spanish siesta custom, which is essentially staying indoors, or even napping, during the warmest part of the day, is still going strong. Madrid was very hot and also quite humid, and we drank more than 3 liters of water each day there. After about 8 pm, when the city started to cool a bit, the streets were full and the plazas started to fill with life and activity.

After our first day in Madrid, Nathan did a Google search to find out what we needed to see on day two, and I'm really glad he did. We toured the main royal palace for Spain, and it was amazing. Right across the royal square was the city's main Catholic cathedral, and we toured that, as well (Pope John Paul II visited to give his blessing to the cathedral in 1994, and a great deal of the memorabilia in the cathedral related to his visit). I had not been in a European cathedral for almost a decade, and I forgot just how cavernous they are inside. They are absolutely massive and, often, beautiful.



After this, Nathan and I visited the site of a ruined Egyptian pyramid (in Madrid--who knew?), got some churros with chocolate, went to see the bull-fighting arena, and then got our bags and went to the train station. Eventually, we filed into our sleeping cart and laid down for the 10-hour overnight trip to Lisbon.


Again, there are some cool pictures of Madrid in the album, so please take a look. Also, I'm going to post about Porto and Lisbon separately so it's easy to follow along and look at each city individually. Porto and Lisbon were amazing, and tomorrow we are heading to Lagos, which lies along the Atlantic Ocean on Portugal's southwestern coast. I cannot wait to spend a few hours on the beach! I hope everyone is doing well back home, and I will be sure to check in again soon.

- R