Our current position is 36° 33.67′ N 006° 19.32′ W
We are approaching Cadiz, Spain where, as my former and current military readers will recognize, is across the harbor from Rota where the United States has a sizable military, mainly naval, presence.
Yesterday (Thursday) I spent the day exploring Lisbon, Portugal.
The ship had actually arrived late Wednesday afternoon and I was able to get off the ship and walk around a bit on terra firma. After three days managing a very angry Atlantic, it was nice to have some time walking on a surface that wasn’t bucking and twisting.
If I hadn’t mentioned it earlier, I’ve made friends with two very lovely women from Australia who have made every effort to lower my expectations about the time I’m planning to spend in their country. They’ve also assured me that I’ll be staying in the Panama City Beach of Bali.
Yabos? Really?
Olivia and Donna are besties since high school. Evidently, Olivia had booked this cruise to Venice and convinced Donna to leave her husband back in Brisbane and join her. Both are former school teachers and certainly out-class me in terms of elegance and bearing. But for some reason they have patiently put up with me during a few meals and, especially, as we walked around Lisbon Wednesday evening.
While navigating the narrow cobblestone backstreets, we eventually came across a really fun little cafe in the “Fado District” called Pois on R. de São João Da Praça and enjoyed a much-needed ice cold cerveja together.
Fado is, for the lack of a better description, a style of “blues” music exclusive to Lisbon. The Fadoistas, usually women, will wander through the restaurant singing a melancholy tale of woe about some kind of personal tragedy. Death of a sailor lover. Lost love. A broken heart.
It’s real toe-tapping stuff. (Not.) But as long as you slap a UNESCO Heritage label on it, it’s culture, baby. (Ouch…it’s hard to keep that ugly American side of me on the down-low…)
Fado is…GREAT!
Once again, I digress.
While enjoying our beers, the owner of Pois came over to our table and chatted with us. His English was perfect. (Mine, not so much.) His name was João…or just plain John. After several tries, I eventually figured out how to pronounce it. Badly. Kinda like Ja-wow…except the “J” is pronounced more with a “zh” sound. He taught us a few of the Portuguese basics we’d need, like por favor and obrigado.
“Please” and “thank you.”
(My Brazilian cousins, Patricia and Alison, and my Aunt Carmen, are likely having a good chuckle over my clumsy attempt to learn Portuguese…but probably pleased that I tried.)
The three of us had a good time at Pois, and João was certainly a fine host. He pulled out a worn guide to Lisbon and helped us get oriented, pointing out the key spots to visit. The central downtown area for shopping. The Castelo de St. Jorge at the peak of the hill offering breathtaking vistas.
The beer was refreshing and surprisingly inexpensive. Less than ten Euro for all three…although I suspect, as the manager, he invoked special “Ladies Night” privileges for my two friends to help class up the place. Frankly, I’m pretty my new Aussie friends would have rather sampled some local wine but humored me and my thirst.
For Thursday, I had booked the “Lisbon by Foot and Funicular” tour months ago. I managed to climb out of my rack and, after an awkward moment of confusion, found the group with which I’d spend the day exploring Lisbon. We each received our embarrassing “Tour #9” stickers and boarded a coach that carried us, more or less, around the block. We disembarked the bus and literally hit the bricks. The streets and sidewalks are cobble-stoned. Not with bricks but small hand-chiseled blocks about four inches by four inches, then set in sand.
Old school.
Adriana, our guide was knowledgeable and adorable. We literally walked our asses off, covering the main sights of Lisbon, the highlight of which was the Castelo de St. Jorge my friend João had told us about the night before. The view of the city from the top of the hill truly was worth the climb.
A few take-aways from Portugal:
1.) Lisbon was the home of my man, Magellan, whose circumnavigation of the earth pretty much closed the book on flat-earthism and created the concept of global trade. Oh, and inspired this blog. It’s a technical note, but Magellan’s trip was underwritten by the Spanish…not the Portuguese.
2.) WWII. Portugal basically played both sides across the middle. They sold arms to the Nazis. They gave the U.S. access to the Azores for lend/lease. This odd form of neutrality ended up protecting the country’s people and its infrastructure – all virtually untouched – and left Portugal one of the richest countries in Europe after the war. While this unusual neutral approach may have been perceived as chicken-shit at the time, Portugal is generally given a pass for one very huge reason: In 1755, Lisbon had suffered a devastating earthquake that leveled the entire city. The idea of re-building…again…less than 100 years later, just didn’t sit well with the Portuguese people. Hence, a form of capitulation that let them retain their honor. BTW…I’m assuming Portugal’s cozy relationship with the Nazis is why so many high ranking members of the party ran to Brazil after the war. Just sayin’…