Loitering with intent in Lisbon 15

It looked like we were the first customers for the day at Enoteca de Belem, a little wine bar which I had read about which can be found hiding down a side street near the Jeronimos monastery and famous pastry place in Belem. 

Normally an empty restaurant would put us right off, but the reviews I'd seen were so enthusiastic that we barged in and took a window seat. I heard the woman at the bar put in a call and about three minutes later a chap walked in off the street and introduced himself to us as Nelson, one of the owners.

We were still thumbing through the immense menu, which was dazzling us with page after page of wine and port. Nelson said he had plenty more besides in the cellar and that he took home anything his customers didn't finish (I want his job). He asked what we style of wine we preferred and I asked for a soft red, something aged and oaked.  

Normally I am a bit wary in a restaurant when someone makes suggestions without me being able to check the price on the menu, but their policy here is to sell all wine at €4 per glass or €20 per bottle, no matter what vintage. And besides, with the place coming in as one of Lisbon's top 20 eateries according to the users of TripAdvisor, he must know what he is doing! 

Sure enough, Nelson obliged us with a tasty bottle of Duoro, very similar to Spanish Rioja and probably made from the same tempranillo grapes (although in Portugal the grape variety is called tinto roriz).

With it being an early lunch, we passed on having any hot food and instead asked for a platter of cheese and cold cuts. This came with a basket of chewy bread, delicious plump green olives, white butter and a history lesson from our host. Nelson described each of the cheeses, chutneys and sausages as they were all Portuguese specialties.

Among these were sausages which were first made over 500 years ago by Jews and Muslims who needed to blend in with their Christian neighbours to avoid persecution. So instead of pork, they made their sausages from bread, game and chicken. There was also blood sausage, or black pudding as they call it here in Lancashire. The best of the cheeses were the mild and creamy ones (I regretted not having some paper to take notes or a juiced-up camera to take photos; the photos for this entry are just miscellaneous ones from elsewhere in Lisbon).

All these gorgeous nibbles nearly covered our entire table and it was a struggle to finish everything, so it turned out to be a surprisingly filling meal. The tab came to €45 for the food and three glasses of wine. Forty quid may sound like a lot to spend on ham, jam and grape juice but it was great to be looked after by someone so attentive, knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

The place itself is modern with bright spot lighting, tile floors and hard wooden chairs, but it's small and inviting. Since most of the tables only seat two people each, it's an intimate place and I'd recommend making reservations for an evening visit. The full menu features nothing but Portuguese food and although personally I would pass on things like salt cod and octopus, it is the kind of place where you could easily while away an entire afternoon or evening sampling all the different wines and dishes.

We would definitely make the trip out to Belem again to pay another visit!

Loitering with intent in Lisbon 14

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain; the rain in Portugal stops as soon as you buy an umbrella. Never mind. After leaving the Old Masters art gallery we were greeted with sunshine and a vintage tram ready to take us to Belem again. We decided we needed to visit a second time because on our first visit quite a few things were shut for the day.

First stop was the famous Antiga Confeitaria de Belem, the bakery which churns out thousands of pastries every day. This time we went inside and found ourselves in a sprawling labyrinth of rooms. It's a huge place, with room for the coachloads of people craving their custard tarts. We ordered ours with coffee and the waitress made sure we sprinkled them liberally with sugar and spice...very nice!

Next door, the 15thC Jeronimos monastery was open for business. The cloisters alone were well worth a look, glowing in the afternoon sun cutting through the rain clouds.

Because the day had started off so wet, I had not bothered to pack my main camera and we only had our small 'snapshot' camera. Unfortunately I didn't have a spare battery, but I managed a few shots before the camera died.

The cloisters had two levels surrounding a pleasant courtyard, with some of the most ornate carved stonework I have ever seen, in a style called 'Manueline' after the king at the time.

The style took its inspiration from the seafaring explorers of the day who came back from Africa, Brazil, India and Japan with tales of strange animals, colourful birds, exotic plants and the odd mermaid or two. The ropes from a ship's rigging also feature heavily in the architecture.

Sailors would visit here to pray for a safe passage and to give thanks for a successful voyage, so they would have recognised many of the motifs (even if some of them were from tall tales).

One of the rooms leading off the cloisters housed the refectory (the monks' dining room) which had some lovely tiles and paintings.

Exit through the gift shop...and into the adjacent church, which was free to enter. Here the same Manueline style was not as successful indoors as out. Without the warmth of the sunshine (and a good clean), the stonework felt gloomy and oppressive.

We had bought combo tickets at the monastery which entitled us to have a look around the Tower of Belem, the fortress on the riverfront which (to be frank) didn't have much to see inside. The building after all was a prison for a time (it takes about two minutes to duck your head and pop into the dungeon), but there is a good view from the top. It's worth sitting a few moments at one of the windows and to listen to the sea breeze whistling through the stonework.

The carvings are in the same Manueline style and among the fanciful animals you might spot is a stone rhinoceros which commemorates the animal which survived a 4-month crossing from India in 1515. It was kept as a pet by King Manuel I for a few months, but he was disappointed that the rhino would not fight his pet elephant for sport. The rhino was made a gift to the pope, but drowned in a shipwreck en route to Rome; such was the fame of the animal that Durer attempted a portrait of it despite never seeing it in the flesh.

Those pastries are wearing off, isn't it time for lunch yet? Click back next time to hear about what turned out to be one of the best meals we had on the entire trip.

Loitering with intent in Lisbon 11

Before leaving Belem we decided to call in at the art gallery which was about the only thing open in the area on a Monday. The Centro Cultural de Belem (CCB for short) is Lisbon's answer to the Tate Modern in London or MOMA in New York: a vast collection of modern art.

Much of the art unfortunately fell into the category of 'I could have done that, but someone else thought of it first.' Things like silkscreens, geometric abstracts and nails on a board.

There were quite a few famous names like Man Ray...

...Picasso...

...and Warhol...

...but they seemed to be rather small, minor pieces. The permanent collection which has been on show here since 2007 was assembled by one of the country's richest businessmen, Joe Berardo, who made his money in mining.

Other floors within the gallery play host to temporary exhibitions. At the time of our visit the space was  given over to works by a Brazilian artist, Vik Muniz, who specialises in portraits made from anything other than paint. For instance, there was a pair of Mona Lisas on view, one in putter butter, the other in jam.

Of course a portrait made from fresh food, dry soil or wet ink is not going to last very long on a gallery wall, so these were photos of the original works. Often it was easy to find a strong correlation between most of the subjects and the materials used to create it, like Elizabeth Taylor made of diamonds...

or Jackie Kennedy in blood-red ketchup.

While most of the pieces were copies of famous artworks or iconic photographs, there also were straightforward portraits, such as these children from a Caribbean island known for its sugar production (their surprisingly-detailed faces assembled from sugar)...

...as compared to the children who live on a garbage dump outside Rio, their bodies made from the very rubbish they would sift through in order to survive.

Sometimes you had to look very closely to see what materials had been used in the portrait. Pulling back again you'd realise the huge scale of some of these works. Goya's Saturn Devouring His Son for instance was made up of large pieces of rubbish like tyres, traffic cones and oil drums.

On our way out we browsed the shop which was very well-stocked with art journals and photography books. Elsewhere in the complex (Portugal's largest cultural centre) there are two auditoriums, bars, a restaurant and a conference hall.

Looking over a balcony, it appeared that the floor below us was closed in readiness for the next exhibition. At least, I think it was closed. Who knows, maybe we were looking down on an artwork which just happened to involve a ladder against the wall? After our look around the CCB it was hard to tell!

Loitering with intent in Lisbon 10

The tram line to Belem passes a jumble of warehouses, docks and railway tracks as well as threading through the columns that support a mighty bridge crossing the river. Most everyone obligingly hopped off when they saw the sign for the Belem tram stop, although I knew from checking maps earlier that it was better to stay on board a couple more stops (the Belem tram stop itself is near the local train station and little else). Despite being closer to the harbourside attractions by staying on board a bit longer, access to the river was not easy as it is behind railway tracks and a busy road, but we found an overpass soon enough.

First stop was the Tower of Belem, a 100-foot tall fortress which celebrates its 500-year anniversary in 2013.

We found out the hard way that the tower is shut on Mondays, but that didn't stop us and plenty of other people from milling around and having a closer look. The structure looks rather whimsical for a fortress, with delicate carvings which include stone ropes that encircle the entire building.

In this photo you can even see a knot in the rope!

One brave boy rapped his knuckles on the main door and it was whipped open by a sour-faced woman (perhaps the cleaner) who chewed him out. We did return later in the week for a look inside, so click back again soon to find out whether it was worth the wait.

Walking upriver, the shoreline had little in common with the sparkling waterfront at Parque das Nações with its gardens, pavilions and artworks. Here instead were empty lots, weeds, car parks and closed nightclubs.

Reflecting in a stagnant pool was the Monument to the Discoveries, with a legion of explorers and navigators parading up its sides.

For €2.50 each we took the lift to the narrow viewing platform at the top which is barely wide enough to accommodate two people; we waited our turn to see the large map of the world on the pavement below.

Further afield was the concrete mess we had walked through...

...a new art museum which caught our eye...

...and the Jeronimos monastery beyond a fountain and gardens.

It would have taken an age to wait for the lift so we took the stairs down. Along the way we saw  signs for the 'snack area'...

...plus an auditorium which promised an audio-visual extravaganza but which had tape across its doors like it was a crime scene. We felt a bit ripped-off being charged full price for what amounted to a 5-minute look-see. People were queueing out the door for the ticketing window on the ground floor and I was tempted to tell them 'save your money'.

Along with the Tower of Belem, the Jeronimos monastery has UNESCO World Heritage status, but like the tower it is also shut on a Monday. With practically everything closed, why were there still so many people wandering around? Our noses soon caught a whiff of something sweet, spicy and enticing. There, past the coach car parks and next door to the monastery, we found everyone congregating outside the doors to Antiga Confeitaria de Belem, the city's most famous bakery.

New Yorkers have their bagels and Parisians their croissants. In Lisbon, the favourite local delicacy are small custard tarts called pasteis de Belem. It's no coincidence the bakery is alongside the monastery: nuns needed egg whites to starch their wimples, so for centuries the leftover egg yolks have been used to make crispy custard tarts. The monastery had its own sugar cane refinery and of course the 'age of discovery' with its trade routes to the Spice Islands meant there has long been a steady supply of cinnamon.

If they look a bit scorched, don't worry, it takes a very hot oven to keep the pastry crunchy yet flaky. Our box of four tarts, with sachets of sugar and cinnamon, came to €3.80 and really hit the spot.

It may be a long way to travel for a snack, but it wasn't a wasted trip because the art gallery across the street was open and free to visit. Click back next time for a look inside.