Down to the River

 Bom Dia,

Could this be any more perfect? I had an interesting day out and walked home in the gentle rain.  And I am about to have apero.  I do not know the Portuguese word for apero, but I'm guessing they use tapas for the concept as the Spanish do.  When I got here I saw numerous approving references to Ginja, which turns out to be a cherry liqueur wildly popular in the city.  The story is it's drunk from morning until night--something I tend to doubt, but let's have a sip.  Ooooh.  This is nice.  I'm not going to drink too much although I am tempted.  It's sweet and very fruity.  Not everyone would like it, but I do.

I went to the grocery store again to pick up things I was too jet lagged to remember yesterday.  Among the items I chose was a package of Portuguese ham. I rarely eat pork at home.  Most of the ham in the United States is an industrial product, and, although I reject being a food fanatic, I do object to inhumane treatment of animals.  They have better rules in the EU, and Iberia is famous for its fine ham, which is expensive because it comes from pigs allowed to range pretty freely.  I'm having some now, and it's very tasty and nice and salty.  Mmm.  There's nothing like European saturated fat! 

I wandered down Rue Augusta, this time going in the direction of the river. I passed under the arch into the grand plaza called Praca de Comercio surrounded by arcaded buildings.  Some are restaurants, and some government offices.  In the middle of the plaza is a monumental statue of King Joseph.  There are great views of the River Tagus and the city on the hills beyond.  In fact this was once the landing spot of foreign visitors and traders, and Lisbon would certainly have made a suitably grand impression.  What I enjoyed was the fresh air off the water.

I was there for the Lisbon Story Center.  It's a multimedia introduction to the history of the city.  I had trouble getting my earphones to fit and work, but I finally managed and made my way through the narrative.  We start with the Phoenicians and proceed from there with animations and models to illustrate, the Roman Period, the Moors and Crusades.  Most of the attention is given to Portugal's Age of Exploration, and (ahem) there is exactly zero mention of the evils of the colonial past and much glorification of the gifts of spice and knowledge Portugal gave to the world.  For my part the most vivid and interesting section was that dealing with the Great Earthquake of 1755 and its aftermath as the traumatized population struggled to comprehend what had happened to them.  The king was of no use.  He cowered in a luxurious tent he had erected, so the Marquis de Pombal stepped up, lead the recovery, and conceived of the new, modern (i.e. Enlightenment Rococo) Lisbon.

From there I went to the National Museum of Contemporary Art.  The museum owns a notable collection of European Twentieth Century Art, but choses to exhibit only Portuguese artists on a regular basis.  To be frank I had never heard of any of these artists, but I liked quite a bit of their art.  I especially liked the series of water colors of domestic interiors given a fanciful twist.

When I got out of the museum it had begun to rain, so up went my umbrella, and I trod warily.  Lisbon's sidewalks are all tiled, and I was afraid they'd be slick.  I was going down a pretty steep hill.  I'm getting to know my neighborhood, so I had no trouble finding my way home.

It's cooled down a lot and raining hard (I love it!), so I decided to have a hot meal of some tortellini I got at the store.  Yes, it's not Portuguese, but if anything is a universal European cuisine, Italian is.  The wine to go with it is Portuguese though--a white from Alentejo.  I don't buy expensive wine, but I never get a dud bottle.  I look for the protected denomination, which is a guarantee of quality.  It's nice and a bit off dry with a smooth taste and will go very well with food.

Bye for now