I'd Move In!

Bom Dia

Let me settle in with my apero.  We're having an egg for protein and some nice, salty almonds and a few sips of some nice Portuguese white wine.

I filled my travel card at the metro station and stopped to help some fellow North Americans, and then proceeded to the tram station.  Trams are fun to ride.  The ones made for those steep, narrow streets are not efficient, and our journey was impeded by a car parked on the tracks.  The driver rang the bell politely, but the car did not move through increasing irate bell rings.  Finally the car moved off, and we were on our way.  But the tram was packed!  I was sitting in front, and the exit is in the back.  The tram was so packed that I did not make it to the exit in time.  I had to get off at the next stop, which fortunately was not too far away.  The result, though, was that I was turned around, and had a hard time finding my target.

This worked out though because the museum can be visited only with a guided tour, and one was just about to start.  It's called the Museum of Decorative Arts, but this is a little misleading.  The building is former nobleman's townhouse, and it was bought by a wealthy banker, who had begun his fine art/antiques collection at age sixteen. I used to teach high school and can attest that even rich American teenagers do not do this.  The museum now houses his entire and very impressive collection and consists of a series of period rooms mostly Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century.  Now I far prefer period rooms to exhibits in glass cases.  I want to see the art and furniture in context and get a glimpse of how the other .01% lived.

Our guide was pleasant and very well informed and great at calling our attention to a telling detail and putting the collection in historical context.  For example there is a lot of both genuine and fake Chinoiserie.  Artists from China and Japan made pieces for wealthy Europeans to order, but if that was too much for your pocket book, European artists churned out semi convincing "Asian" pieces.

I spotted a portrait of Catherine of Braganza.  She is one of my favorite Portuguese figures as I am both a student of British History and dedicated tea drinker.  Catherine was sent to Britain to marry King Charles II, who treated her with courtesy and kindness except for all his other women.  But Catherine did have. lasting impact on British Culture.  She introduced tea to the court, and the population soon followed in consuming this elixir of life.

I learned some things.  The Moorish custom of having women sit on the floor on cushion while men sat on chairs survived for centuries after the Christians took over.  Noblewomen would have beautiful little tables made with short legs, so they could put down their tea cups or fans.  If I could have fit one of them in my luggage, I would have made off with it.

Afterwards I found the tram stop and came back.  I took the Famous 28 back, and, yes, it was crowded, and the day had turned hot. But I was very satisfied with the day's activity.

I'm going to have linguine and tuna fish again.  It was a successful combination.

Bye for now