Sabbatical 9/08 - Palaces, the Portuguese Riviera and Fado
I'd hit many of the highlights in Lisbon so for my last full day in Europe I decided to take some advice from gieves and take a bus tour out to the coast.
The tour didn't leave until noon, so I headed to the Museum of Fado. Fado is the folk music of Portugal and was referenced on tourist materials throughout Lisbon like the memorial garden to Amalia Rodrigues. I greatly enjoy it and play it with some regularity on my show, and even saw Ana Moura back in 2013. I can't tell you for sure if the average Portuguese citizen listens to fado today, but they certainly have a number of things that cater to the tourist. The Museum of Fado is the foremost among these. It is nestled in the old quarter of Lisbon. Regrettably, it's not much of a museum. The best part was a listening station where you could to many famous fadistas, and a wall with all of their photos collaged together. On the whole, it probably isn't worth your time.
The bus tour, on the other hand, was excellent. It went first to Sintra Village, which is in the mountains west of Lisbon. We didn't have time to specifically visit any of the buildings there, but we did stop to admire the exterior of the Palace of Sintra. There was also a lot of public sculpture and more beautiful buildings with tiled exteriors.
From here the bus went up to the top of the mountain to Pena Palace. Prince Consort Ferdinand II built Pena Palace as a summer resort for the royal family. As this was the 1840s and castles no longer were suitable for defensive bulwarks against modern weaponry, the palace was built as a fairy tale whimsy, not unlike Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. As a result, the castle is riot of architectural styles and colors with gargoyles and sculpture everywhere. The central courtyard is the remnants of an old monastery, but everything else was designed to please the royal family. We took an extended tour of the grounds, including a gigantic kitchen and a stop on the balcony to overlook the forested ground. A giant mysterious statue was off in the distance, and nobody could tell me what it was or how to get to it. Strange.
From here the bus headed further west. In fact, it headed as far west as you can go while still staying on the European continent. This westernmost point is called Cabo da Roca. We gazed out over the Atlantic Ocean from high atop the sea cliffs. It was cold and windy and quite pretty.
The bus then turned south toward the Portuguese Riviera, with stops at various pretty sights along the way. During World War II displaced royalty from across Europe sheltered in neutral Portugal along this coast. Spies and diplomats followed them. We passed a hotel that was the base for British Intelligence in Portugal during the war. Supposedly Ian Fleming was stationed there and was inspired to write Casino Royale by goings on at the local casino. So in some small way, Bond is Portuguese.
We returned to Lisbon in the early evening. What was I do to with my last night in Europe? Why, watch some fado of course! gieves had recommended a place that she went while there, but it was regrettably closed. Fortunately, across the street was a club promising Artur Batalha, the "Prince of Fado", who I had actually played on my show previously. It also promised Celeste Rodrigues, the 92-year-old sister of the famous Amalia Rodrigues. The cover was even quite reasonable, but there was a problem: the tiny restaurant was sold out. However, it turns out that the owner (who was clearly nuts about fado) was somewhat tired of having nothing but tourists who knew nothing of the music. In about three minutes of conversation and name dropping I was able to convince him that I knew a great deal about fado (I'd even seen Ana Moura, which really impressed him) and he made sure that I had a fantastic seat. The food was delicious, Batalha was quite good, and the club owner's daughter provided a fine opening set. Rodrigues didn't show up. I'm not sure if she wasn't feeling well, if I read the sign wrong, or if they put her name down to impress people with no expectation that she would turn up. Either way, it was a fine evening all around, and I staggered back to my hotel room under the weight of much wine and food but quite satisfied.
Photos seventy through seventy-eight in this set are from random parts of Lisbon on September 8.
All forty-eight photos in this set are from the bus tour to the castles and the coast.
The tour didn't leave until noon, so I headed to the Museum of Fado. Fado is the folk music of Portugal and was referenced on tourist materials throughout Lisbon like the memorial garden to Amalia Rodrigues. I greatly enjoy it and play it with some regularity on my show, and even saw Ana Moura back in 2013. I can't tell you for sure if the average Portuguese citizen listens to fado today, but they certainly have a number of things that cater to the tourist. The Museum of Fado is the foremost among these. It is nestled in the old quarter of Lisbon. Regrettably, it's not much of a museum. The best part was a listening station where you could to many famous fadistas, and a wall with all of their photos collaged together. On the whole, it probably isn't worth your time.
The bus tour, on the other hand, was excellent. It went first to Sintra Village, which is in the mountains west of Lisbon. We didn't have time to specifically visit any of the buildings there, but we did stop to admire the exterior of the Palace of Sintra. There was also a lot of public sculpture and more beautiful buildings with tiled exteriors.
From here the bus went up to the top of the mountain to Pena Palace. Prince Consort Ferdinand II built Pena Palace as a summer resort for the royal family. As this was the 1840s and castles no longer were suitable for defensive bulwarks against modern weaponry, the palace was built as a fairy tale whimsy, not unlike Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. As a result, the castle is riot of architectural styles and colors with gargoyles and sculpture everywhere. The central courtyard is the remnants of an old monastery, but everything else was designed to please the royal family. We took an extended tour of the grounds, including a gigantic kitchen and a stop on the balcony to overlook the forested ground. A giant mysterious statue was off in the distance, and nobody could tell me what it was or how to get to it. Strange.
From here the bus headed further west. In fact, it headed as far west as you can go while still staying on the European continent. This westernmost point is called Cabo da Roca. We gazed out over the Atlantic Ocean from high atop the sea cliffs. It was cold and windy and quite pretty.
The bus then turned south toward the Portuguese Riviera, with stops at various pretty sights along the way. During World War II displaced royalty from across Europe sheltered in neutral Portugal along this coast. Spies and diplomats followed them. We passed a hotel that was the base for British Intelligence in Portugal during the war. Supposedly Ian Fleming was stationed there and was inspired to write Casino Royale by goings on at the local casino. So in some small way, Bond is Portuguese.
We returned to Lisbon in the early evening. What was I do to with my last night in Europe? Why, watch some fado of course! gieves had recommended a place that she went while there, but it was regrettably closed. Fortunately, across the street was a club promising Artur Batalha, the "Prince of Fado", who I had actually played on my show previously. It also promised Celeste Rodrigues, the 92-year-old sister of the famous Amalia Rodrigues. The cover was even quite reasonable, but there was a problem: the tiny restaurant was sold out. However, it turns out that the owner (who was clearly nuts about fado) was somewhat tired of having nothing but tourists who knew nothing of the music. In about three minutes of conversation and name dropping I was able to convince him that I knew a great deal about fado (I'd even seen Ana Moura, which really impressed him) and he made sure that I had a fantastic seat. The food was delicious, Batalha was quite good, and the club owner's daughter provided a fine opening set. Rodrigues didn't show up. I'm not sure if she wasn't feeling well, if I read the sign wrong, or if they put her name down to impress people with no expectation that she would turn up. Either way, it was a fine evening all around, and I staggered back to my hotel room under the weight of much wine and food but quite satisfied.
Photos seventy through seventy-eight in this set are from random parts of Lisbon on September 8.
All forty-eight photos in this set are from the bus tour to the castles and the coast.