When I walk around Lisbon, I make little mental sticky notes: blog about that. Remember to write about that. It really helps to write these notes down in my Moleskine reporter's notebook. Then I bring them back to the computer in the hopes of compiling a decent blog post. Sometimes they're just bits of things, so here today you'll find a list of random things I think are interesting about Portugal. There's a lot more than this that I love about Portugal, but here's what I've got today.
1. You’ll often see people at cafes double fisting it. Not with two of the same drink, but with two of the greatest drinks that fuel people the world over: beer and coffee. Try this at home and you'll feel really Portuguese without having to go there. But you should go there because it's a wonderful place.
2. I LOVE the bread in Portugal. This was the biggest surprise, how great the bread is. Small buns of light bread with crispy outside and soft inside make the perfect salad sandwich. My absolute favorite is a small, chipmunk-shaped bread with raisins, cinnamon and walnuts. It’s slightly sweet and absolutely impeccable. This bread was the first thing I really fell in love with about Portugal. I also love these seeded buns.
3. I have decided that while during the day Lisbon is brilliant with sun and waving palm trees, she’s really a city to be experienced at night. I love the moody feel evoked by the breeze from the Tejo river under the night sky, and the way the imperfections of the dilapidated buildings are in shadow. Best of all is the lighting of the city – street lamps hanging off buildings cast a haunting yellow light over the cobblestones that provoke a feeling of magic and mystery.
4. Portuguese men are not lecherous like you imagine they are in other Latin countries. Maybe it’s just that they’re not looking at me, but I never feel ogled in Portugal, which is nice.
5. Portuguese wine is really good. And cheap. Deep reds from Alentejo and fizzy vinho verde from the north of Portugal.
6. The dollar is inching its way back up. I use my debit card at ATMs to get cash, usually taking out 200 euros at a time, which since I’ve been here equaled $317 or so. Now it only costs me $294 to get 200 euros. Keep going, dollar! Every little bit helps. But I think it all equals out. I lived in Boulder, one of the most expensive places in the US to live. One night I went to get apples to make a pie. I buy organic food, which is expensive. I paid $12.00 for six pieces of fruit. The other day I bought a bunch of bananas, five peaches, six plums, eight apples and eight honey drop figs for under six euros, or around eight to nine bucks. So you see that while the dollar is weak, things are cheaper in Portugal.
7. Lisbon is a hip city and attracts a lot of tourists. I see tons of Euro-couples, young couples wandering the streets clutching maps and guidebooks. Italians, French, Dutch…not so many Americans. You also see a lot of Euro-hippies, wearing baggy clothes and selling handmade jewelry on the streets.
8. When you want to say something is intense or cool, you say “Brutal!”
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