Today was dedicated (mostly) to the artistic side of Lisbon. We started by visiting Ceramius, one of the most famous ceramic stores in Lisbon. Lisbon, if you don’t get it by now is MUITO GRANDE on tiles! They cover the insides and outsides of their homes, churches, palaces and buildings in tile.
We purchased a very modern set of tiles. When we get home and they arrive, we will have to figure out what wall to attach them to!
The Museum of Tile (loosely translated by me from the Portuguese) is in a converted convent. It is huge and has representative tiles from many different time periods. We liked the museum.
We then drove around Lisbon (Lisboa to the Portuguese – notice how I am going native). They have a quarter near the river where they had a giant expo in the late 90’s. Block after block is modern construction of office buildings, apartments, etc. There are lots of great buildings including a fantastic train station by the Spanish Architect and bridge builder Santiago Calatrava.
Every era has its great art collectors. JP Morgan, Frick in New York, California has JP Getty. Europe had several big ones, but Calouste Gulbenkian, was one of the biggest. This man was known as Mr. 5 Percent. He owned 5% of most of the oil coming out of the Mid-East. He was an Armenian financier born in Istanbul to an already rich family. He bought everything! When he died his collection wound up in Lisboa where he had been living. A fantastic museum was created to house his collection. So, if you are ever in Lisboa, this is the museum to visit. It even has Turkish tiles.
After the museum, a massage, then out for more Fado.
The city is getting ready for the biggest day and night of the year in Portugal which is tomorrow. The traffic near our hotel is impossible and tomorrow they party all night. What a great time to be here!
They say the Portuguese have 200 ways to prepare Cod. My fav is bacalau a bras ( eggs, onions, potatoes, etc). Haven't been there since 1990, but they used to sell shots of a really strong cherry brandy downtown out of a tiny doorway. A really strong hit of coffee is "a bika", and if someone bumps in to you, say "no fash mahl" (no big deal). Hang out at the outdoor cafes up in the hill area i forgot the name of, but famous for poets. Portuguese lit is dark and wonderful. Wondering if the silver is still a third of the price of Spanish silver.
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