July 21. Braga and Guimaraes

This was originally written on iPad. It went somewhat wild on autocorrect.

Obviously we survived the night at the manor :) . We started the day in the garden of our manor. Serving lady locked up the dogs and we took a stroll around the grounds. It is a beautiful garden full of interesting statues.

There are several old stone pools, perfectly manicured lawn that gets used for weddings and a large zipped up wedding tent, and several chickens of the breed with featherless necks. Those almost looked noble. If not for the balconies of the apartment buildings overlooking the property would feel like in the depths of the country. Breakfast was served in the living room of the main house. We marveled the knick knacks. The lady brought out plates of bread varieties: gray and white for adults, little white buns para ninas, glazed croissants, hot Pasteles de Natas, and coffee and all the works. And she left a little silver bell to ring her if we need anything. Seriously. We never rang it but she came back every now and then to check on us anyway. We implored the kids not to break any china and keep the feet off the table.

First we went to Braga. Initially we had hard orienting after we parked because most of the old town is pedestrian and is not directly visible from the road. It was somewhat disappointing at first and then we stumbled onto the information office and then they gave us a map and we discovered the whole beautiful old town.

It is definitely worth the trip. We also got in on the Neanderthal fair and got to see fun food and goods kiosks. Neanderthal is kind of like Renaissance fair but they have everyone dressed in rough cloth and ropes and they even had a village with tents covered in animal skins.

Cathedral and the adjacent Mother of Braga are worth the visit. Check out its interesting history in the link above. We liked excavated architectural elements they had in the courtyard. Some seemed to predate Christian period and were really interesting. There was a wedding going on at the Cathedral and a funeral at Mother of Braga.

We had lunch at a little place near the city gate. Dan’s little French lady was much closer to the top ten ideal: used real bread and nice tasting hot sauce. I had a schnitzel sandwich and Georgia and Irina downed their omelets. After mostly eating sandwiches it was a nice break.

Next we went to a real treat of a place called Bom Jesus. It is a Kodak fairyland on top of the mountain with a beautiful church and other sites. Isabella went to sleep so Dan and I climbed the beautiful staircase to the gray and orange lichen covered church while Irina and Georgia waited in the car.

We visited the shop with an old tile painting with some pen graffiti that dated to mid 45s, and a pretty artificial cave that looked just like a real thing, and then headed down to a water funicular. They fill up the container below upper car with water and when it is full it is sent down. It pulls up second car that is on the bottom. At the bottom the upper car  empties up and then the cycle reverses.

The thing about the funicular is that took us down below where we had parked. So we had to run up three long flights of stairs to find Georgia and Irina in the car with Isabella. Next they went up the staircase. We decided to move up and park next to the church to make the return trip easier for them. Unfortunately that parking is only available to bridal parties. So we had to park higher up on the mountain, had to walk down with Isabella to meet Georgia and Irina and ended up going up the hill most of the time.

The next stop was Guimaraes, one of two capitals of Europe for 2012. Initially, we could not orient ourselves again. The city center is pedestrian so where the car takes you looks nothing like the pictures. After finding the information office it became clear again. The city is probably welcoming the lucky break it is getting from increased numbers of visitors but it is probably not going to help long term. It is small and provincial in spirit.  Here we got lucky to see the parade in national costumes.

We took a cable car ride to Pehna church, perched up on the hill among enormous boulders.

At night we had our sliced bread, cheese, and proscuito in a little waiting room next to our bedroom. We also drank 5 euro Port from the little plastic cups they had in the bathroom for rinsing. Real classy. Hope my college buddies from the wine club never read this post. After a busy day everything tasted great.

P.S. On account of Dan wanting the whole truth to be told, the room seemed a bit unsteady after two glasses. But that was the worst that happened. I guess it takes dedicated and consistent practice to get used to it. I am not sure I am up to the challenge. There are so many things left to be eaten.

July 20. Porto

The main toll road to Porto was really good, and the ride was without a hitch except charger in the car was not working and consequently TomTom Navigator stopped working. The good thing is that we have a data plan on one of the iPhones (thanks Kostik and Romik) so we were able to get by with Google maps. It looks like the latest software upgrade of TomTom may have messed it up as well.

Porto is great. I think it unjustly misses out on the tourist crowds, not that I am complaining. We raced though the city and hit all the main points. First, St. Francisco 700 year old church had the most gold gilding we ever saw in a single building. When Franciscan monks arrived to the city they initially had hard time getting support. Ultimately they got many rich donors and had built a "Heaven on earth" for them. It got spared any wars and fires. It is something.

They also have an interesting museum in the building where the order administration presided. The enormous meeting room with monstrous table and separate altar must have inspired awe in visitors. In the cellar they have their catacombs. I never before saw numbered graves on the floor in the walking areas. It almost looks like a parking lot.  They also have crypts in the walls. At least those have names besides numbers. They were all buried in the decade of 1850s - maybe it was a transitional period. 

Next we walked along beautiful Ribeira street toward Dom Luis bridge, they have a few of them, hope I am getting the name right. We crossed the bridge on the lower lever and arrived to Gaia, a suburb of Porto where wine dealers age their wine. We walked along the street looking at the different Porto manufacturer houses. Ultimately we picked the house of Ramos Pinto for the tour of the museum, cellars, and tasting. 

Pinto started as a dealer sometime towards the end of 1800s. Ultimately he bought several wineries and became one of the youngest producers. What fascinated me about Pinto was that he followed exactly the same marketing techniques we use 100+ years later. He created branded giveaways for men and women to encourage specific buying behaviors, he sponsored city events and landmarks, he even had a competition for the best poster design (exactly what we do with crowd sourcing design contests). He even brought his display cabinet from one of the trade shows in Brazil to Porto and set it up in his office. Something companies do with tradeshow booths. Where he went a bit further than I saw (yet) was to set up throne for the main client contact and smaller thrones on the sides for associates, while his team was sitting on low stools at a table in front where the best product was featured. If the deal closed,  the guests were invited into the room with the tradeshow booth, incidentally right in front of a beautiful Victorian bathroom with flowers on the porcelain. Cellars were nice, tasting was OK.

On the food front, we tried the local specialty - Francesinha. It translates as "little French woman." It is two slices of Wonderbread with random combination of meat inside. Can be chorizo, ham, and pork. And then it covered in melted cheese and spicy sauce. Little French woman you won't be after eating this. I am somewhat ambivalent about the taste but Dan and Georgia liked it. We ordered it again, in a different restaurant to make sure but the waiter forgot. So I guess someone can try it at home and then let us know. Supposedly it is on top 10 world sandwiches list.

After wine tasting we took a cable car to the upper level of the bridge and walked back. Cable car is a good altenative to the boat cruise if someone is short for time. It takes about 15 minutes, goes above the river, and provides even better views.

We saw the main cathedral next. After St. Frank's everyone of them was anti-climactic but they were all amazing in different ways. Then we went to the coin store but it was closed for lunch between noon and five pm. So we went to Cafe Majestic where supposedly Harry Potter was written. Conceivably some of the sufferings Harry goes through were inspired by their deserts. Just kidding, but it is very hard to live up to the reputation like this. At least we got the checkmark is there. We saw the food and flower market, and a bunch more churches, climbed the bell power of one of the churches and came back to Ribeira for dinner. 

Another note about today was how good Georgia is at orienting herself. We drove through a part of city and ultimately parked somewhere else. When we came back to that part she recognized it immediately, even before Dan did.

The final touch was our hotel for tonight. We wanted to stay somewhere scenic, historical and affordable. Wineyards are too far East for our next day trips so we picked a place near Porto called Quinta la Granja. It is a manor on 444 Rua Manuel Francisco Araujo in Maia (more pictures here). The owner called us while we were in Porto to confirm we are coming.

We got bit doubtful driving towards hotel through some deadish neighborhoods and past decrepit apartment buildings. The street it was on was not better - there was some kind of wasteland managed by a bunch of suspicious looking men with dogs. When we were about to turn around we spotted a high fence and a gate with the right numbers on it. I rang the bell and they opened the gates to let us in. Inside there indeed was a beautiful manor, complete with gardens (guarded by vicious german shepards), chapel, main house, and adjacent to chapel guest house.  The owner bought the place 30 years ago and had lived there with his son. It looks like they started opening up to renting out the place.

Door to the guesthouse is

to the right of the chapel

The guest house is spacious. There are a couple of empty anterooms - maybe they were used as storage/waiting rooms before. There is a bedroom on the first floor and even larger master bedroom on the second floor. There is a fireplace downstairs. Everything is immaculately clean. All the furniture is pretty old in a nice antique kind of way though there is a bit of musty smell because there were no people here for years. There are no other guests right now.

We visited the living room the inside the main house. There are lots of even better antiques, guilded furniture, knicks knacks and such. The owner seems really nice. Still it is a bit weird to be in a house like this. It is like we are in a kind of Rocky Horror Picture Show, without any of the characters. Tomorrow breakfast will be served in the living room and we will get the tour of the gardens and chapel. And then we are off to the other adventures. 

July 19. Tall ships

We went to see the tall ships in the evening. There were about 40 of them. Some of them allowed visitors. We went up Georg Stage, Danish ship. It is the smallest of its class and yet it houses 60 people, most of the students. Some of the crew dressed up as pirats. The ship is made up mostly of wood. It was very beautiful. Crew was very friendly and shared some interesting tidbits about the life at sea.

For example, they have a 3 day shift to take a shower. They do not use motors other than to enter/exit the port. Living space on the ship is really tight. It is a 5 month course after which most of the students will work on ships with some returning back to school to study some more for the officer positions. 

Georg Stage

Then we went up the Russian MIR. It is also a three-master but is twice bigger. Most of the parts are made of metal and if not for the neatly folded sails on the masts it does not feel like a “real” sailing boat. Crew was dressed in the beautiful uniforms. Some of the crew had a store with souvenirs running as well as donations box. Others huddled on computers and smartphones.  

There were also other amusements happening all around – vendors, food kiosks, games for kids. We just had enough time remaining to run through the row of ships and grab a quick pizza on the way. At home the kids fell asleep immediately.

Tried “fresh cheese” that locals buy in droves today. It is somewhere between Greek yogurt and jelly in consistency and very mild flavored – practically no taste at all. If you cover it with proscuitto and pepper, it is not so bad. I am beginning to think that there must be a special proscuitto covered variety of sardines to ease foreigners gently into the  local food.  

Picked up our rental car today. Very glad the guy from DSCar did not let us down. We even parked it in our building using the car elevator – very cool and scary. Especially considering that I forgot which one is our parking spot.

July 18. Aquarium

Enjoying Isabella’s newfound love for walking we ventured to out to Aquarium near the Oriente station. When we were here 10 years ago we were impressed with it. Now we see that Brooklyn Aquarium does a better job for less than 34 euros per family. Here they have a giant aquarium with most larger fish and smaller exhibits centered around it. Kids really enjoyed it though. They especially liked really giant rayfish with its eyes coming out like antennas and starfish with many legs.  

The giant red octopus was the most memorable to me. There are studies indicating that they may be very intelligent. To think that this solitude loving creature that could be smarter than us and is trapped and forced to live in a fish tank. I feel sad for it. Maybe being eaten is a better destiny. Who knows, it could be another Ota Benga 100 years from now. When we were standing there it swam to the other end of the tank and then walked back on its tentacles along the edge.

Nice promenade over at Oriente. There are serveral areas that are fun for the whole family. I would vote for Cascais as a better option for the kids on hot days but on the cooler days this a great place to go to. We went to Vasco de Gama mall and had some excellent fried rice from Wok to Walk. Here it is more efficient from the operational standpoint than Lithuania one and cheaper too. A little over seven euro will buy you a large dish and a beer. And they had it ready in about a minute.  

In the evening Dan and I went to Santa Apolonia Station to check out sail ships that had been gathering there for the Sailboat weekend. There will be major celebrations based on the number of vendor vans parked, event tents and stage being set up. They don’t let people on site yet so we will try again tomorrow.

We had our evening coffee and port at Brasiliera on Garrett street. It is one of the most favorite gathering areas in the city. There are always musicians or other performers. It’s the first to fill up in the morning, and we can’t attest to its ever emptying up.

July 17. Double miracle

We started the day again at Brown’s. There was an older guy there yesterday who went around picking on staff and then concentrated on polishing brass knobs on the armchairs scaring the customers, and giving those who stayed a happy buzz.

He was back at his job today. We thought he was Mr. Brown but barista said he was the second in command. We should ask barista's name - the nicest guy. He always brings you your food straight to the table. The other lady who works there would never do such a thing.

Georgia and I went to Fashion and Design museum with an exciting name for the Russian speakers Mude. It was very nice. It is located in a gutted building on Rue Augusta. Completely gutted to the walls. It actually looked nice but I could not help to wonder what they did with asbestos.

Even the futuristic

soldier needs to

reapply his makeup 

The bottom two floors contained permanent collection of 60-70s furniture and clothing along with staff whose sole responsibly was camera control. At least they don’t scream at you like Lithuanian ones do when you are trying to take away the soul of some old teacup by taking a picture of it.

The 3^rd floor contained very interesting thematic collection of groups of everyday objects gathered together to show a certain beauty in them. For example, they had collections of objects used for gripping, molding and so on. It does make you think about these objects differently when they are taken out of utilitarian context. We don’t remember what was on the last floor but we enjoyed the regained power for the picture taking and took lots of pictures of the walls, exhibits, and ourselves. To top that the museum is free, has a clean bathroom, and A/C. 



And Mozart needs his cup of

coffee

In the afternoon Irina took the kids to Estrella playground and, again, the tram stopped running at 6pm again. And they had to walk back. Incredibly Isabella walked the entire time. We went out to meet them and Georgia immediately got onto the stroller while Isabella continued to walk with the water bottle in her hands.

Irina went home while we stopped by at Galassa for Portuguese tapas. On the outside the cute table maps with images of tapas looked cute, inside we thought we made a mistake because menu was a bit small. We so didn’t! They brought out grilled chorizo and we offered Isabella to try a piece. Incredibly (again) she did. After a week of French fries it was a major feat. We all started praising her to the joyful looks of the passing waiters until she spat it out in a cinematographic arc.

We thought that was it but she asked for the second piece, and then another and another until she ate the whole thing, skin included (that’s actually the third miracle). She did not brave any other dishes so we enjoyed delicious toasted bread with melted cheese, herbs and honey on top, followed by goat cheese wrapped in jambon and covered by apricot jam, followed by a skewer of grilled sausages including chorizo, blood, and Farinheira. Apparently grilled is the way to eat it. Too bad I already threw it out after trying to develop the taste two more times. I hope we are not making anyone hungry :) It is more of a note for us to try this at home.

The girls finished the day with cupcakes from Tease. They were exactly like home. We need to start planning our final week here. This trip is going by way too fast.

July 16. Chorizo Bread – the Ultimate Perfection

Today was a busy day. We started out at Brown’s coffee. It’s the same place where we got our nap after arriving to the city a little over a week ago. After Georgia did her homework, Irina and Isabella picked her up and they went off to Cascais. I was really worried about them going. It is a very nice place and optimal for today’s 36 Celcius but it is 40 minutes away.

During lunch Dan and I went to Budget to reserve a car for the weekend. We were there a week earlier and the man there told us not to worry, the car will be ready, just come on Monday to reserve. Well today he said it is going to be a problem. It is not awful but we have already made plans in Porto this weekend and reserved hotel in a middle of the woods somewhere. It would not be great to go there by train

The man called another agent, his partner from a local company and sent us there. On the phone it sounded like a woman. When we arrived, there was a teenage girl who greeted us and told us it will be a problem ”because they won't have any cars available at the end of the week.” We were about to head out to Rentacar where we were earlier and were told that “carseat will be a problem” but her dad came in and said everything is going to be OK. He went through the process of writing down the reservation and putting it in some box. I asked what about “what your daughter said?” He said “she is 14 and does not know what is going on. I’ll talk to her.” We’ll just hope for the best.

We went to Starbucks Chiado. Internet was not working so we bought some locally available Internet from another company. I stayed around for a bit but then it got too loud and hot so I went home. Dan stayed back. A/C at home is great. After work we went to St. Sebastian hypermarket and loaded up on the local specialties: bread, cheese, and jambon. We are not going to lose any weight here. Incidentally local kids seem to be on the same diet. And majority are overweight.

Then again there may be another two reasons for that: 1) They don’t have anywhere to play; 2) Yesterday, on the way to Belem, we ran into attraction where if you buy ice-cream they will give you a ticket to the arcade. In that arcade there are different play areas with little challenges. If you win, they give you a hand band. Some kids wore scores of those bands. I can only imagine how much ice-cream those kids ate. We told the guy at the entrance that the kids already had some ice-cream today. And that we can pay for the ticket but we don’t want any more ice-cream. He looked at us funny but gave us two free tickets.

So back to Lisbon. When we came home, the kids & Irina were already back from a day at Cascais. She was utterly tired. Georgia told us how when they were in the pizza place there, some guy who was building a website for the pizza place wanted to photograph her and asked HER if she would mind that he would take a few pictures of her. She said no. Irina was not pleased about them asking a kid rather than adult and so said no to pictures as well. She initially wanted to call us but decided not to. Irina said it looked legitimate and photographer asked other people at the pizza place afterwards. Maybe that’s how they do it here but I was really not comfortable. We told Georgia and Irina and Isabella to never agree to requests like that. Really, for a pizza website you need a picture of a kid and you ask a 6 year old kid for that rather than adult they are with???

After we took kids out for some well-deserved ice-cream and then put them to sleep we went to the kitchen and checked out our purchases. You are probably anticipating the best moment of this here post. And it is coming. What’s better than bread and salami? Bread and pork fat? Bread and chorizo? A bread that already has all of these things baked into it. Add to it some Nisa cheese and Super Bock or Sagres and it is a perfect way to finish the day. We should really follow the example of Portuguese adults and lay off this stuff and substitute it with flavorful sardines. Starting from now because all the other food is finished.

July 15. Christo Rei and Belem

Today Georgia and I worked in the morning, while Dan went to the collector’s gathering and Irina found a new square filled with fountains. Will have to check the last one out – Irina described the square as completely set with fountains in the ground.

We walked to the ferry/train station, Cais do Sodre, stopping on the way to listen to the wonderful trio of musicians and singers from Naples. They were so good that we got their disk. It is a good thing too because they don’t seem to have gotten to YouTube.

Ferry to Cacilhas took ten minutes. It is a great way to see city views from Tagus river. From Cacilhas we took bus number 101 bus and in another ten minutes were at the site of a copy of Christo Rei. I don’t remember the actual dimensions of the original statue in Rio but this one appeared smaller. It is interesting that Lisbon views from the bottom of the statue are better – you seem to be level with the city and are able to get in more detail than from the top of the elevator.

We were hoping to go to Belem next – and it was right there across the river, across April 25 bridge. But there was no public transport across the bridge. So we took the bus back and stopped by at  Cacilhas o Farol for a quick late lunch. It is a seafood eatery frequented primarily by the locals.

The food was very fresh and simple. I got octopus with sweet raw onions, fried garlic and cilantro. Dan and Georgia shared shrimps, calamari, and baby octopuses. They were all awesome. Irina suffered a bit through grilled sardines. I think those will be the last ones in her life. While they are a healthy choice and are fresh and all. But they are really the most boring of fish. At least Sangria Tinto made everything better. Kids made acquiantance with some Portuguese boys. Isabella initially turned away and complained to us that they are interfering with her eating French fries. Georgia was shy but made some contact and learned their names and ages. 

We walked 7km to Belem from Cais do Sodre station. Georgia walked more than half of the way. There is a great bike path along the water. Some areas have lively restaurants, others are still pretty unpopulated. There were scores of cyclers and runners on the way. The area got prettier as we got closer. We took obligatory picture with exhausted kids near the monument of discovery and headed down to the playground in the park.

Irina stayed there with the kids while we went to check out Belem bakery. The line stretched past the door. As we got closer we saw that the primary choice was Pasteles de Nata and croissants. Next we checked out Starbucks next door. It’s giant – with large two rooms on the second floor and a balcony. Hurray!! We’ll be back.

The day started and ended with

wonderful women musicians

The kids got a boost of energy at the playground and when aided by a croissant and Pasteles fully recharged. These were THE BEST Pasteles yet. They really can be called famous. It is a bit of a trip but we’ll try to bring some home.



Georgia found yogurt for Isabella

that finally works. Now we just

have to work through other 1/2

dozen brands in the fridge.



Kid are wonderful. Georgia is a very strong and patient walking companion. She also helps a lot with Isabella. She knows Isabella very well and tries to anticipate and satisfy her wants. Something that Isabella still has to appreciate. However Isabella is protective of me, or anyone she feel is being treated unfairly. Dan and Georgia  making a joke on me today. Isabella kept saying "That was not funny." Georgia and Isabella are already able to maintain a conversation with each other and can be very affectionate, for periods of time :)