Song of Lisbon

Michael had been working very hard on his project and accrued some days in lieu for weekends he had worked and coupled with the bank holiday long weekend, we were able to take advantage of week off which we spent in Portugal.  It was our first time flying with the budget airline, Ryan Air, and I have to say that both flights were very good.  There were definitely no frills, however for such a short flight (just over 2 hours), it was quite comfortable.



A short train trip from the airport took us to our hotel (yet another major city with a direct train line from the airport – when is Melbourne going to get with the programme?)  Then it was off to explore the city.

 

Lisbon is a beautiful city filled with narrow, winding cobbled streets and footpaths.  The roads themselves can be quite steep and you need a fair bit of stamina to constantly climb up and down.  The roads leading down to the harbour are picture-postcard pretty, with washing hanging over the balconies and elderly ladies leaning out of the windows watching the comings and goings.  Michael didn’t waste any time tracking down his first pastel de nata, the Portuguese egg tart pastry that is common in Portugal.  I have never been a fan of egg tarts, however I became seriously addicted to these tasty mouthfuls over the course of our stay.

 

The following day we took a tram ride out to the picturesque district of Belem.  There are many landmarks in the area including the Jeronimos Monastery and the Tower of Belem.  There is also the Monument to the Discoveries, which is a 52 metre high slab of concrete erected in 1960 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator.  The monument is shaped like a ship’s prow and is adorned with dozens of figures from Portuguese history.  There was also a huge market taking place the day we were there, so it was pleasant wandering around in the sunshine looking at the various stalls.



We made the most of the sunshine and took a half hour train journey to Sintra, a resort town in the foothills of the Sintra Mountains.  This was the home of Portugal’s monarchs and is now a major tourist destination.  We were lucky to visit when we did, as the crowds must be horrendous in the peak season.  A short bus ride took us up a very steep mountain to the Pena National Palace.  The sweeping views of Sintra and the Atlantic were well worth the visit and the palace was interesting and painted in very bold and unusual colours.

 

Michael and I then walked down part of the mountain to the Castle of the Moors (or Moops as they will forever be to me – thanks George Costanza).  This ruinous castle was constructed in the 8th or 9th century and we were able to clamber all over the structure and admire the spectacular views.  We then trekked back down the mountain to the main town where we found a lovely wine bar and spent an hour or so with a glass of wine and a cheese board.

 

One of the best places that we visited was the Mercado da Ribeira, a fabulous market showcasing the best of Lisbon cuisine.  The food was sensational and Michael and I returned there a number of times during the course of our stay.  Michael enjoyed the fresh seafood whilst I enjoyed the pork pancakes amongst other things and of course there were beautiful wines, beer and sangria on offer.

 

We celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary with a visit to Sao Jorge Castle, another Moorish castle on the tallest of Lisbon’s 7 hills.  Once again we clambered all over the walls and the views were again spectacular.  The weather was a sunny 30 degrees and it didn’t take long for me to wilt in the heat.  Both of us started to sunburn quite quickly so we headed to the shade of the Thieves Market for a brief respite and some lunch.  Dinner that evening was a celebratory glass of champagne followed by octopus (Michael) and roast suckling pig (me) at a lovely family run restaurant.  The waiter kept apologising for his bad English (it was perfect), and would then talk French to another table of diners as well as speaking Portuguese to the locals.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he could speak Spanish and German as well.





The Home of Port



A very comfortable 3 hour train journey took us to Oporto.  We arrived at the magnificent Sao Bento railway station, which was inaugurated in 1916 and is decorated with tile panels that depict scenes of the history of Portugal.  There are over 20,000 tiles and they are just lovely to look at.  Michael had told me that our hotel was located just behind the station and I was puzzled when I couldn’t see it.  He gestured upwards and my gaze followed his finger, which was pointing up a near vertical street, which ended in a set of huge, steep steps and, sure enough, there was our hotel.  I swear that man thinks that I am part Sherpa! Off we set, with luggage, to scale the heights, in 33 degrees heat. 

Hotel is the white building at the top of the hill only 200 mtrs

Luckily for him, our hotel room was fabulous – a suite, complete with George Clooney coffee maker so he was soon forgiven for treating me like a mountain goat.

 

We set off to explore the city and found it to be beautiful.  The streets were narrow and cobbled just like Lisbon, with the prettiest areas being along the Douro River.  The streets were very steep but luckily Michael booked us on a hop on hop off bus tour, so we didn’t totally wear ourselves out.  There was also a funicular, which operated in the steepest street.

 

Our main reason for visiting Oporto was to taste the port for which the town is famous.  We visited the Casa Kopke, which is the oldest wine lodge in Vila Nova.  We were able to taste 2 ports with a chocolate pairing and it was a relaxing way to spend a little time. 

 

Michael found a restaurant close to our hotel that served traditional Portuguese food.  It was a family run restaurant, with even the elderly grandmother putting in an appearance. Very little English was spoken, so we relied heavily on Michael’s Portuguese phrase book.  Our meal was delicious, with Michael choosing sardines whilst I had the roast pork. The owner even gave Michael and I a sample of some type of liqueur which tasted like rocket fuel and which sent me into a coughing fit.  We enjoyed our meals so much that we returned for a repeat performance the following evening.



The next day we took a river cruise, which was pleasant and relaxing.  Unfortunately, the lovely, sunny weather deserted us and the rain set in however, we were still able to enjoy the cruise and the cooler temperatures made walking around a bit more comfortable.  We sampled some more ports, this time at Quinta Do Noval-vinhos Sa, including one that was 40 years old – lovely!  We both tried Francesinha for lunch, which is a Portuguese sandwich made with bread, wet-cured ham, smoke-cured pork sausage, chipolata and steak covered with melted cheese and a hot, thick tomato and beer sauce.  If that sounds like a lot – it is!  Delicious, however there was no way that I was ever going to finish a meal that huge.

 

In the afternoon we toured Cockburn’s Port Lodge.  The tour guide was very informative and took us through the cellars and showed us the barrels used for the aging process.  The tour concluded with a port tasting, which once again was very nice.  Michael purchased 3 bottles of port to take back to Ireland with us after first checking what the allowance was.  Would you believe that you are allowed 20 litres of port per person if you are travelling from a European Union country?  You are also allowed a staggering 90 litres of wine.

 

We were sad to leave Oporto however we had another comfortable return train journey to Lisbon.  The weather had taken a turn for the worse and we arrived in a torrential downpour.  Luckily our hotel wasn’t too far from the station however, we were still soaked by the time we arrived.  We dropped off our bags and headed into the main part of the city however it was just too wet to walk around.  We found our way to the Mercado da Ribeira and settled in for an early dinner and a nice glass or two of wine.  We were lucky that the weather was so good for the first part of our stay in Lisbon.



Portugal is a lovely country and it would be great to return and explore outside the main cities.  The food and wine are fabulous and the people very friendly.  I will certainly miss the Pastel de natas.



     

From Dublin With Love

Once more the seasons are changing with Dublin emerging from the cold winter into a spectacular spring.  I love the spring in Ireland – beautiful clear, blue skies and a very pleasant 13 degrees.  The parks are ablaze with enormous tulips and huge bumblebees lazily buzz around.  Outdoor seating has sprung up around the many cafes and restaurants and the city has come alive with the tourists once again returning.



Michael and I continued doing a few of the touristy things while the city was quiet over the winter, one of which was the Book of Kells.  We had felt guilty that we hadn’t visited perhaps the best-known cultural attraction of Dublin however, during the summertime, the queues are enormous.  We decided to take a guided tour of Trinity College, which was led by one of the college students.  The guide was very informative and led us over the cobbled stones and around the beautiful grounds whilst relating the history of the various buildings. The Book of Kells itself is the world’s most famous mediaeval manuscript.  The book dates back to the 9th century and is a richly decorated copy of the four Gospels of the life of Jesus Christ.  The display was well set out and we were able to view the open book through a glass case.  The highlight for me though was walking through the magnificent Old Library.  The Long Room, as the library is known, was built in the 18th century and contains over 200,000 books some of which are very valuable.

Yes snow outside our door

I have mentioned before that you cannot walk around Dublin without hearing music.  One of our favourite things to do over the wintertime was to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon at a pub called O’Donoghues.  This bar is famous for traditional Irish music and on Sunday afternoons they hold a jam session for people who want to play their instruments.  The afternoon might start with a quartet of musicians and then over the following hours more musicians arrive until there could be over 10 musicians playing and singing.  Sometimes someone will get up and perform an Irish jig.  The children are always better than the adults at dancing as they are obviously undertaking dancing lessons at school.  It is a terrific way to spend an afternoon and no two sessions are the same.



We have managed to attend a couple of hurling matches and football games over the winter.  I find that hurling is just too fast for me and I have a real problem keeping up with where the ball is.  The skill level of the players is amazing.  I much prefer the football, which is more familiar to me.  It is tough sitting in the cold for the length of the match though, and I am always glad when we can briskly walk home.



Michael and I attended the Whiskey and Beer Festival and had a very enjoyable time.  I am not a beer drinker however Michael enjoyed himself sampling the different craft beers on offer.  We then finished off with a whiskey tasting, which was much more to my liking.  Michael has gone from never drinking whiskey before our trip to being the resident expert on the topic.  Nothing less would be expected from a Herring male!



St Patrick’s Day was a momentous occasion once again.  We took up our positions to watch the parade, which was full of marching bands and floats.  People brought their step-ladders from home, something which made me laugh last year but seemed a perfectly normal thing to do this time.  One young boy had an ingenious home made invention which was a piece of metal approximately 12 inches long attached to a clamp which he then affixed to street sign.  He then raised it up and stood on it so that he could see the parade over the heads of the crowd.  Michael and I then spent the afternoon at the hurling and the football and both games were very good.   After the game, I made the mistake of suggesting that we head over to Temple Bar to see the celebrations.  This was not a smart thing to do as the area was packed with drunken tourists.  Most people were well behaved although I have to say that it was the groups of young girls that were out of control.  I imagine that there were many people with sore heads the following day.  Needless to say we didn’t stay too long.



Our plans for Easter had to be revised at the last minute.  We had planned to fly into Brussels on Good Friday and then catch the train to s-Hertogenbosch to view the Hieronymus Bosch exhibition.  Unfortunately the terrorist bombing ended that idea so we opted to stay in Dublin instead.  In a way, it turned out to be fortunate for us, as we were able to be a part of the celebrations for the centenary of the Easter Uprising.  Displays were set up all over the town and on Easter Sunday an enormous parade was held in the city.  The entire defence force marched through the street and huge screens were set up at various points so that everyone could view the parade as well as the various wreath-laying ceremonies which took place all around the city.  It was all very well organised and the weather was perfect.





Dingle Bay



Michael booked a last minute trip to Dingle and he couldn’t have chosen a better weekend.  The weather was glorious and we really enjoyed driving through the countryside to the west coast of Ireland.  I have mentioned before how varied the Irish landscape is and on this drive we passed through all the various types of scenery including a spot where a large glacier used to be, leaving its unique rock formations.



On our arrival in Dingle we checked into our B & B, which was actually a converted stable.  The owner of the accommodation took one look at Michael and asked him how tall he was, and when he replied that he was six foot three, she told him that he might have a problem, as the room we had been allocated was a little small.  Well, she didn’t lie – the only place that Michael could stand up straight was directly under the skylight as the roof was very steeply pitched.  Mind you, he managed perfectly well, and the only person that managed to hit their head was me!  Actually, the owner was hilarious as she kept calling out questions to her husband who was in another room and he kept replying after a short delay – just like a sketch from Little Britain.

A hardware store that serves beer - how does any work get done

We had a tour booked for the Dingle Distillery and we had a wonderful guide who spent an hour telling us all about the history of whiskey and the story of the distillery.  Michael was a little disappointed there was no whiskey tasting as the first batch of Dingle whiskey will not be released until late 2016.  We were, however, able to taste the vodka and gin.  I have been a fan of Dingle gin since our arrival in Dublin, having first tried Dingle gin ice cream.  Yes, gin ice cream is a thing and what a wonderful thing it is.



One of Michael’s work colleagues had recommended a restaurant for us and so Michael duly made a reservation.  We arrived a little early so we decided to have a drink at a hardware store across the road from the restaurant.  Only in Ireland would you find a hardware store that is also a bar.  When we finished our drink and made our way across the road to the restaurant, we saw that there were crowds gathered in the street and there appeared to be a film crew as well.  We stopped for a moment to see what was going on and a Bentley convertible drove by.  The driver looked a bit like the red haired gentleman from Top Gear but I quickly dismissed the thought.  A second car closely followed and my jaw dropped – it was Matt LeBlanc!  I could have reached out and touched him he passed that close to me.  I could only stand there saying his name over and over like a complete idiot.  Michael was not overly impressed.  We discovered in the restaurant that Top Gear was filming a show in Dingle that weekend and that the red headed gentleman was indeed Chris Evans.  I have never watched an episode in my life however I shall make an exception when this episode airs.  Dinner was exceptional with beautiful, fresh produce and we finished the evening listening to a traditional Irish band in one of the many pubs in Dingle.



The following morning we took a leisurely stroll around the town followed by a drive around the Dingle Peninsula.  This drive stretches 48 kilometres and the coastline consists of steep sea cliffs and sandy beaches.  The scenery is spectacular made even more so by the fact that the sun was shining and there was no wind, so that the water looked like a sheet of glass.  We then took our time returning to Dublin, stopping along the way for lunch at Killarney.  We plan to do another trip to the west coast next month, as it really is a beautiful part of Ireland.

T- Shirt weather in Dingle. Pleasant 12 c

Spirit of the ANZACS



We attended the dawn service at Grangegorman Military Cemetery, Dublin for the third year in a row.  Once again there was a good turn out for the well- organised ceremony, including the President of Ireland, Michael Higgins (or as Michael reverently calls him – The King of the Leprechauns).  There were various readings, hymns and prayers with the main address given by Professor Erik Eklund, the Keith Cameron Chair of Australian History at University College, Dublin.  There was a wreath laying ceremony, which was led by the Irish President.  He is rather good at laying wreaths, having practised extensively over the past month at the   various ceremonies held for the Easter Uprising centenary.  The Last Post was played and the one-minute silence observed.  In short, it was a very good service.

La Porti un Bacione a Firenze (Give a kiss to Florence)

They start early

Outside David

Another relaxing train journey took us from magical Venice to the stunning city of Florence.  Our apartment was just a short walk from the station and what a beautiful apartment it was.  The ceilings were covered in ornate frescos and our windows overlooked the lovely Piazza della Repubblica.  We just knew that we were going to love Florence.

Ceiling of the apartment

We lunched at the Mercato Centrale, which is a two-level indoor food market.  The downstairs is full of market stalls selling fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, meat and deli goods, whilst upstairs there is a seating area and all manner of food vendors selling everything from fresh mozzarella and tomato salads, antipasti, pasta, panini and more besides.  There was also beer and wine so once again it was great to sit down to a good meal amongst the locals and watch the busy market going about its routine.  We liked the market so much that we went back the following day for lunch.

Florence, like Rome and Venice, is chock full of churches and we wandered into just about everyone that we passed.  The Basilica of Santa Maria del Santo Spirito was one of the churches we visited.  Designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, building began in 1446, just 10 days before his death.  Today, the church is most famous for the sculpted wooden crucifix by Michelangelo, which hangs in the sacristy.

Santissima Annunziata was founded in 1250.  One of the monks began a painting of the Annunciation but became disheartened when he did not feel that he could paint a beautiful enough image.  He fell asleep and an angel completed the painting.  Pilgrims came from all over to venerate the painting and today Florentine brides traditionally visit the shrine to leave their bouquets.

Possibly the grandest church in Florence was the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo).  This is the main church of Florence and really stands out with its exterior of green, pink and white marble.  The complex is made up of three buildings, the cathedral, Baptistery and Giotto’s Campanile.  The dome of the cathedral is the largest brick dome ever constructed.  Michael climbed the 439 steps to the top of the cupola where he had a great view of the inside of the church and then he was able to go outside to see the glorious view over Florence (I would have loved to have gone with him however there was a large sign warning against people with claustrophobia attempting the climb).  Michael thoroughly enjoyed himself.

 




Another magnificent church was the Basilica of Santa Croce where Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli are buried along with many others.  There are also many funerary monuments dedicated to honoured Florentines including Marconi and Dante.

 

The main reason for our excursion to Florence was to visit the Uffizi Gallery.  Once again we counted our lucky stars to be visiting in the off-season, as while there were lots of tourists, we weren’t uncomfortably crowded out.  Michael was over the moon to see both The Birth of Venus and Primavera by Botticelli.  There were many other artworks by Italian artists such as Titian, da Vinci, Giotto and Raphael.  I loved the painting of Medusa by Caravaggio.  The gallery itself is a work of art and it was difficult to take in the paintings and sculptures as well as the ornate ceilings, walls, floors and furnishings.

The Galleria dell’Accademia was next on the list and it was definitely the highlight of Florence for me.  Sometimes you look forward to seeing a famous piece of artwork only to be disappointed.  Perhaps it is not as big as you expected or the colours are not what you wanted or for whatever reason the piece is disappointing.  Well, I have wanted to see Michelangelo’s David for as long as I can remember and I can honestly say that I was not disappointed.  In fact, the statue was outstanding.  It was much larger than I had imagined and the fact that it was displayed in the museum under a dome that was specifically constructed to showcase the statue made it awe inspiring.  I could have stared at the statue for hours and kept walking around to view it from all sides.  I even snaffled a coveted seat and was able to sit there admiring him for a time.  It was definitely worth the trip to Italy just to see David alone.  The rest of the small gallery was interesting, particularly Michelangelo’s Slaves and Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabines.

The Ospedale degli Innocenti was closed for renovations, however we were allowed to walk around the cloisters and view a small museum detailing the history of the building.  This huge complex was built by Filippo Brunelleschi in the 15^th century and was a hospital and dormitory for abandoned children.  We saw the place where a rotating drum used to be, into which unwanted babies could be placed without the parents having to reveal themselves.  It was very sad and reminded be of the Foundling Museum in London.

The Bargello was another fantastic art museum, the highlights of which were Bacchus and Crucifix, both works by Michelangelo.  There were other Michelangelo works there as well as pieces by Donatello and Bernini and many others.

The food in Florence was excellent, whether it was a simple cornetto or a more elaborate dish, every meal we had was memorable.  Michael had read a review of Trattoria Marione and so we headed there for dinner one evening.  When we arrived, we observed the enormous queue but were assured that we would be seated in 10 minutes.  We were finally seated after some 40 minutes of queuing in the cold and I was quietly grumbling to myself that no restaurant is worth queuing for.  I was wrong.  The food was fabulous, the wine was great and the service was friendly and unhurried.  The owner, on seeing that Michael and I were tourists, gave us each a limoncello to finish our meals.  We enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided to return the following evening.  This time, knowing that they did not take bookings, we decided to make sure that we were there when they opened at 7.00pm.  We took up our position at a bar a few doors down from the restaurant and at exactly 7.00pm Michael and I made our move.  Imagine our dismay when we saw a horde of people surging through the door of the just opened restaurant!  Thereafter followed the unedifying spectacle of Michael and I sprinting down the street to join the mob.  We made it in and were then able to smugly watch the ever-growing queue through the window.  The meal that night was even better than the previous night’s.

The Palazzo Pitti is the largest museum complex in Florence.  Originally it was the town residence of a banker and was then bought by the Medicis in 1549.  Napoleon also used the residence and then it became a royal palace until it was donated to the Italian people in 1919.  The Palatine Gallery is the main gallery and houses a dizzying array of works by Raphael, Titian, Correggio and Rubens among others.  The frescos on the ceilings and walls are extremely intricate and elaborate and without doubt were the best we have seen out of the many hundreds so far.  The Silver Museum contains a collection of priceless silver and gems and some of the jewellery was exquisite.  The extensive Boboli gardens were beautifully landscaped and Michael really liked the sculpture of a fat Bacchus astride a turtle.

We also visited the Museo Galileo, which Michael enjoyed immensely.  I wandered around but I must confess that since my two most hated subjects at school were mathematics and science, I really didn’t understand much of what was on display.  Both Michael and I agreed that his brother, Matthew, would love the exhibits.  We also had a quick look at Dante’s House however it might have meant more to me if I had read his works.

Completely by chance we came across a bronze fountain of a boar, Il Porcellino.  I immediately thought he looked familiar and I was right – a copy of him stands outside Sydney Hospital in Macquarie Street.  I can remember as a child rubbing his snout and putting a coin in the fountain for luck.  Well, now I can say that I have done the same in Florence.  Legend has it that if you put a coin into his gaping jaws and rub his snout for good luck, then you will return to Florence.  Michael and I visited the statue and undertook the ritual twice so it seems that we will definitely return to Florence one day, even if it induces a bout of Stendhal Syndrome!

Arrivederci Roma

We took another comfortable train to return to Rome.  Our previous apartment was unavailable so we had chosen a hotel at EUR Magliana.  The hotel itself was lovely however it was situated a 30 minute walk from the train station and the suburb was a quite a distance from the centre of Rome.  Luckily we were only staying for 2 nights.

We lost no time in reacquainting ourselves with the city and undertook the pilgrimage to the Trevi Fountain.  Renovation works sponsored by Fendi have recently been completed so the fountain looked as if it had been built yesterday.  Crowds of people gather at this fountain and traditionally throw a coin over their left shoulder to ensure that they will return to Rome.  Naturally Michael and I joined the throng and so now Rome has joined the list of places that we will return to.  I have since discovered that approximately 3000 Euro is collected from the fountain each night and is donated to the Catholic charity Caritas.

On our final day in Rome we visited Vatican City.  We decided to take a three hour guided tour to navigate the throngs of people.  This was the only place in Rome where we experienced horrendous crowds and it did make you wonder what it would be like in the summer when the queues, heat and crowd must be suffocating.

Everything about the Vatican is magnificent – from St Peter’s Square, the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica.  The guide was very informative and we learned much about the buildings and artworks along the way.  The Sistine Chapel of course, was the highlight and it was amazing to finally see the famous Michelangelo frescos.  It was especially thrilling to see the Creation of Adam.  It would be wonderful to view them without the hordes of people jostling and talking however at least photography was banned so were spared the duck-faced selfie brigade!  

We finished our tour with a visit to St Peter’s Basilica.  We were especially lucky to be visiting this year, as 2016 has been proclaimed the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. The Great Door of St Peter’s was open (the holy door which is normally bricked up and only open during jubilees) and we were able to pass through.  Once inside, there were two Saints’ bodies on display, Padre Pio and St Leopoldo Mandic.  We could have queued to view the saints however Michael did not want to see them up close. Thousands of pilgrims came to Rome to venerate them for the week that they were on display.  We walked around the massive basilica viewing the architecture, statues, tombs and chapels.  It must be awesome to attend a mass there where the capacity is 60,000 people.

Michael and I thoroughly enjoyed our time in Italy.  It is a beautiful country with friendly people, fabulous food and wine as well as wonderful art works, history and architecture.  We would love to return as we only scratched the surface of what this country has to offer.