[April 9, Santiago de Compostela]
This is not the symbol of Big Oil, but of Big Religion. The scallop is the symbol of Santiago de Compostela, Christendom's 3rd major pilgrimage site (after Jerusalem and Rome). On this scallop impression, in the center of Praza do Obradoiro, pilgrims gather to celebrate the end of their 500 mile walk to Santiago.
We show this rather poor photo shot from a window of a moving train for two reasons:If you check this blog every day (and if so, please get a life!), you may notice that articles sometimes show up in arrears.
[April 7, Porto]
The name of the fortified wine port comes from Porto. The process of making port was discovered somewhat accidentally, by the need to add brandy in order to stabilize wine for shipping long distance. The British found that the necessity was in fact a virtue and have loved port ever since. British names (Taylor, Croft, etc) still dominate the industry.
[April 6, Porto]
The most scenic part of Porto is the river "Ribeiera" district. It is the old working waterfront where from the 14th century flat-bottomed river boats brought wine and other goods were brought down the Douro to ship away. Once bustling, gritty, and commercial, it is now bustling, touristy, and commercial. And delightfully picturesque.
But today we tried something worth repeating: Caldo Verde. a green soup of kale and potato puree. Fairly good in a soul-food sort of way. We also tried the local Coimbra pastry "pastel de Tentugal"; it made us long for Belem and pastel de nata.
the old cathedral, built while the Moors were still making nuisances of themselves in the neighborhood, looks (and is) a fortress.
The University of Coimbra is atop a steep hill. Some walk; the wimps take the elevator, and enjoy
The train from Lisbon was efficient and pleasant, except for the seriously dirty window that inhibited seeing the countryside. Our first impression of Coimbra was not favorable. Our hotel (Ibis) is located on a busy street, and though Coimbra is smaller than Lisbon, it seems strangely hectic and stressful. The heat is stifling, and yet our hotelier has determined that it is not yet hot enough in the year to provide air conditioning; we disagree. We walked around for a bit to orient ourselves then staggered into an “Irish Pub” for some Guinness and a cheeseburger; this was no time for culinary experimentation.
[April 2, Lisbon (Belem)]
Lindbergh was not the first to cross the Atlantic in a plane.
We skipped the more famous and doubtlessly worthy Gulbekian art museum, and sought out things distinctive of Lisbon and Portugal. In the Alfama district, the Fundacao Ricardo do Espirito Santo Silva museum and the National Tile Museum showcase Portugal's ceramic tile art.
was built in the 8th century by the Moors, but then completely rebuilt by Salazar in the 20th century. It is not particularly attractive or impressive in itself,
Today we walked the Baixa, the historic axis of Lisbon from Rossio square (pictured left) to the harbor. It is surprising how manageable the city is to the pedestrian, and how tame is the traffic. The noise in below threshold of pain, and the act of crossing streets is no more suicidal than in Houston. Such is not our experience with certain other Mediterranean capitals.
