Azueljos, Coffee and Wine

Our last day trip to Lisbon from Ericeira was mainly to visit the Museu Nacional do Azueljo (National Tile Museum) which is a very appropriate topic for this post.  My focus today is on just a few of the practices and preferences we noticed that make up the Portuguese culture that we enjoy so much.

During the bus ride that morning we were quiet, a bit pensive.  We realized this would be the last time to make this trip, setting our alarm at 6:30 am to give us time to dress, have a little coffee, and make sure we are stocked with water, a breakfast snack, a jacket, keys, wallet, sunglasses, and a mask.  It also gave us time to do a DuoLingo Spanish lesson which entitles us to earn double points on a lesson performed after 6 pm that night.  Even with our mental checklist of out-the-door to-dos, more times than I’d like to admit we’ve had to rush back to the apartment to grab one last thing!  We have gone through this exercise now 6 times for Lisbon and 3 times for Sintra.

Just touring the area it is easy to see that decorated, glazed ceramic tiles are a signature element of Portuguese culture.  At the museum, we saw that ceramic tiles were introduced here in the 13^th century by the Moors who ruled the land at the time.  The Moorish tiles were decorated with intricate geometric designs and interestingly enough, are still in vogue today.  Over the centuries, decorated tiles became instilled in the local culture.  After the Moors were expelled from the country, the Portuguese developed their own tile artists and built tile factories.  Over time the Portuguese artists introduced artful depictions of flowers and animals into their tile designs.  Then later the Dutch introduced Delft blue, and Portuguese tile artists moved farther away from geometric patterns and began to create tiles in blue.  By the 1600s churches became interested in tile art and ordered composite tile replications of religious paintings or specific religious events.  In the museum, we saw complete walls covered in tiles that for example, create a larger-than-life portrait of God speaking to Moses on the Mount and another large wall showing a panoramic view of early Lisboa that I estimate to be 30 feet long and 8 feet high.

As we passed through the museum, we strolled through ceramic tiles’ history and saw samples of tiles made from the 1400s to now.  In Portugal, decorated ceramic tiles are still treasured.  Even now tiles adorn houses, buildings, and virtually anything with a wall.  Tiles are even used as long-lasting, beautiful, exteriors for houses and buildings.

The tile museum has the largest collection of ceramics in the world and is also unique in that it is set in an ancient convent, Madre de Deus, founded in 1509.  Good grief!  Seeing the building alone was worth a visit.  As we followed the designated timeline path through the museum we suddenly found we’d left the clean lines of the museum and were in one of the most stunning courtyards and churches in all of Lisboa.

Last week we had a delicious lunch of choco (cuttlefish) pronounced shoa-co at a tiny, non-descript restaurant just off the Gloria Funicular line.  We wanted to try the choco again.    After a good walk, a bus ride, and a hike up the steep hill the funicular usually treks, we found the restaurant.  No, no choco on the menu today!  Phooey!  But they did have caracois (snails).  Travelers we met a week or so ago recommended Portuguese snails.  Delicious, they said they were!!!  They’ve been on my must-try list since then.  Snails are garden pests and are found in damp gardens in the early morning.  They are gathered and held in a mesh bag for 14 days during which time they are fed wheat flour and potato to flush out the impurities.   After the flushing period, they are cooked just moments in a spicy broth.

Served hot, the meat is picked out of the shell with a toothpick.  The minuscule antenna can still be seen on some.  While they don’t look particularly appetizing, they taste very good.

We hoped to see the Jardim de Botanico (Tropical Botanical Garden of Belem) but it was on the opposite side of town.  Our bus took us there but we determined we didn’t have enough time to see it properly. We simply headed back toward Campo Grande instead where we’d catch our 4:35 pm direct bus home to Ericeira.  I’m sure we missed a good thing but . . .

Coffee here is a very civilized thing.  Almost on any corner, any park, on any street-side are restaurants, stands, kiosks with tables and umbrellas where lots of people sit doing Sudoku, reading or smoking, or even playing cards or backgammon with a friend, while they savor a miniature cup of espresso.  And tiny cafes or pastelaria selling luscious pastries always sell coffee too and often have one long tall counter in their shop.  As in Italy, people here at all hours of the day belly-up to the tall counter, and side by side with other patrons order and drink one of those demitasse expressos.  Some sip; but some gulp and then move on quickly with their day.  Coffee is very important here and it is royally delicious!  If I could have coffee like this, mellow but deep and strong, I’d drink a coffee every day of my life.  Stan and I have not graduated to espressos yet but we do love a nice cappuccino or an Americano.

Stan and I enjoy our red wines.  We drink a good bit of it.  Wine here is lovely, rich, well made, and inexpensive.  Most popular here are vinho tintos, ports and vinho brancos.  The ginja is very nice too especially when served in a tiny chocolate cup.  It’s a 19% alcohol by volume cherry liquor – a little goes a long way.  As a side note, Portugal, Mafra in particular, is known for its strawberries and we can vouch for that!!  But this area is also known for its cherries.  They are in season now; we have seen them at markets but have not tried them yet.  So far we have had local peaches, plums, and strawberries, all are some of the best we’ve ever tasted.  This climate is perfect for pitted fruit and berries.   Lemons and oranges grow here too but we are puzzled as to why we have seen orchard after orchard with unpicked ripe lemons just falling to the ground.  In one field, I picked up a few to take home.

We have found no wineries in this area where we can walk through vineyards, taste the vintages in the cellar door, buy a bottle or two and enjoy a gourmet lunch in the cafe.  But I think we might find these in a couple of weeks when we visit Porto and nearby areas.  But here in Ericeira, it is a joy to enter a small market to buy a nice bottle of vino tinto for only 2 euros or order a nice bottle of wine with dinner in a fancy restaurant and pay only 11 euros.

I’ve only touched on some characteristics of the Portuguese culture . . . I could go on and on . . . touting how friendly, courteous and helpful the people are, how so many speak English – or at least enough for us to easily communicate.  I could talk about how clean the cities and even roadsides are and how trash is collected and picked up.  Oh, I just have to talk about that.  Trash receptacles are in-ground and are conveniently located in high-density residential areas.  Containers with heavy well-fitting caps above ground are marked as general trash, glass, plastic, or paper/cartons.  Inside the receptacles are giant heavy-duty canvas bags open at one end to collect the stuff.  The bottom has a contraption to hold the bag shut.  A big truck with a crane-like arm comes by on a schedule.  A worker operates the arm via remote control and robotically attaches a hook to the bag, and lifts it out and over the truck’s bin. 

Another worker releases the bottom closure and the trash falls into the right bin on the truck.  The bag’s bottom is reclosed and replaced in the underground pit.   It’s an intriguing process to watch. 

I could talk about the weather and how it is so much like northern California with early morning fog that dissipates to blue skies later and how we have generally pleasant temps all day and cool, breezy nights.  This past week, however, those ordinarily cool mornings were downright cold and wet—so weird for late June.

We are not done with Portugal.  We look forward to being in-country again in the next few weeks when we visit Madeira and Porto.  For now, we are preparing for a flight on Tuesday to Las Palmas, Canaria.

For now, adios!  Tchau!