Category: travels

This is the perfect hour

‘This is the perfect hour’ by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen

[Translated from the Portuguese by Colin Rorrison with Margaret Jull Costa]

This is the perfect hour when a hush descends
On our muted human murmurings
And inside us finally there speaks
The grave voice of indolent dreams.
This is the hour when roses are the roses
That flowered in the Persian gardens
Where Saadi and Hafiz saw and loved them.
This is the hour of the mysterious voices
Chosen and summoned by my desires.
This is the hour of the long conversations
Held between leaf and leaf.
This is the hour when time is abolished
And I do not even know my own face.

Amália Rodrigues

Amália Rodrigues was a Portuguese fadista and actress. Known as the ‘Rainha do Fado’, Rodrigues was instrumental in popularising fado worldwide. Fado (“destiny or fate”) is a musical genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. The songs follow a certain traditional structure and are characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor. They are infused with a sentiment of resignation, fatefulness and melancholia. Will be going to Mesa de Frades in a few days to listen to fado inside a building that used to be a small chapel.

lunch in sintra

#lunch at #tasca do #chico in #downtown #sintra with megan and colby and then travesseiro at the famous #piriquita #bakery founded in 1862

‘Travesseiro means large pillow, and that is what these pastries look like. But, instead of cloth and feathers, these pillows have layers of puff pastry filled with an egg and almond cream.

Despite many attempts, no one has been able to copy these travesseiros since Piriquita first opened its doors to the public.’

The chapel of the former Our Lady of Pena

‘The #chapel of the former Our Lady of Pena #convent still retains its original 16th century layout. The small scale nave has an ogival vaulted arch finished in 16th century tiles.

The Neo-Gothic #stained #glass #window was commissioned by King #Ferdinand in 1840 from the Kellner family workshop in Nuremberg and alludes to the foundation of the Convent of Pena in 1503: King Manuel I appears in the bottom left; to the right is Vasco da Gama with a ship and the Tower of Belém in the background; above there is Our Lady of Pena, Saint Jorge, the armillary sphere, the cross of Christ and the coats of arms of Bragança and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

The main #altarpiece is a work in #alabaster and black #marble carried out between 1529 and 1532 by the French #sculptor Nicolau de Chanterene (ca. 1470-1551).’

sintra

today i took a trip to #sintra with our guide patricia, myank from #india and two lovely families from the #westcoast – the #beautiful colby second from right is the same age as my #daughter 

sintra was enveloped in a delicate #mist and as #magical as the #moon#goddess it is named after ‘The #Pena #Palace and Park, in the Sintra mountains, are the product of the creative genius of King #Fernando II and the epitome of 19th century #Romanticism in #Portugal. Architecturally speaking, they are a mix of #Manueline and #Moorish #architecture. The palace was built so that it could be seen from any point in the park, forest or luxuriant #gardens, with their five hundred plus species of trees from the four corners of the world.’

first day in lisbon

after a short nap i walked around the #neighborhood
had #roast #chicken at #restaurant #bonjardim
tried some #madeira – it was #spicy
took the #historic no. 28 #tram, which winds through the steep streets of #alfama on its way up to 11th #century #sãojorge #castle
finally found this gorgeous rooftop garden in my own hotel and had a custard tart – #nata – i had picked up from a #pastelaria