MY TRIP TO PORTUGAL
– MAY 2005
Our Brazilian song says “Have you been to Bahia,
pal? No? Then go!”
I would like to borrow the verse and say “Have you been to Portugal, pal?
No? Then go!” It is very pretty and
friendly. Go there and see for yourself, I guarantee you will not regret it! ☺
To go to Portugal
was a dream of mine, for many reasons, among which to be able to offer my
students the knowledge that comes from a personal experience and not only from
books. Although my Portuguese classes focus mainly on Brazil, Portugal is directly related to our
language, our culture, our history.
Here are some special insights into this beautiful trip;
there is so much to share with you.
Undoubtedly, my daughter Christina and I were privileged on
many occasions with some “extras” that we were not counting on.
- In Lisbon, our arrival and then our departure site, we
had the privilege to see, at Fundação
Calouste Gulbenkian, a temporary exposition of objects that until now
had never left Iran.
Objects dated from the time period B.C., and many more artifacts from the
Islamic world dated from the XV century up to today. Leaving this ancient
era, we went to another area at the Fundação to see the winners for this
year’s modern art contest. What contrasts!
- In
Salema, just by chance at a bus stop in a curve somewhere along the road
itself (we were on our way to Sagres that day), we discovered that in the
neighboring town of Vila do Bispo there would be a piano concert by
Spanish pianists. This was an incentive to participate in the arts funded
by the City Hall in Vila do Bispo. Not only that, but the City Hall would
send a bus to pick up guests from neighboring towns for the recital. From
the tiny fishing village
of Salema there were
Christina and me!
- In Coimbra, we arrived
on the day of Queima das Fitas of Coimbra
University. The city was one huge party with so many people in
the streets. The population had increased considerably due to the presence
of the families of current and former students. It was a very pretty and
happy celebration, where one could see that youth seems to have the same
behavior here, there or in Brazil.
- In the
city of Porto,
my excitement was beyond control, for as we rode to our hotel in a taxi
cab, I noticed a huge paper advertisement on a wall announcing the theater
play Visiting Mr. Green, with no
one other than Paulo Autran! Here we had the three nations represented:
the author of the play is an American, the actors, Paulo Autran and Dan
Stulbach, are Brazilians, and the theater was in the city of Porto. That night
was incredible!
Our itinerary between the main cities was all done by bus,
with the exception of Vale do Douro, where we
rented a car. When traveling by bus, one observes facts and customs, and sees things that one would not have a chance to experience
otherwise. Of course it takes more time,
but the learning experience is that much richer.
We also took taxi cabs for shorter distances. Here the
learning comes neither from books nor from documentaries we might by chance
read and watch, but from the people, the natives, and one learns the popular
opinion on a variety of daily life aspects
in which we may have interest and ask about: the political situation,
the economy, the role of Portugal within the European Union, the loans provided
to Portugal by the Union, and the potential difficulty in paying the debt one
day, racism, the foreigner that comes to visit and stays on forever and the
economic difficulties that creates for the government, the Brazilian
individuals that go to Portugal and go back to Brazil, those Brazilians that
decide to remain in Portugal, and on the other hand the Portuguese who go to
Brazil and do not want to leave that country they call their own.
This part I found so enriching. The opinions diverge and we
do not end up with only one point of view. It opens one’s eyes to many things
that would otherwise remain unknown had we crisscrossed Portugal by car
or by plane.
“Porto works, Coimbra studies, Fátima prays and Lisbon splurges”, says the Portuguese
public opinion.
ITINERARY
LISBOA - Sintra , Cascais , Belém
SALEMA – Vila do Bispo , Sagres
ÉVORA
NAZARÉ – Alcobaça , Batalha , Fátima
COIMBRA
PORTO – Régua, Pinhào
The outings all over Portugal require a good pair of
legs. You could say that anywhere you go there is always a
Downhill is no less scary. You need some good tennis shoes
and brakes for your feet.
But it is worth it!
Oh, it was well worth it!
Take into consideration the geographical characteristics of
a naturally hilly region. The great majority of castles, forts, and towers were
purposely built in the highest elevations for a more strategic defense of the
territory. That is where you will want to go, even if it means hundreds of
steps to be climbed. And this we did!
All of them! Or almost all of them…
Sometimes it is possible to use another means of
transportation besides the metro bus. Although
very ancient, it is extremely efficient. Lisbon
Adeus
(farewell), that sounds so sad, is simply até logo (bye), tchau (bye) in
Brazil; perceber
(notice) instead of entender (understand), camioneta(pickup truck)/autocarro for
ônibus (bus), comboio for trem (train), ementa for cardápio
(menu),
and many more expressions, always, always followed by the very
polite expression se faz favor (if you will,
please).
If you would like to know many
more words, there is the incredible Dicionário de português, by Mário Prata,
Shifaizfavoire.
And if you would please, let me
also tell you that the food in Portugal
is delicious.
When I was a child, in Brazil, we
would eat cod fish in my house on Good Friday, and I was not very fond of this
dish; but, that is what was served and I had to have a bocadinho (very small amount – another word used frequently in
Portugal, a small amount of just about anything, be it time, distance, food and
so forth). In Portugal, on the coastal towns all I ate was cod fish, and
although the taste in my mouth was still that from childhood, there was in it
also the flavor of the trip, of the experience, of a dream come true, and let
me tell you, that dish was delicious!
How about the bread? How
delicious! It is different from that
which we find in Brazil,
where we brag about having the best French bread in the world, but this one in Portugal is
also one of those you are not satisfied by having only one. Oh well, we walked
a lot afterwards anyway, so we had plenty of them.
We cannot forget to mention the wines.
If you are not a wine connoisseur, like me, you must taste it. And if you
already appreciate a good wine, then you must buy it!
Wine cellars and vineyards
Vale Douro
In Lisbon, we had a beautiful experience in a
restaurant where we tasted green wine produced in the region, ate great food
and listened to fado live. We went to Adega
do Ribatejo, where by chance we had one of those “extras” granted us
throughout our trip. There was a couple celebrating their thirtieth
anniversary. After a lot of wine and
celebration the husband decided he was going to sing fado his own way, but his memory, along with the influence of the
wine, was a little debilitated and the amateur fado singer made us laugh a lot.
He was certainly happy and uninhibited. His wife did not share his
spontaneity.
Let me not forget to tell that Portugal was in
bloom, for being May, springtime was intense. What we saw the most were roses,
of all colors and very, very large. Another flower that got our attention was
the geranium that grows as big as a tall bush, almost a tree, and a very pretty
sight. People take pride in the care of their front yards presenting the peões
(pedestrians), like us, the beauty their climate affords them.
In our travel by the countryside
we could observe fields and fields of olive trees that were in bloom. We also
saw extensive areas of sobreiros, the tree that produces
the cork, one of the products Portugal
exports. There is another bush that has yellow flowers, wild and in great
quantity, a sight to be seen, but I never found out the name. And of course,
walking in the vineyards in Vale do Douro, we
could see close up the grapes that are no bigger that a pinhead. During harvest
time the scenery must be spectacular. How much wine will they produce there!
Speaking of nature’s beauty, on
the road between Évora and Nazaré, we saw several stork nests. They are
gigantic, built on the very tip of electricity wooden poles, the old ones, as
if challenging the laws of gravity and balance. We watched those enormous birds
coming back home or already in their nests, as if adding a little suspense to
the scene. Will it fall, will it not? I do not think it will. Mother Nature’s
peculiar details…
Speaking of dwellings, we stayed
in various modalities of accommodations, from your every day hotel to the
family stay, where one rents a room. We
even stayed at an inn, which in the past used to be a Portuguese nobleman’s
mansion.
Our arrival in Nazaré was very
peculiar, where one can find very good and affordable places to stay through
women who come meet the passengers at the bus doors. Since we had already made
reservations, we could not experience this by going to verify the accommodation
one woman insisted on showing us. But the fact is that one can get to Nazaré
without a place to sleep and find one as soon as you get off the bus. These
women come and tell you they have a room, an apartment, a house, whatever you
would prefer, all of them very well kept and for great prices.
This very relaxed and direct
attitude we witnessed in several parts of Portugal. I think our Brazilian
accent is also a good invitation for this approach, since the Portuguese like
us. And we like them.
Here is a sample of this
Portuguese behavior. We were going down a narrow winding street in Coimbra,
coming back from the university, and an elderly woman, Dona Fernanda (I always
ask a person’s name), opened her door when we were passing her house and
greeted us very animatedly. Because the city was celebrating the Dia
da Queima das Fitas, I think her mood was also affected by the
general excitement and she started talking to us. She then offered us água
fresca, (cold water, but if translated into Brazilian Portuguese it
really means fresh, cool water). She even invited us in to eat um
bocadinho (a little something)!
Another example of this friendly attitude
happened in Salema. There was a lady, Dona Eugênia, crocheting on a bench by
the seashore excitedly talking to friends. When she was alone I went to her to
know what she was making, a good excuse to talk to a native. She soon started
telling me she was recently a widow and that she missed her husband very much;
spoke of her children, her house, in short, her life.
On the bus to Sagres I made a
comment to the driver on how narrow the roads were and so full of curves. Why
did I do that? A heated conversation
ensued, in reality a debate among the passengers, men and women, arguing that
the government did not take good care of these roads and was waiting for a
tragedy to happen. In fact, I noticed that the Portuguese people usually speak
in an excited manner, even a little mad it seems, be it about the government or
the taste of the pastel de nata (famous pastry in Belém).
How about the taxi driver in Lisbon? Just one more story to illustrate how
talkative the Portuguese are. He told us
about a traffic accident he had had that involved a driver without insurance.
All I needed to say was “You don’t say!” and he had five more minutes of
stories to tell us. So much so that we arrived at the hotel and he kept
telling, and telling and ignoring the new passengers who needed a ride, and
might even be trying to get to a flight or something similar. But he was not just telling an event, he
seemed to still be trying to take revenge on the sly fellow who wanted to take
advantage of an honest man like himself.
There are so many stories to tell,
but these I will leave for my students.
I wish you, who shared this
reading and experience with me that Portugal is in your future plans.
As I said, you will not regret it!
Suzana Maria Campos Pinto Bloem
Portuguese Lecturer
Center for the Study of Languages - MS 36
Rice University
6100 Main Street Houston, TX 77005
Phone: 713-348-2487
http://lang.rice.edu/sbloem
Below you will find links for more
pictures in my albums.
Lisboa,
Belém, Sintra
Salema, Sagres, Évora
Nazaré,
Alcobaça, Batalha, Fátima
Coimbra
Porto e Vale do Douro
