Trip to Portugal

Prologue
“ I, Lu, take you, Nuno, to be my husband. To have and to hold from this day forward, In joy and sorrow, In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish all the days of my life.”
I was sitting several rows away from a bride and a bridegroom at a church in Sintra. A couple was making consent of marriage in front of their family and friends in a bright early summer afternoon. Until the moments Lu and Nuno spoke for their consent, I had almost forgotten the purpose of this trip. Along with other friends at Newcastle University, I was invited by Lu and Nuno to attend their wedding ceremony. In last few days there was a full of activity: I went to watch Bullfighting at Camp Pequeno, had dinner at a Fado restaurant and exploring Lisbon with other friends. I felt a little shame for forgetting their wedding ceremony. But to defend myself, when I met them three days before at a department store, they did not look tense at all. Indeed, both of them look relaxed at the ceremony.
From this moment, they are husband and wife. They might have had some difficult periods, especially when they were living in different countries. Nevertheless, they will get over any difficulty together. I felt truly happy for them.


Portugal
This is my fifth visit to Portugal. My relation to my dear friend, Nuno Vicente (as well as my great passion toward das Quinas, Portuguese FANTASTIC national team) has caused to discover this attractive country in the western-most country of Europe. When you look at the Japanese history, Portuguese left their remarkable footprints in the 16th century. They brought rifles and Christianity. The first item became a key element to end civil wars. Christianity spread across the country for a hundred years until it was finally banned by the rulers: Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Although the religion was banned and Portuguese merchants were forbidden to enter our country, Portuguese culture left strong footprints in our cultures. When I list things from food and gastronomy, I can name a lot of things. For example,, Tempura, bolos, confeitos, castela (=the origin is pan de lo) and so on.
For Portuguese people, this episode may interest you on the point how the man from the Far East see your country, culture and people (yourself). For other foreign travellers, I hope my writing give some tips to enjoy this wonderful country or draw your interests to consider Portugal for next holiday destination.


The day one: a fearful Benfica man!
On the 5th, on the way to pick up Linda at the Lisbon airport, I finally felt relieved, relieved to get away from a Benfica man. This Portuguese man spoke as a machine gun and unstoppable.
Arriving on Monday, the 2nd, I stayed at a Youth Hostel for three nights. I shared a room with the Bengfica man and a Japanese boy who was visiting Lisbon for university seminars. The man whose name was not common enough to be memorised but he sells laboratory tools to companies and organizations to make a living. He said he is from the central region of Portugal and stays in Lisbon a couple of weeks.
“These tools are made in China. China is the future! And tell me some words in Chinese!” he asked another Japanese roommate who did not even learn Chinese at his university. Then he started to tell me how great Benfica is. Benfica is one of three major football clubs in Portugal. “Yeah, Benfica is the greatest club in the world. Do you know Benfica has the most subscribed members in the world, more than Barcelona! Benfica is the first club that made a tour to China.” he claimed. “Sounds ridiculous. I certainly doubt many Chinese still remember Benfica.” I thought.
“But the majority of young Portuguese stars are from Sporting, no? Cristiano Ronaldo, Quaresma, Joan Moutinho, Nani. And even Benfica captain Simon Sabrosa is from Sporting. Nowadays, Benfica does not produce any possible star players.” I launched a counterargument. Sporting is another club in Lisbon and it has a great reputation of training young players and it is a rival of Benfica. Bascially both club supporters hate each other.
“No, Simon plays in Benfica. Do you know Jose Mourinho first coached Benfica? In a football team, a coach is important. Star players think they are the most important. Not true! A coach is the boss! Players just have to follow coach’s orders!” he just ignored my point of argument. He started to introduce “disciplined football” and he even think Fabio Capello is a great coach. I quickly realized that the man is not capable of making a rational discussion and obsessed with his favourite team of Benfica. I now remembered Nuno saying Benfica is a horrible team and educated men support Sporting. At that time, I thought he said so because Benfica is a rival of his team. “ Well, maybe Nuno is right.” I thought. I remembered my last visit to Portugal: I went to watch a football game of Portugal vs Russia with him, his sister Claudia and her boyfriend Sergio. We enjoyed the match and it was a great victory with 7 goals. Sergio is an enthusiastic Sporting supporter. He talks about Sporting proudly and on the other hand, he also has a good knowledge of wine and olive oils. He is balanced. Not like this mad Benfica man. A good guide for the taste of Portugal. Probably more than Nuno Vicente. When I say good things about Portuguese National team or players, Sergio seems to be pleased. However, this guy, the Benfica man does not give any reaction whatsoever when I say how great his national team is or Portuguese stars are. Instead, he starts to produce another praisal to his beloved club of Benfica!
“Well, this guy is definitely obsessed with his team and his business. He does not have any space for other people to intervene. How possible! This guy speaks without pose. No space for others to interact. ”



Portuguese food/ Comida portuguesa
Finally, I managed to escape from his unstoppable talk and went out from the hostel to the outside world. In early July, the sun has already strong in Lisbon. I saw pedestrians trying to find shade on streets. However, the temperature did not seem to be so hot. In this period, it is absolutely boiling with high humidity in Japan. I rather felt warm and comfortable. Lisbon did not look changed since I was here three years ago. Walking down the Avenida Liberdade toward the river, I reached Baixa, the centre of Lisbon. “ Maybe this guy has become much popular. This could be a significant change in Portugal” I thought looking at an advertisement of Banco Spirit Santo. The ad says: “We do as Cristiano Ronaldo does. Investing money into our bank is as you pass a ball to who knows how to handle it well”
“Well, Ronaldo has become one of the best footballer in the world. The Bank Spirit Santo is just a leading bank in Portugal. It is not even a main bank in Europe. Definitely the ad is exaggerated”





In a department store in Baxia, I quickly did some shopping and tried to find some place to eat.
In Portugal, restaurants usually have several choices of recommended dishes called Menu del Dia: today’s special. Prices are normally reasonable for lunch. Like other countries in Europe, people become busy at work and have less time and tend to eat quickly. Although it is not so significant as in Japan or UK, first food certainly affected younger generations here in Portugal too. I suppose traditional restaurants seem to put reasonable price for lunch around 10 Euros for main menu in order to keep customers coming in. I had Pataniscas de Bacalhau (9.45 euros) with mineral water and a cup of coffee. The total was about 11 euros. That was not expensive for lunch.


-Grilled octopus-
But I noticed that other customers in the restaurant were mostly well-dressed: Business men and women, elder couples. No younger generations in casual clothes. On my right, there seems to be a group of university students. But men are in suit and women are well-dressed too. The lunch can be a special occasion after big examinations for example. I suppose, younger generation in Portugal as well have some quick lunch such as hamburgers. There is an unanswered question about Portuguese food in my last visits: What is a significant difference in food and eating customs between Portuguese and Spanish? I had already known that Portuguese eat cod (bacalhau) regularly. If you go to a Portuguese restaurant, you will find four or five different cod dishes. But you can also find dried cod in every city in Spain. They also eat cod. Probably the difference would be how regularly Portuguese eat cod. When you walk down streets in Portugal, you will find a shop where they only sell cod. It is called Bacalheria. In fact, it is said that there are countless cod dishes in Portuguese cooking.



- Bacalhaoaria (Cod shop) -

Here are some examples:

Pataniscas de bacalhau: Dried cod fritter

Bacalhau a Bras: Maybe a picture does not tell what exactly this dish is. Flaked cod and shredded potato is fried and then mixed with sauted onion. This mixture is once well heated then beaten egg is poured and stirred gently to become consistent.


-someone could not wait.....-


Pasteis de Bacalhau: Cod croquette: shredded cod flake is mixed with mashed potato and sauted onion. The mixture becomes consistent and then fried in oil. No coating of bread crumb. (Please somebody, introduce a picture!) You will find it almost all snack bars in Portugal and this is actually my favourite.

The Second difference would be that Portuguese have soup for a meal more often than Spanish. When you go to a restaurant area in a shopping centre, at least one of the first food stand mainly serves soup. It is popular to have a bowl of soup as main dish with some bread and drink instead of hamburger among Portuguese. Those soups served as a main dish in Portuguese cooking are rather dense and consistent compared to Japanese miso soup which is merely a side dish. The next one that I introduce can be a significant difference between Portuguese and Spanish. This difference is not about food itself but it is related to their eating habits and customs. Frankly speaking, it is not easy to point out differences in food itself. Not like differnces between French and German, or French and Italian. Both Portuguese and Spanish use olive oil and garlic in most dishes. They eat various seafood as well as meat as a main dish. Both eat rice as well. So, what is the difference? Well, Spanish has a habit to take some snack between meals. I used a word, “Snack” as there is no word in English equivalent to this habit; having tapas. Probably it can be an insult for Spanish to use the word, snack because for them it is more than a mere snack. When you go to any place in Spain, you will find a snack bar or restaurant that serves tapas. Tapas is a small portion of dish served at these places. Spanish go to these places in mid afternoon or early evening before main meal. Tapas is not a particular dish. It can be calamaros fritos (squid fritters), Tortilla de patatas (potato omelette), jamon (cured ham) or chorizos(sausage). There are only a few pieces in each plate. If you go with your friend, you order bigger one but you take a piece or two. Sometimes Spanish people go to eat tapas instead of having dinner at home. So, it could be a meal too. But they go to one bar to take a glass of wine or beer and two or three types of Tapas and then go to another. Then to another. When they go out to eat tapas, they go around several Tapas bars. In this trip, I finally realized that there is no tapas bar in Lisbon. There can be some just to attract Spanish tourists but at least I could not find any. And then I remember what Nuno said:“I don’t like tapas. It never fills my stomach.” And when I was in Barcelona, he visited me just one day and we went out after dinner. We had some tea at a bar. “Look , Yasu” he said pointing with his finger at sausages sunk in a POOLl of oil which set on a bar counter “This is also the reason I hate tapas. This oily sausage! Horrible.” Actually, some dishes in Tapas are served in this way and there are many deep-dried dishes that contain a lot of oil. In many cases, paper under food has not absorbed extra oils which food remains greasy. This also the reason for Nuno to oppose this Spanish custom. I remembered I laughed a lot because the way he addressed the issue in discussion. No insult but funny way.　
　To sum up, Portuguese food is similar to Spanish food. Especially ingredients and how they prepared dishes. However, there are some differences in what they prefer. Portuguese take soup and cod more often than Spanish. More obvious difference can be that Portuguese do not have a custom to have tapas.

Now, I want to leave previous discussion and pick up a particular item: cheese. When I was little, I only knew two types of cheese. One is “Sliced cheese” which is used for filling for simple sandwich. The other is “Powder cheese”. Both are horrible example of “Processed cheese” introduced by Americans. I call it “Americans’ SIN”
In Europe, various types of cheese exist. Nowadays, some of them are imported to Japan. I can find some in grocery stores in the city centre in Fukuoka. However Spanish cheese is very rarely sold. In case of Portuguese cheese, we, Japanese probably never import them. All I can find from Portugal is Vinho Porto (Porto wine). So, here I would like to introduce some of Portuguese cheese.

Quejo Picante da Beira Baixa
One of Portuguese cheese denominated DOP. Made from mixed unpesticide milk of sheep and goat. Strong and salty. Excellent in taste. Only problem is wrapping: You should take extra care to remove this aluminium wrapping (See picture). If any little piece remains, you can imagine how terrible you feel when you bite.



Reference: http://www.beiralacte.com/queijo2.htm

Quejo Serra da Estrela
This type of cheese is also found in Spain but in Portugal, it is widely eaten throughout the country. It is also named “quejo amanteigado (buttery cheese)”. As you can see in the picture, the interior is fluid and creamy. It should be eaten in a few days after cutting. Otherwise, the interior creamy part flow out and spread its smell all across a fridge! Be careful!


Reference: http://www.saogiao.com/


In the second evening, Nuno invited me to his house for dinner. Nuno’s family live in the suburb, 30 minutes by train. It is called Massama. I met Nuno’s family and Sergio, a boyfriend of Claudia again after 3 years. We spent roughly two hours for dinner and my stomach enlarged by a regular portion of Portuguese meal. Ready for wedding dinner!


Linda’s arrival and the Gulbenkian apartment
Day 4 was not really productive for me. I just spent time figuring out how to get around: how to get to Sintra for Nuno’s wedding on Saturday afternoon, Tomar and master the transport in Lisbon. I told Sergio and Nuno that I would visit “Great” Sporting museum (Lisbon’s football club). But when I arrived there it was almost time to close. However, we decided to our first activity together when Linda and David arrives on the following day: Bullfighting. In the end of my discussion with Nuno, we agreed to exclude Linda for this event. “Yasu, why don’t you go to watch bullfighting tomorrow night with David? The Bullfighting stadium is very close to your apartment. It was recently renovated and it became quite popular. I ‘m sure David also likes it.” “Well, what about Linda? I don’t think she likes it.” I said.
“You don’t have to tell her where you are going.” Nuno answered.
“I actually suggest it once. She said she is an animal lover. She cannot stand watching such a cruel show like that.”
“You did suggested it to her. Well, Yasu, we do not kill bulls in bullfighting in Portugal.” “Yes, not in front of audiences. But bulls are slaughtered and sent to a butcher’s, no?” I knew that Nuno is playing with words. So, tried my knowledge about bullfighting.
“Ha Ha Ha, you knew it.” Nuno confessed and continued, “But you don’t have to tell Linda. You and David say to take her to watching something interesting.”
“I guess she won’t pay for watching it”
“Ok, the girl will be very tired and maybe she needs some sleep. You can keep it as a secret.”
We agreed on the condition and according to him, David also said “Yes” for watching it.

On the 5th of July, after breakfast, I packed everything to check out the Youth Hotels. I said good luck to a Japanese room mate for his trip and being with thehorrible Benfica man for a few more days. The Lisbon Airport is located very close to the city centre compared to other cities in Europe. It takes only 15 minutes by bus. It is also very small. I had to take a connection flight in Amsterdam and in case of Linda, the transfer was at the London Heathrow. It took her about 40 minutes to get through the custom and baggage claim. Our meeting is since she made her trip to Kyoto. It was one year and several months ago. Her luggage was lighter and fewer. I regret choosing my old and half-broken suitcase. Her suitcase is smarter and of course, wheels seem to work properly. In my case, as I did not have time to think about packing and luggage, I realized both suitcase had broken wheels which force me to drag it hard to go around. Well if you carry around 25 to 30 kg without using taxi to accommodation, your suitcase wheels surely wear out, anyway.
After exchanging hellos, she said “I did not sleep well. On the flight to London, a baby next to my seat, cried almost all night and then I was with drunk English group shouting and chanting all the way from London to here…
”
We took a bus to our accommodation. We rented an apartment in the area little bit away from the city centre, in the area called Gulbenkian. Linda and I had discussed about accommodation about two months before this trip. Originally, she said she would bring her female friend together. So, I chose two bed room flat but after one month, she sent me an email notifying her friend could not come.
“What exactly happened to your friend? The one who was supposed to come with you?” I asked.
“Her father did not allow her to come to Europe. She said to him she wanted to go to Lisbon. And he thought it was Brisbane, a city in Australia and said ok once. When he knew its exact location, he said no to her daughter.” “Geographic knowledge in elder generation is fantastic!” I thought. I remembered my relatives who went to Austria. They did not realize that they actually went to a German speaking country instead of an English speaking country: Australia. Until I told them, they thought they were hearing English around on their trip.


When we arrived at the apartment, it was not ready yet. The guy welcomed us named Pedro, very common name in Portugal. He quickly showed us facility in the apartment. He said he is a boyfriend of Dona Andrea, the owner of this rented apartment. He apologized for her absence and said he will collect rent on behalf. He was not absolutely certain how much is the rest of our payment. He trusted my calculation. What I like about this type of accommodation is friendliness. If we follow the rental condition strictly, we have to deposit some amount in case of any damage caused by tenants. But he said ok without it. If you stay in a five-star hotel, you will be addressed sir or madam. But you rarely experience hearty and personalized service. We also liked room, kitchen and furniture. Very lovely and maintained very well. Another reason for choosing this type of accommodation is that I can experience a real life, such as preparing breakfast and dinner, going grocery shopping and washing dishes and cloth, watching TV on a sofa. The life like the Northterrace apartment at Newcastle University. Leaving Pedro for his work, we went out to have some lunch and collect my stuff at Youth Hostel. After lunch we went back to the time when Pedro suggested. Before going to do grocery shopping for next day’s breakfast, I said to Linda I would go alone as she may be very tired.
“ No, I will come. I also want to buy something myself, a supermarket is close, no? “ she said.
“Yes, it is not far.” I answered. But she found it was not so close on her way to the supermarket. Actually, I meant the supermarket nearby was 15 minutes walk. It is El Corte Ingles. And her idea of “closeness” is a corner shop on the same street.
“Yasu, you said it is close. We are walking more than 5 minutes.” She said.
“Well, it is just down there. You see that big building. It is El Corte Ingles.” I answered by pointing the building which was just emerging in our eye sight “My idea of walking distance is far from her standard?????” I wondered it. After buying favourite cheese in Portugal and other ingredients, I finally released Linda to take a nap. To make my confession, I feel like a child who goes crazy at an amusement park when I go to a grocery store like the one in El Corte Ingles. There are hundreds of products that I want to taste: Jamon Iberico, chorizos, various types of cheese, goat milk and yoghurt, Sicilian blood orange. Countless! In my last visit to Lisbon, he had asked me what I would do during the day while he was working. I told him I would be happy if he drops me off in front of El Corte Ingles in the morning and collect me before going home. He laughed.

Our apartment:



Bullfighting Night
On the previous day, Nuno told me that he would bring David to our apartment around at 7 p.m. but David phoned him that his flight would delay. So, Nuno and Lu arrived our apartment to greet Linda whom they have not seen since they left Newcastle in December 2002. David arrived around 8.30 to 9.00 at our apartment. We exchanged hellos. David and I told Linda that we have a secret mission tonight without knowing her that it is bullfighting and left her saying good night. On the way and during bullfighting, he volunteered to be my Spanish teacher and we spoke in Spain. I wondered if my Spanish made sense to him but communication was possible.
Talking about bullfighting, I would believe few foreign tourists know or actually experience it in Portugal. Probably many of them had not known there is bullfighting held there before their arrival.
In Portugal, bulls are not killed in front of audience. It is not because some people do not want to see a brutal moment but to avoid possible fatal risk for bullfighters. Some people might say that it is the most exciting moment of bullfighting to put a sword into a bull’s back through the heart. But if a bullfighter missed the point to put the sword, he would have a great risk. If a bull still has energy to fight, a bullfighter can be knocked down to the ground easily. In Spain, a protagonista is the one who put a sword into the back of a bull. It is called “Matador”. It comes from a verb: matar (to kill). Instead of having a Matador, there is a Cavariero / knight in Portugal. A cavariero shows up on a horse and tries to show his wonderful riding skills as well as skill to put spears into the back of a bull. One of the cavariero who we saw is just nineteen years old. But he showed us a wonderful riding skill to avoid a bull’s attack and pierced his spears into its back. The crowd applaud and gave him a lot of claps.

-the nineteen-year old cavariero making a fantastic performance-





The second stage of Portuguese style of bullfighting is a group of forcados fight against a bull. The group of forcados line up in front of the bull. A boss in the group approach one step and another to show its braveness. But unfortunately, he usually is flown into the air and his face got wet with blood. The other forcados try to stop the bull charging against them. When they stop the bull, the show will end.




In the final stage, a matador fight against the bull. Once the bull looks defeated, the show ends. There is no final ritual to kill the bull.


David and I enjoyed this spectacular show together. We noticed that there are many younger Portuguese in the stadium. The stadium was almost full. When I went to watch bullfighting in Spain, the majority of audience were the elderly or the middle aged. Almost no younger people. We went home with a full of satisfaction. We have a lot of events to follow: Dinner at Fado restaurant, Festivals and not to forget, Nuno’s wedding!
(to be continued)