Portugal June 2000

 

We arrived in Lisbon on Saturday, June 17, 2000 and drove north to Porto and then on to various cities and towns in northern Portugal. Lodgings were in the following places: Ponte de Lima (June 17-20), Guimaraes (June 21-22), and Porto (June 23-24).

Vila do Conde

We drove to Vila do Conde, a small city on the northern coast. The maps of Portugal which we had lacked detail and it was difficult to follow them precisely, but we managed to arrive in the town by following a little road along which other cars were heading.

We parked next to a church and walked down a hill to the tourist office at which we obtained a map and suggestions for a restaurant for lunch. We ate at a small place, Le Villageois, along the river and then walked toward the Atlantic, passing a woman washing clothes in the river and other women hanging clothes outside the front of their houses. One street yielded a beautiful view of Capela do Socorro, a chapel built in 1603.

As we walked away from the chapel and down the street, a woman called after us what sounded a bit like "bon jour," but it turned out that she was a beggar who gave Dan a cigarette in hopes that he would give her money for a drink--at least, that's what we thought the game was. We walked away quickly through a somewhat depressed neighborhood and came upon a school that was made of separate buildings, decorated with children's paintings and shaped somewhat like portable classrooms in the U.S., but these were much sturdier. The entire complex was contained within a high fence.

Finally we arrived at the beach, a lovely wide beach, but no one was in the water, perhaps because the water is polluted or because it was still cold. It was beastly hot, perhaps in the 90's, so we walked back to town and visited the lace making museum and "factory" where three women sat tatting. It's an amazing craft, with lots of strands of linen attached to wooden handles which are entwined into many different patterns. The process is slow, though the women's hands work extremely swiftly. On display were old wedding gowns as well as lace rabbits and giraffes recently made by young girls who take classes in an attempt by the town to keep the craft alive.

Ponte de Lima

After a cool drink, we set out for Ponte de Lima. The drive along small roads was pleasant, though difficult. Cars come right up behind before passing, leading Dan to say that the Portuguese "drive like proctologists!" Again, signs were difficult to follow and, because of road construction, we found ourselves on the wrong side of the Lima River. Dan managed to figure out a route by looking across the river and so we drove back across the large bridge and into the town. One of Ponte de Lima's main features is a Roman bridge which spans the Lima, but is used for only pedestrian, bicycles, and motorbikes.

We walked around the town and found a small restaurant overlooking the river and, unfortunately, a temporary bumper car amusement center with annoying music. These were the days of the Vinho Verde Festival, so we strolled through a bit of it, but, feeling exhausted, we were anxious to find the manor house, Casa dos Torres, at which we were to stay for the next three nights. Again the map and sign posts were impossible and we ascended the wrong hill. At the top of a very windy, narrow road, Dan stopped to ask directions at a café. Eight men there were unable to read the printed directions (albeit in English) nor the map, but one looked at the photo (taken from the internet!), hopped into his 4 wheel drive car and led us to the manor house.

Casa dos Torres is magnificent! Set atop a hill overlooking fields and vineyards, the view is stunning. A swim in the pool outside our rooms was most refreshing. The manor houses seem to be part of an effort to encourage tourism in the area around Ponte de Lima. The owners had little to do with us; indeed, they didn't seem to be around except when we arrived. Otherwise we were served breakfast by a servant who also cleaned our rooms.

On Sunday were awakened at six by bells from the church just down the road, but managed to fall back asleep until 8:30. Breakfast at 9 was bread, cheese, ham, coffee, tea. Afterwards we set out down cobbled paths through the valley and up the hill on the other side, passing cottages, grape arbors, flowers (both wild and cultivated), a woman walking her cow, eucalyptus trees, and much more.

We returned for a swim, then went to the town for lunch, a walk across the Roman bridge, the Vinho Verde Festival, and finally dinner of fish, again.

Valenca

Monday we drove to Valenca, on the Minho. The medieval, walled part of the city contains shops, mostly for Spanish patrons from Tui (Portuguese spelling), just across the river.

Tuy (Tui)

We walked across the bridge to Tuy (Spanish spelling). The walled part of this town is up on a hill and it was there than we ate lunch. Tui appeared less prosperous than Valenca, though the medieval part was more picturesque than the Portuguese Valenca, since it contained few shops.

Viana do Castelo

From Valenca we drove to Viana do Castelo, a busy city on the sea of little interest apart from the climb up to the church atop the Monte de Santa Luzia. A sign at the top noted that a writer for National Geographic (neither the issue nor year was not given) claimed that the view from the top was one the most beautiful in the world. Viewing the expanse over the sea and the hills to the south was definitely lovely, though now there was surely more construction. There is a modern, national pousada atop the hill and beyond that a park and a Celtic ruin. This was closed when we arrived though the sign indicated that it should have been open. It appeared that one walked along a raised platform to view the ruins and that there was a museum associated with it. We walked back down the hill path and were greeted by barking dogs near the base. We drove back to Casa Dos Torres for a swim and finally had dinner of fish, chips, and soup in Ponte de Lima.

Barcelos

Leaving Ponte de Lima on Tuesday, we drove to Barcelos, where we toured the archaeological remains, reading about the legend of the cock:

In medieval times, a Galician pilgrim, as he was leaving Barcelos en route to Santiago de Compostela, was accused of stealing silver from a landowner, and sentenced to death by hanging. As a final plea to save himself, the prisoner requested a meeting with the judge, who was about to eat a meal of roast cock. The Galician vowed as proof of his innocence that the cock would stand up on the plate and crow. The judge pushed aside his meal and ignored the plea. But as the prisoner was hanged, the cock stood up and crowed. The judge, realizing his mistake, hurried to the gallows and found that the Galician had miraculously survived thanks to a loose knot. According to legend, the Galician returned several years later to carve the Cruzeiro do Senhor do Gal, now at the Museo Arqueologico in Barcelos, Portugal.

We then toured a pottery museum, led by a young woman who had been raised in Queens, NY; her mother was Puerto Rican and her father, Portuguese. She'd lived in Portugal for 13 years. Lunch of grilled chicken was in a restaurant with an African chef, grilling in the storefront window. A welcome change from salt cod!

Citania de Briteiros

We drove through Braga, a maze of roads, and finally found the Celtic archaeological ruin of Citania be Briteiros. A huge school group (4 bus loads) preceded us, but fortunately were just descending the hill as we arrived. It was windy at the top; a storm seemed to be coming in.

Guimaraes

The drive to Guimaraes was not difficult, however, because of a poorly unmarked detour, we soon found ourselves in the medieval part of the city with Dan negotiating the nearly impossibly narrow lanes. We took a winding and long route to Penha, a mountaintop region, and then drove down the other side until we at last reached the pousada, Santa Marinha da Costa. The pousada was built from an old monastery (formerly a convent). It overlooks the city and is on the side of the hill going to Penha. Next to the pousada is a school and play yards. After dinner, heavy rains forced us to stay indoors and retire early, but from outside we could hear men playing soccer on one of the school courts.

On Wednesday we began with a large buffet breakfast at the pousada and then walked into Guimaraes. We began our tour at the castle, climbing all the way to the top, up an interesting stair, fashioned out of wood with opposing triangular steps, upon which one must place only a left or right foot, depending where the wider portion of the triangle lay. Upon coming down from the tower, a huge group of school children arrived; we marveled at the fact that the children scampered about without much supervision. The stair to the tower was locked, perhaps because of the vast numbers of children there or perhaps for safety concern.

From the castle we walked past the Duke's palace, skipping a tour, both because the children were now cued there for tours and also because the guide book warned of the poor Salazar restoration. Instead, we continued down the hill to the center of the medieval portion of the town. The tourist office had a small exhibit of stone sculpture by a local artist whose pieces reminded us of Brancusi. I bought two lace doilies in a lace shop where a young girl sat tatting behind the counter. Lunch was on the second floor of a small restaurant, overlooking a small street with a fruit stand. We walked on, visiting a couple of very nice little shops with fine crafts.

We then toured the Museu Martins Sarmento, which houses an extensive collection of artifacts found in Citania de Brieiros. One piece, the Colossus of Pedralva, is now displayed near the bus station.

We took the Teleferico da Penha (a lift with gondolas) to the top of Penha, where there is a church with gaudy stained glass and a lighted cross atop the bell tower. We followed the path down through the woods and then through a neighborhood complete with goats in one yard and a wine company housed in a gated house-a varied neighborhood, to be sure--finally arriving back at the pousada. After dinner we stropped in the gardens behind the monastery and found a pool of stagnant water with bats flying about catching insects; we retreated to the pousada!

Porto

The drive to Porto on Thursday was the easiest so far, since we took more major roads (though for a bit we were on a small road that passed a Bock brewery distribution site) and found the hotel, Porto Palacio, easily in the neighborhood Boa Vista. Our rooms looked out on the major portion of the city, with the ocean as the backdrop and the Douro River winding up from the ocean along side the city. It was also possible to see some of the port wine lodges on the other side of the river in Gaia as well as the Porto synagogue, just a few blocks from the hotel.

We headed off toward the center of the city, looked at the stunning mosaics on the interior of the train station, and then walked down toward the Douro. Lunch was outdoors in a plaza under umbrellas, next to the river, with views of the port wine lodges.

We crossed the bridge to Gaia and walked up a hill, attempting to tour Taylor's, but it was closed. Instead, we descended the hill and settled for Sandeman's. Here we had a tour by a Portuguese girl dressed in the symbolic garb of the Sandeman logo: sombrero for the Spanish sherry and a black cape for the Portuguese student garb. We toured Calem's next. This was a smaller tour given by a a young French Jewess. She directed us to the large synagogue in Boa Vista, near our hotel. Coming out from Calem's, we walked back across the bridge into Porto.

We continued on foot, walking along the river and then climbed up some steps where we found a plaque designating the area as the old Jewish quarter. Walking further up, we came upon some students sketching views of the medieval neighborhood. We stopped for tea in a pastry shop frequented by students, then returned to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. Returning outside again, we went to dinner at a Brazilian restaurant and had chicken with a hot corn sauce and roasted pineapple and fried banana.

On Friday morning we visited the Serralves Museum of Modern Art, where we viewed an excellent exhibit of German art from the 20th Century. The museum opened the new building with terrific exhibition space one year ago. Set in a beautiful garden, the museum still uses the older museum for overflow exhibits. We set out through a well-to-do neighborhood toward the ocean. Lunch was at an outdoor café on the beach, with wind whipping around us.

Continuing down the ocean and then river walk, we passed through a very poor neighborhood, with some people living in shacks just off the walk. Fishing boats dotted the river.

We climbed up from the river and then back to the hotel, driving past the synagogue, though getting there by car was more difficult than walking! One way streets forced us to overshoot the intended street in order to come back the right way. David used a combination of Spanish, Portuguese, and hand motions to learn when services would be held that evening.

We set off on foot for the Vista Allegre shop for china purchases and then back to the hotel to change for services.

The service was entirely in Hebrew and read very rapidly. I followed along using the transliteration (my Hebrew reading is poor, though I can follow when the reading is slow or the melodies familiar) It seemed like they kept repeating and repeating the kaddish, which I took to be the reader's kaddish. They even went quickly over the Sh'ma. There almost wasn't a minyan; the service was begun with only 9 men present, but before kaddish a French Hassid appeared (I couldn't see him--even though the women were supposed to sit upstairs, the elderly woman who took us on a tour led me to the right side downstairs, presumably because this wasn't going to be a "real" service without a minyan). Dan and David reported that the man had to be prodded to come in. Nevertheless, he prayed in the corner, avoiding visual contact with the offending 2 women and also enabling him to pray in his own way. The service took about half an hour and was followed by kiddush at the bima.

Dan and David described one of the problems with men facing the women. The old lady played with her dentures during the service, flipping them around with her tongue; I was oblivious to that as I tried to follow the prayers.

The synagogue, built 66 years ago and known as the Kadooric Synagogue, was endowed by two British brothers, Sir Horace and Lord Lawrence Kadoorie. A plaque on the wall noted that they had been buried in Hong Kong. Interested to learn more about them, a web search revealed their photos on a site for the Kadoorie Agricultural College in Hong Kong. They also founded the Kadoorie Agricultural College in Israel and were very prominent in the Shanghai and Hong Kong Jewish Communities. A site about the Shanghai Jewish community noted that the Kadoories achieved their wealth from real estate and utilities industries.

The exterior of the synagogue is somewhat plain and surrounded by a well kept garden, complete with palm trees. It's a large structure, though the Jewish community in Porto now numbers only 35 families--hence the problem with getting a minyan. The interior is beautifully decorated with very tasteful tiles. The bima is set in the center from left to right, but perhaps 3/4 the way back, facing the ark. Upright, large, wooden, straight-backed chairs with arm rests line either side of the sanctuary in double rows. Upstairs is the women's gallery, in a U-shape around the sanctuary. Off from there is a room for study; there are still young children studying today; two young girls played outside during the service.

After services, we ate dinner at a local restaurant and then returned to the hotel. Throughout the night we could hear the celebrations for the Feast of Sao Joao, with fireworks and singing, though we were too tired to join in.

Saturday we flew from Porto to Lisbon and then Lisbon to New York. The trans-Atlantic flight was smooth, but the company was awful: there were at least three crying babies whose parents seemed to ignore them. It was impossible to read or focus on anything!