Day 11: Castelo de Sao Jorge and Fado/Chateau de Saint Georges et le Fado

No 28 tram

One of the viewpoints

The Castle of St George overlooks the main city and is at the edge of the Alfama area. I deftly navigated us to the castle. It is so much fun as there is no straight street. They are typically short and then turn into more short lanes. There are little bars and restaurants in almost every street. One of the trams (28) went through the district so it was a good landmark for me to use for navigation. We stopped off at a little café on the way and had yet another version of a flat white (if there is one thing I miss, it is the decent coffee we get at home). We found a number of superb viewpoints and as you can see in the pictures it was a very clear and warm day. The two cruise ships were illustrative of the number of visitors arriving on a daily basis. One day there were four ships.

Taking in the view

As it was around lunch time, we looked around for a place to dine in. In that area they are all fairly similar but after doing a bit of exploration we found a very cute place where we got a plate of local sausage and cheese. It was very nice and just hit the spot.

The Castle has been there since Moorish times (1100s) and is in a superb defensive position. An entrance fee was demanded and we must have timed it right as there was no queue for tickets. The views from the castle were superb and we spent an enjoyable time wandering around enjoying it all. We then walked back to our apartment getting a gelato on the way and booking a table at our Fado Restaurant.

Lunch spot

Being a little tired we read for a while and had a glass of wine before going to the restaurant at around 8pm (they eat late in Portugal).

The menu was uninspiring and we had yet again another bacalhau meal – this time shredded potato with the cod and egg mixed through. The starter was a version of prosciutto and cheese accompanied by a white port. This was the best part of the meal which seemed to be almost compulsory but not complimentary (we had come across this in Porto). The wine was expensive and not very good (probably the worst I have had in Portugal). The waiter must have been the owner as he seemed to be managing almost everything. His second language was French. The whole place was a family affair with him being a Fado singer in his own right, a son, brother and grandson. We were also treated to a very old woman singing who was the grande dame de Fado. She was 94 years old and had the most powerful voice. At the other end of the age range we had what I think was a fourteen or fifteen year old girl singing who was also superb. Sadly there are no pictures of the singing as we were too far back and the light was very poor.

I wouldn’t say I really like the music but I can appreciate it. Guitars and a mandolin accompanied the singers and I really liked that part of the music. It was midnight by the time the singing finished. It was rather delightful because it seemed very much like a family affair.

Next to us in the restaurant was a couple who it turned out came from Sydney. Bev’s eyes lit up when she heard the Aussie accent and they had a long conversation discussing where they respectively lived and their children. They commented that Bev was the first Australian that they had met in Lisbon. While she was talking, somehow Bev managed to create a little bonfire on our table. I suspect she was so excited to talk to someone from home that she inadvertently flicked her napkin on to the nearby candle. Fortunately the fire was quickly extinguished with a dousing of water that was at hand.

During the meal and the first part of the performance I had to slip out because I had an interview via Skype for a contract job when I return to New Zealand. I am sure the glass of wine helped with the interview.