The Travel Diaries: Lisbon, Portugal

Journey Into the Old Town

21st August 2013 Lisbon, Portugal

The ship’s engine whirled, shook and rattled to a stop as outside, the crew scuttled about to pull thick ropes around the metal structures on Lisbon’s port to hold the cruise ship in place for the day. The sun’s rays enveloped the entire city from the top of the mountains, over brightly-coloured houses all in pastel, before reaching over one magnificent church standing tall at sea level.

“Lisbon was a city full of history and culture. Many buildings and markets were kept as it was a hundred years before, portraying the old ways of life.”

We went ashore after having breakfasted on the ship and rode a century-old tram around different city quarters, with assurance from the driver that this tram line was used as regular transportation in the city.

Old tram still in use in Lisbon’s narrow, winding streets

The tram climbed up steep hills and slid down narrow alleyways as if following a secret passageway that only our driver knew of. We passed the old quarter with houses worn down and looking like slums, but still had beautiful glazed tiles in their façade that were used immensely as decoration in the olden days, giving blue, green, turquoise and red patterns to entire buildings, making them stand out from their plain, pastel-coloured neighbours.

As the tram rattled past the main train station, it occurred to me why the architecture looked a little bit like home. Coming from Thailand, I was familiar with the fact that Portuguese culture influenced a lot of Thai culture during the time of King Rama V (in the 19th century), where the King had commissioned Portuguese architects to design many buildings during the time of his reign. One of the locals explained that the king of Thailand indeed came to visit Lisbon once, meeting the King of Portugal in the very same train station that our tram moved past.

The city by night

We reached a huge open square surrounded by magnificent white columns of the city’s biggest theatre, the monument of King John of Lisbon atop a horse, as well as the palace walls that ran along the length of the square. The tram stopped long enough for all of us to have a glass of port wine and a Portuguese egg tart (pastéis de nata).

“Port was traditionally drank after a meal in Portugal, a habit taken up by the British people, but twisted by the French: they enjoyed their glass of the sweet red port as an aperitif before meals.”

Rich and creamy crispy egg pastries (pastéis de nata)

This Portuguese pastry was also familiar to us Thais — creamy egg tart with a consistency similar to that of crème brulée, encased in a crispy, flaked pastry shell sold at the side of the roads. But the Portuguese version has a touch of cinnamon, which gave the tart a special and more complex aroma and flavour. The combination of freshly made, warm egg tart and cool, smooth port is thoroughly enjoyed in Portugal as a breakfast pastry or mid-afternoon snack with coffee.

One of the most famous places to try these gloriously crunchy, buttery tarts in Lisbon is at Pastéis de Belém

A café stood in the corner of the square, where one of the locals pointed out to us that it has been operating there since the 1700s. It was mid-morning, but the café was packed with customers having coffee and a golden, thread-like dessert called Fios de Ovos . Another familiar sight, this dessert is thought by many to originate from Thailand and called Foi-Thong (golden thread), however it was the Portuguese that first made it.

Portuguese egg threads (fios de ovos) which is called golden thread (foi thong) in Thailand

The dessert was another Portuguese delicacy which was shared by many far Eastern cultures when the Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, sailed across the Indian Ocean and created a new trade route in the 15th century.

The tram started up again, winding its way down to a huge moastery that stood close to the harbourside, its walls running 500 metres across the gardens in front, close to the sea. If you came to Lisbon, this was a must-see sight as the monastery was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. Inside the dome-like structure which loomed high above us, were altars of Jesus Christ and tombs of the king and queen. The main altar was of European influence, with paintings of the Lord, Mother Mary from the Renaissance period, but the tombs of the long-gone royals were supported by Indian elephants, showing further the fascination with Oriental cultures the king of Portugal at the time had. Inside this church also lay the tomb of the explorer Vasco da Gama.

Lisbon is a big city and half a day of exploring was simply not enough.