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Mercearia do Campo de Ourique
We find excuses to explore the many bairros of Lisbon—the city, much like Paris, is more a collection of villages than one monochromatic town. Perched on a hill overlooking the lower quarters on the river, Campo de Ourique survived the earthquake of 1755 like a bear—it’s shaped like one, and for a while I thought…
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Ouro, Incenso e Birra, Marvila
Last year, the cold of early January struck us hard, but we warmed our hearts (if not our hands) by heading down to Marvila and wrapping those hands around a succession of beers. The Festa dos Reis put on by the Lisbon Beer District, featured Cerveja Musa, Dois Corvos, and Ceveja Lince—and I guess they…
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My Top 5 Portuguese Craft Beers, 2018
Before launching into Tryanuary 2019, here are five of my favorite Portuguese craft beers from 2018: First up: the very local SIN Mag8 Setais NEIPA from Sintra. 6,3% abv; Meyer lemon peel nose; Tropical fruits on the palate; Creamy & hazy with a lightly bitter end. Second on my top five beers from Portugal in…
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The Edge Of The World
The only real joy to be found in an overly popular tourist attraction lies in squeezing something unexpected from the experience. I’d been several times to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, in Portugal, with visiting friends and family, and lines of Spanish-plated tour busses carrying Chinese tourists groups. More Mandarin than…
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Ode To Adamastor
Lisbon’s both a reminder to me of so many cities in Europe, but also like no other place I’ve known. It’s the first Paris of my memories, the Budapest of my dreams. Some liken it to Rome, for its supposed seven hills. Way, way more hills than that in Lisbon. And all paved with calçadas…
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Ground Burger, Saldanha
We attack shopping at El Corte Inglês like it’s a major international expedition, which it is: We’re strangers in a strange land. It’s going into foreign territory to leave our quiet town and subject ourselves to the Mall. It takes planning, fortitude—and surely a reward at the end. For me, that’s twice now we’ve landed…
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Time Stop: Açores
Nothing prepares you for the scale of the Açores islands. A short, two-hour flight from Lisbon (or twice that from Boston), and you’re there—this impossibly green flotilla of masted ships clinging loosely to each other in the midst of the Atlantic. Only Terceira (“third” in Portuguese) is vaguely round. The remainder of the archipelago form…
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A Sagres In Sagres
In Portugal you’re either a Sagres fan or a Super Bock one. But there’s no town called Super Bock. So, regardless of your heart’s affiliation (because there’s no accounting for any major taste difference), it seems a fitting rite of passage to raise a glass of Sagres in Sagres. We camped our way to the…
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Sagres For Sour Stomachs
I keep the balcony’s sliding glass door open to the breeze, which washes up from the Atlantic down the hill. Thank goodness they aren’t picking me up til 6 pm, I think, as I roll over again in the stiff white cotton sheets on the twin bed in the Eden Estoril. I’m up on a…