A Little Piece of the Old Country

Ok, I'm a bit late in my weekly posting that I've come to get into the routine to (so much for daily postings hahaha :p) but my computer last week decided to go retarded on me in many ways so I spent a lot of time off line running anti-virus and anti-spyware and looking up tech support but I managed to fix it all (I think) by myself! Don't worry though, nothing too exciting has happened during this time since I've been so busy with that crap......but I did have one highlight :)

In the center park of my neighborhood here, there is always some sort of open market or antique sale going on over the weekends. But last week there had been stuff going on during the weekdays, a poetry book sale holding many works of the great Portuguese poet, Fernando Pessoa and also a little bake stand next to it which attracted my interest first of course ;P Not that you can't find plenty of fresh baked goods in the many pastelerias around here but this lady happened to be selling some regional selections from up north that you can find around here. She had two types of Queijadas de Sintra, several sweet breads that looked divine, homemade suspiros (merengues) some good sized bags of Broas and a couple other neat little things. But what made it surreal for me was the lady's mother whom she had brought with here, completely dressed like a little granny from the Old country, sooo cute! It reminded me of some old photos my family has of my great-grandmother out in the little Italian village where my family is from.

Now maybe this is nothing out of the ordinary for the nativos but I just loved this neat little blast from the past and I talked up the lady about her products and how her mother still helps in the fabrication of most of them (even though I watched her aimlessly wander around the park like she was in her own little world :p) and I told her I was American and wrote about Portuguese food and wine and we just had the loveliest little conversation that afternoon. And at the end she gave me a deal on a loaf of bacon chouriço bread (meat breads are hard to find!) and a discounted package of Queijadas, she even threw in a little peanut brittle-like bar for free! In return, I had them pose for a photo to remember the occasion, thanked them kindly and went home to enjoy all the goodies I got over the weekend :D

So, nothing too exciting like I said, but something indeed special to me :)

The Daily Nightmare on the Street.....

Lately, I spend a lot of my weekdays stuck in my apt sitting in front of my computer here with the work I do, so unfortunately I haven't been able to catch a lot of the interesting things that can happen out in the neighborhood. But of course, not day passes here without a chorus of horns honking below to bring me out to see what the racket's all about.

Something that is guaranteed to happen daily around here is a traffic jam, and man is it always noisy!!! I'm sorry to say this but after much observation, I have concluded that Lisbon has some of the worst selfish and careless drivers I've ever seen.....and I'm from the Washington DC area so that's pretty bad! But there are two major factors that seem to have turned so many drivers bad here: 1) There is NEVER enough parking anywhere or at any time, and 2) There is hardly ever any ENFORCEMENT of parking regulations. Put these two together then you have people parking their cars in any little space they can squeeze into, and that includes "ping-ponging" with the cars on either side if necessary! And it never ceases to amaze me where people leave their cars here, sidewalks and crosswalks are a norm (what? people actually use them to walk on?? :p), fields, medians, squares, stairwells.......everywhere!

The worst by far is when people get fed up trying to find a spot or are just too lazy so they double-park, which includes when people stack their cars out on a corner, which always blocks part of the passage through the street and these streets aren't big to begin with. The huge blindspot is also creates for other drivers trying to pass through the intersection has already caused two accidents within a 1 month period at the intersection below my apt, it's crazy. The rule here is that if you double-park, you're supposed to leave a paper with your cell or apt# to contact if you need them to move but of course people only do this maybe 50% of the time and many that do, aren't even around when you call! This leads then to many of my mornings being awakened by someone laying on their horn for 10-20mins at a time because they got double parked and are now late for work, ughhhh, you're not sure whether you want to kill them or the person that blocked their car in the first place! Then there are the delivery trucks that come around from late morning to late afternoon, who obviously have no space to stop and unload or pick-up stuff so they inevitably block traffic flow in the street, which causes another series of honkings and Portuguese drivers love to honk A LOT so you can imagine how annoying it can get VERY quickly. And if you're pedestrian, GOOD LUCK , because many times you're risking your own life trying to cross a street while manueuvering around parked cars and cannot even see if other cars are coming, I've had some close calls myself!

As I write this, I can already hear my noisy neighbors below, and I'm sure it won't be the last I'll hear today! I know back at home, we all despise the "parking nazis" who ticket for any and everything but after living here, I've come to appreciate what they do, because they actually end up preventing a lot of unecessary accidents and traffic jams which I'm sure has saved lives that are being lost in Lisbon. And of course, my ears wouldn't be ringing by the end of the day from all that %#*(#$)*#$ noise!!! So next time, you get some measly little ticket for parking enforcement, just remember, it could be a hell of a lot worse! The honking here has stopped finally, so time to get back to work before something else happens and the chorus begins again.....yay.

This is the second accident I witnessed from my balcony in late afternoon where two cars hit each other coming in opposite directions. Notice right up the street from them, some idiot decides to stop right in the middle and took 10mins to drop off his kids and meanwhile traffic is building up behind him and people had already started honking of course. I also see another car double parked ahead of that guy. And this isn't even that bad for parking on my street, it's normally a lot worse!

Interesting Little Cultural Differences

It is probably assumed that the Portuguese culture is quite different from American culture; being a European culture in general, things go at a much more relaxing pace than the fast-food pace of the American world of course. Like most Americans, I grew up with the impatient tendency of wanting things done now, right away or even yesterday haha, so naturally, I had to adjust a bit when coming here, knowing that I would have to wait a bit for things. However, I don't think any American could ever be prepared enough to realize just how much WAITING you have to do here! And I mean for everything and everyone, but since I have slowly become adjusted to these slower things, waiting is not always bad.

"I have to PAY to piss here?!"

A perfect example is going out for a meal, which what would normally be 30mins-1hr for lunch and 1.5-2hrs for dinner in the US converts to 2hrs for lunch and 3-3.5hrs for dinner here. I normally enjoy these much more leisurely meal periods to begin with, being able to savor my food and wine as well as digest it properly by sitting longer. Though there are also times when meals exceed my patience limit, for example when the server is always nowhere to be seen when you are ready to ask for the check (keep in mind they will never drop the check at a table here, you must always ask for it) or when the company I am with have been sitting and chatting so long after even the drinks are gone and the check paid that I'm thirsty again and my butt is so sore I could scream, but maybe that's just me haha.

But enough about the waiting, there are other cultural differences that are actually quite nice to have and make us Americans seem quite rude! For instance, whenever you enter a building, shop, bus, even an elevator, you greet the people there with either Bom Dia (Good Morning), Boa Tarde (Good Afternoon) or Boa Noite (Good Evening/Night) and you do the same when you leave. This can also apply when just passing people in the street or going through a door at the same time. In many situations, an added Hello and Goodbye are used with the greeting. Now I must say, it has been a rare occasion for me in the US to get on an elevator and have everyone greet me and say farewell when they got off, and if you do something like that there, many times Americans will kind of look at you weird and think you want something from them, how sad is that?! Though I admit, I did feel a bit the same way when I first encountered that here and hadn't realized it was custom, and I also thought at first to be quite annoying to say hello and goodbye to strangers all the time. But now I've come to appreciate such politeness and many times it comes off more friendly than just polite and makes me feel a lot more welcome :)

But to add to this, one thing I still find odd and unnatural here is the custom of saying Com Licença ("Excuse me") when hanging up the phone after talking to a business or after when someone comes to my apartment door, be it my neighbor, servicemen or solicitors. It still makes me want to say "Excuse you for what?" like if they had just bumped into me or something, but what they mean out of politeness is that they are excusing themselves to leave/hang up. Americans only seem to do this when getting up from a table with a group of people to excuse themselves to go to the bathroom or take a call, etc, but it is meant because we are interrupting something. I guess I never thought I was interrupting someone hanging up the phone at the end of a conversation or going back inside my apt, and I will probably always find it strange but hey, it's never bad to be polite! hahaha.


So even though another country's cultural customs can be new and "foreign" and hard to adjust to at times, there are always good things that should be embraced. They have made me realize how much of a "typical American" I could really be, and glad to have my opened my mind just a bit more ;)

An Amazing Find With Truly A Bela Vista!

This past weekend, I found a restaurant/cafe with THE BEST VIEW around. Ok I admit, I didn't find it by chance, I was actually recommended to this place by one of my BES students who lives near the area (my students seriously rock with useful tips :D) and the area with no surprise to me is Guincho, my favorite beach area that I just recently raved about on here. And one of the reasons I gave for liking this place so much is that it's the best to watch the sunset here. What I didn't know though, was that the absolutely most perfect spot to watch it I had not yet discovered, until now!

I was instructed to turn onto a small road right across from the last old fort on the coast just after passing Cascais and right before you round the tip towards Guincho. I can't believe I never noticed this road before, but it's quite inconspicuous due to all of the surrounding roads being private for the rich mansion communities there. Driving a bit up a hill with nothing around, you finally reach a dead end where the prettiest little restaurant/cafe sits at the top of the hill. This is Restaurant Casa de Chá de Oitavos, a fine dining restaurant on the inside and acting as a tea house on their outside deck in between meal periods. After climbing the steps onto their deck, we immediately saw why this place was such a gem, we had a panoramic view of the ocean with the sun beginning to slowly set, niiiiiice :) As soon as we sat down, a waiter came came over to take our order for our espressos and recommended their scones for something to eat with them. Impressed with such prompt service, we were surprised when our order seemed to take longer than usual. But we then we found out why, we were presented with a basket of 3 fresh, WARM scones, along with a plate of assorted marmalades and butter. And the scones were DELISH, smothered in melted butter and peach marmalade, we were in heaven! I never knew Portugal could make such nice scones, it was like being at a hotel for afternoon tea! Except we had gotten coffee (still good) so next time we'll get their tea as it is a tea house hehe. And with such an incredible view with an incredible sunset in front of us, I couldn't have asked for more :) I am now completely in love with this place and I promise anyone who visits me will get this treat as well. I repeat, so in love, wouldn't you be too? :p

Portuguese Suspiro-For The First Time!

I have become a die-hard fanatic here of having a daily espresso, either in the morning after classes or late afternoon as a break from my database work. Since my sensitive stomach won't allow me to have coffee on an empty tank, I always get something to eat with my espresso. I always order one of two things then- a savory meat turnover (Folhado de Carne) in the mornings as brain fuel for the day and in the afternoons, an egg-custard pastry (Pastel de Nata).

But one afternoon last week, I finally decided to try something different for my sweet pastry. I went to one of my fave pastelerias situated on a busy corner by the park here where this time instead of sitting right down, I went up to the glass bar counter to browse their delectable assortment for something new. My eyes were drawn to the fluffy pink clouds of Suspiro (merengues), which I have tasted various types before back home but never had the ones they make in Portugal, which are quite popular actually. I told Julio-César, the Brazilian waiter who knows me, to bring one of the pink suspiros with my cafe then. The pink colored strawberry suspiro ended up being soooo good, crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside like a typical merengue with a maraschino cherry in the center to my delight. But this suspiro was definitely not on the lighter side for a dessert, it was quite rich with almost a cotton-candy flavor mixed into it as well and because it was so large, it was the first time I had to get something wrapped up to take home with me! It was just as enjoyable the next day too, but I think next time, I'll get it to share with Miguel :) Glad I decided to alter my addictive routine for once hahaha, and maybe I'll start doing it more often! Mmmmm, suspiro :p

TUNAS! And I don't mean fish!

As a former HS band geek from back home, I felt that I had to present Portugal's equivalent to our marching bands. These musical groups are called Tunas, found mainly at universities all over Portugal as well as in Spain (where they first started) and all of Latin America. Their origins seem to date back to between the 10th and 13th century, from medieval troubadours and minstrels who had to sing and perform to make money to live on or upon their return home after a long journey or vacation. The name name "tuna" then supposedly comes from the French roi de Thunes or "King of Tunis" which was the title used for leaders of such vagabond groups. But there are still several other argued theories as to the origin of the name, even specific to the Portuguese tunas. The first Portuguese tunas were organized in the 19th century in the famous university city of Coimbra after a visit from a Spanish tuna of Salamanca. The tradition of traveling university tunas (to raise money for survival) eventually spread to the rest of the country. Virtually every university now has an organized tuna, usually representing a specific major. There are non-university tunas for older members or alumni but they are a lot less common (more predominant in Spain).

The traditional Tuna "uniform" is definitely more formal than a marching band uniform but can range from very classic medieval attire to a more modern black suit from the 16 and 17th century Iberian students attire. Portuguese tunas mainly use the modern version with a white collared shirt, skinny black tie and long, narrow coat. Instead of pants, girls wear either knee or ankle-length narrow black skirts with black stockings and conservative black pumps. The outfit is always completed with a large, ankle-length black cape wrapped around the entire body like a vampire or folded and slung over the shoulder when warmer out. Others like to proudly display their badges from previous Tuna festivals all over their capes for some added color to their black ensemble.

In Tunas, you won't see any of the musical instruments played in a normal marching band, string instruments are actually the main ones used, consisting of classic acoustic guitars, lutes and bandurrias for most Tunas around the world. However, Portuguese Tunas normally opt to use mandolins and a special Portuguese guitar (used in Fado music) instead of the latter two as well a tall bass. Tuna performances are usually done in an auditorium of the hosting university for the Tuna festivals or competitions scheduled all throughout the year or outside on the streets when raising money for the group. There is no marching involved but the groups will mark time together swaying back and forth to the music in a semi-circle with a someone usually banging on a rope drum or tambourine to keep everyone together. All tunas sing in their performances as well as incorporating flag work and rhythmic tambourine dancing, which makes is easier for students to join with no musical instrument experience.

My boyfriend Miguel happened to be one of these students and did the flag work for his Economics Tuna, called "ForTuna" which was the first Tuna I was introduced to on the first day of my first visit to Portugal 2 1/2 years ago and have been following and learning about them (Tunas)ever since. Now I know what you band geeks are thinking when you read about a "straight" male doing flag work or color guard hahahahaha and trust me, I gave him enough crap for it in the beginning :p But I came to learn that it's not really like color guard at all here, most Tunas only have one flag person (for holding their Tuna flag) and it's normally a male position and they can do some pretty challenging moves performing solo in front of the circle. Girls usually opt to practice the rhythmic tambourine dancing instead along with guys as well and these dances can be quite skillful and impressive to watch! The music Tunas play in general ranges from upbeat classic and modern songs to slow and moving Fado lullabies with vocalist and instrumental solos.


One of the most entertaining part of Tunas is the social celebrating involved before and after festivals and throughout the year and at Tuna dinners hosted at some (unfortunate haha) local restaurant. Though unlike regulated marching bands, drinking is a big part of the Portuguese Tuna culture hahahaha, combined with lots of wild singing and chanting toasts. But it's all in good fun and very rarely are there any problems caused by their celebrating. Beer is the Tuna drinking staple which flows like water at festivals and dinners. Some Tunas are found already half drunk (or worse) by the time they get on stage to perform. This may not make for a very skillful performance but it's certainly an entertaining one! Some "rules" are involved with drinking during Tuna dinners such as "Right Hand is Penalty" meaning one can only hold their drink in the left hand and if caught in the right, they have to chug the whole thing. Members will also be randomly singled out and are chanted on by the group to chug their drink with a traditional "initiation" song for being a part of the group. The drinking continues then after dinner and after the festival is over to celebrate awards and normally goes ALL NIGHT, the stamina that these kids have is incredible hahaha :p

After attending many dinners and festivals of my boyfriend's Tuna over the past year, I've grown to love and appreciate the unique differences these musical groups have compared to my background in marching band. At the same time though, I can also relate in their excitement and anticipation when waiting to perform or waiting to see if they won an award, especially since their Tuna is a smaller one like how my HS band was so I've come to share in their common experiences of triumph as well as loss and/or frustration when judging was believed to be unfair. I recommend to every American, especially you band geeks, to find a Tuna performance to watch if you visit Portugal, as an experience so significant to Portugal's culture is something not to be missed!


You can find a lot more detailed info about the history and traditions of Tunas on Wikipedia or in Portuguese on Wikipedia:

I'm Dreaming........of Sunny White Beaches

This week Lisbon has seen the first real sunny days for this year, FINALLY! It had been raining here at least once a day if not all day since New Years, and normally with only an average number of 45 rainy days per year in Portugal, this was a bit over the top! Anyhow, seeing the sun again is getting me anxious for the return of warmer weather and beach season!!

Last year, I spent many summer days out exploring the numerous amount of beaches, just within a 15-45min. drive from Lisbon; and with 11-12hrs of sun during the summer, you bet I was still laying out until 7 or almost 8pm at times :D Now after living in Miami (South Beach) with bath-like water temperatures, it was definitely a bit of an adjustment to Portugal's much colder waters. But there are plenty of other reasons to love the beaches in Portugal, the clear blue/green waters, the variety of big and small beaches with lots of waves or no waves, built in straw umbrellas, wind walls and volleyball areas for rent and all the friendly vendors walking around selling pão com chouriço and bolos de Berlim which are like sugared doughnuts mmmmmm. And here is my #1 pick for Best Beach in the area!


Guincho (pronounced "geen-shoo" with the g like "get")
This is by far my favorite stretch of beach in the area, it's the first one actually on the oceanfront when driving up north from Lisbon (as the city of Lisbon is set back in the Tejo river/bay area) and is situated in a beautiful area right below the Serra da Sintra mountains and surrounded by cliffs. Being directly on the coast gives this beach magnificent waves for surfers and wind surfers in which the winds have made soft rolling sand dunes that stretch far back from the water into the shady stone pine forests that make for great camping areas. The beach at Guincho is also one of the least crowded beaches around since it is just beyond where the Cascais train line runs up the coast from Lisbon that all the trashy tourists take. So you will have to have a car but the beach crowd that you will find here is either locals or upscale guests from the surrounding luxury beachfront hotels, one of them being the renown, 5 star Hotel Fortaleza. This hotel literally looks like a fort on the outside but the inside is like majestic castle with service to match and make you feel like a king or queen so anyone looking for great beach getaway or just want to stop by an upscale afternoon tea or cocktail hour, I highly recommend here :D

But if you're looking for something more casual to come to straight from the beach for an afternoon coffee or beer, there is a rustic hotel right up the sand dunes from the water where the inside is lobby/lounge is completely constructed all in petrified pinewood! It's quite a sight to see and the hotel also still boasts great service and a wonderful ocean view with your drink :) There are also plenty of moderate to upscale restaurants dotting the coast there, great for a fresh seafood lunch by the sea!

Besides all these wonderful reasons to spend a day at the beach here, Guincho is also great to come out to year around for its perfect location to watch an incredible sunset, which we did this winter parked on one of the cliffs while sipping wine. After the sun sets though, the cliffs become the equivalent to a "Lovers Lane" hehehehe so if you're in the area right now, probably would be a nice idea to end your "Dia dos Namorados" or Valentine's Day with ;)

For me, I think this sunny, Valentine's Day will be perfect to spend the day at my favorite beach for my favorite thing to do....lunch! :p