San Francisco...or Lisbon?

The GoldenGate bridge? SF cable car?

No, It's the April 25 bridge in Lisbon crossing the Tejo, and a #28 Lisbon trolley. Lisbon is full of surprises like this tile artwork in the Olivais metro station...

 ...or the MAAT (Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology), designed by Amanda Levete...

What isn't a surprise is the great seafood available in Lisbon. We suggest, in case you're at loose ends here in Lisbon, that you head over to the Mercado da Ribiera

And have a gripping octopus lunch!

Chocolate chip cookies in Lisboa?

Mel and Sin Yi baking chocolate chip cookies

...and the results...the best chocolate chip cookies this side of the Tejo River

The Rua Augusta Arch at the Praça do Comércio.

The Rua Augusta Arch looks like a Roman triumphal arch, built to commemorate the city's reconstruction after the 1755 earthquake. From The praça, you can walk up the pedestrian Rua Augusta, with renovated buildings complete with shops and restaurants. A much more sophisticated Lisbon than our last visit in 1999.

After a typical lunch of a smoked sausage sandwich at the Baixa Mercado, we walked most of the way to the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, where we were surprised to find a Jheronymus Bosch  painting of of the Temptations of St. Anthony...a Portuguese marytr/Saint. In the 1500s there was a close relationship between Flemish painters and Portugal. To see this painting up close is about as close to these grotesque figures as I ever hope to be. Equally revolting, but not

shown here, is Salome with the head of St. John the Baptist by Cranach. I prefer scenes of the little Johnny splashing in the water with Jesus.

Temptations of St. Anthony, circa 1500

To end this post on a brighter note, I give you a painting on special exhibit of the Grand Canal in Venice, by Canaletto.

Piri Piri

After lunch at the Piri Piri restaurant in Trafaria

What a day...and it's only 4:00 pm. After breakfast, which included homemade quince jam, we walked along the Caparica beach...a wide sandy beach. And then a late lunch at Piri Piri, owned by a friend of José's whose family had a Piri Piri restaurant in Lorenzo-Marx in Mozambique; now transplanted to Trafaria, Portugal. We split three courses: cow's foot with garbanzo beans, pork and mussels with roast potatoes, and mackerel. Incredible flavors...washed down with vinho verde wine.

The Caparica beach

Caparica has a long, wide, sandy beach. Overcast today, but the sun will be out later this week. Water temperature is a challenge, unless you are a mackerel. But the swimming pool is warm and inviting at our home away from home.

Festa de São João

Sardines are key to celebrating the Festa de São João

As luck would have it, Festa de São João is celebrated on June 23... the day we arrived in Lisboa. This festival, mainly celebrated in the north of Portugal (São João is the patron Saint of Porto), is a six hundred year tradition. Our host friends, José and Ana were invited by Ana's colleague, Giacomo, from Porto (but now living in Lisboa), for their festa. And as guests of guests, we were included to the most tasty grilled sardines on this side of the Atlantic. Sardines in Portugal are what hamburgers are to Americans...grilled in the summer when the sardines are fresh, plump and succulent, from the end of May through October.

Lightly salted and grilled for just a few minutes on each side, our master griller, David, barbecued about 100 grilled, silvery gems tonight. I don't think John the Baptist had it so good!

Lisboa--a stroll in the park

A stroll in the Park...near the Basilica Estrela.

A ship at sea design in the pavement in the park. A testament to the sailing and explorer history of Porltugal.

The direct flight from Washington,D.C. was only about six and a half hours...about the same time from D.C. to California with the obligatory stop on the way.

Although on the Atlantic, feels like a Mediterranean climate, especially since the heat wave ended yesterday. Sometimes my Spanish works, sometimes an Italian word works better. But Portuguese pronunciation differs from both of them. Time to learn some 

Portuguese!

D-Day minus 1

Our penultimate day in Washington, D.C..the garden looks beautiful, including the blooming water lily flower in the fish pond.

Thumbnail of travels to Portugal and Italy, Summer 2017

We haven't been to Portugal since 1999 when we attended José and Ana's wedding in Pedras Salgadas in northern Portugal. So it's time to go again and enjoy seeing our friends and enjoying the delightful seafood and other new places in and around Lisbon.
After a week or so in Lisbon, we fly to Torino where we will be studying Italian at the Italiano Porticando school in central Torino. We'll be renting an apartment on the Piazza Vittoria--about a 10-15 minute walk from the Italian language school. While in Torino, we'll explore other towns in Piemonte on excursions associated with our Italian classes. And then, the pièce de resistance, a trip to the Parco Naturale Alpi Veglia with Giovanni & Giovanna & Oliviero. The last time we were there was in about 2001...as guests with Giovanni & Giovanna on their honeymoon! See you here at dcinEurope2017.blogspot.com soon! David

We depart for Lisbon on June 22...still many things to do before we board the plane.

Just added this photo of Swiss "Rainbow" chard. We'll miss the DuPont Circle market in Washington, D.C.