Michael Powell's Blog, page 18

The Serra de Arrábida

Stretching between the cities of Setúbal and Sesimbra, the National Park of the Serra de Arrábida was established in 1976. A lushly green region of mountains, cliffs, beaches, hidden convents and winding roads, the Serra de Arrábida is the perfect place for a scenic drive… if the weather is playing along. Or even if it’s not.

We knew we were in trouble minutes after waking up in the RM Guesthouse, the luxury hotel which was hosting us in Setúbal. As we ate breakfast, we monitored the weather...

Setúbal: The Port, the Fortress and Choco Frito

For all its aspirations to high culture, with avenues named for opera singers and plazas dedicated to poets, Setúbal is a fishing town at heart, and always has been. With a privileged position on one of Europe’s prime natural Atlantic ports, Setúbal has long been defined by its relationship with the sea. We went to check out the docks, and indulge in the city’s most famous dish, choco frito, before climbing to the castle.

We had slept soundly in the RM Guesthouse, where we had been invited t...

The Old Town of Setubal

From the ramparts of the Castelo de Palmela, we had an excellent view over nearby Setubal, which would be the next destination of our four-day road trip from Lisbon. Although we knew it was Portugal’s third-largest city, we were surprised by the extent to which Setubal sprawls along the coast, and suddenly uncertain we’d given ourselves enough time to see everything the town had to offer.

As it turns out, a day and a half in Setubal turned out to be perfect. This is an industrial town, and a...

A Pit-Stop in Palmela

As our third month in Lisbon started, we took the first of two extended road trips we had planned. For this one, we’d be spending five days south of the capital, in and around Setubal, Portugal’s third-largest city. Before arriving there, we made a pit-stop in Palmela, a small village in the hills.

Without a doubt, the highlight of Palmela is its castle, originally inhabited by the Moors from the 8th to 12th centuries. We weren’t expecting to find much else, but little Palmela managed to sur...

Making Tiles at the Cerâmica São Vicente

I wouldn’t have guessed it before arriving, but a big part of our Lisbon experience has had to do with tiles. They cover the facades of the city’s buildings, decorate its churches and palaces, and are even the subject of a popular museum. So it seemed natural to visit a workshop, where they’re still being made the old-fashioned way. The family who runs the Cerâmica São Vicente was kind enough to invite us inside and introduce us to their craft.

In this day and age, most of Portugal’s azulejo...

Our Favorite Tascas in Lisbon

You’re never going to find us making a list of a city’s trendiest restaurants or breathlessly extolling its cutting edge cuisine. No, our tastes are a little more humble. What we appreciate is a local atmosphere, good prices, and tasty food typical of whatever region we’re in. Decent wine doesn’t hurt. The smaller and more crowded the place the better, especially if ours are the only foreign faces to be seen. Scooch over, avó, and what’s that you’re eating? Cod stew? I’ll take the same!

You’...

A Day Trip to the Palace of Mafra

The small town of Mafra, 40 kilometers to the north of Lisbon, is home to one of Portugal’s most monumental palaces. Built between 1717 and 1750 by King João V, the Palácio Nacional de Mafra is jaw-dropping in its dimensions, and seems as large as the village of Mafra itself. We laced up our sneakers, stretched our quads, and prepared ourselves for the herculean effort of visiting the palace.

Just like the Basilica da Estrela, Mafra’s palace is the result of a promise made to God; in exchang...

The Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology – MAAT

Ever since Lisbon’s Museu de Arte, Arquitetura e Tecnologia (or MAAT) opened its doors in 2016, the museum’s two adjacent buildings have been locked in an eternal struggle for ultimate coolness. In this corner, a former electricity plant, with much of its equipment still intact. And its opponent, a sleek, wave-shaped building of gleaming white panels. I’m not sure which is going to win!

We’ll start with the electricity plant. The former Tejo Power Station once provided electricity to the ent...

Shops with History in Baixa

Reconstructed after the 1755 earthquake in accordance with an ultra-rational plan devised by the Marquis de Pombal, Lisbon’s Baixa (or “Lower”) district is a rectilinear grid of streets at the base of the city’s main valley. Many of the shops that were opened during the earliest days of the neighborhood’s rebirth are still in operation. We checked out 22 of these “lojas com historia” (“shops with history”) during a long day spent exploring Baixa.

Lojas com Historia is part of a municipal eff...

The Casa dos Bicos and the José Saramago Foundation

Without a doubt, the most celebrated novelist in Portugal’s recent history is José Saramago, winner of the Nobel Prize, author of modern classics like Blindness, and general proponent of run-on sentences, a great man who has been remembered at a museum in Alfama’s Casa dos Bicos, and whom I will honor by constructing each paragraph in this article as a single flowing thought, just like this one.

Okay, I’m not nearly skilled enough to pull off these types of sentences. But as his readers will...