Bill Was Here

On the news this morning I heard an interesting statistic: If Germans were allowed to vote in the American election, over 75 percent of them would vote for Barack Obama. Indeed, everyone I've met — from friends and colleagues to shopkeepers and random people in my travel — tells me to vote for Obama as soon as they discover that I am American.

But still, there's another American politician that the Europeans enjoy talking about. Not W of course. They get angry when they talk about him. They get excited when talking about Bill Clinton.

What's interesting is that I rarely hear about Bill's policies or political legacy. Instead everyone wants to point out where Clinton ate, drank, slept, and partied. I'm not sure how many times he traveled to Europe during his eight years in office. But it seems that everywhere I go, Bill Clinton was there too.

Bill Clinton was in Berlin. Yup. He made a speech at the Brandenburg Gate. But I also saw were he had lunch. Of course he visited London and Brussels, but do you know what hotels he slept in? He even visited the small German city of Aachen. Naturally he had a snack there too.

In Lisbon I saw the cafe where he was serenaded by one of the city's most famous Fado singers. He ate pizza on the same piazza as I did in Naples. I also know where he had pasta in Rome. There's even a story about a coffee shop in Amsterdam where he smoke some hash with Christopher Walken.

As a matter of fact, from the balcony of my apartment I can see the Petersburg Hotel, where he stayed while visiting Bonn.

Most recently, this trend continued in Dublin. The tour guide on the hop-on, hop-off bus pointed out a restaurant saying, "Clinton ate a steak there." Later in the weekend, one of the locals at Sheehan's Pub wanted to take us to a place where, "Clinton drank a pint."

Foodie Bootie

We ate really well in Portugal – lots of fish, nice salads, and tons of olives. Each meal started with a selection of appetizers such as cured ham, sardine or tuna pâté, and cheese.* I came home with enough treats – a super strong sheep cheese called Quejo de Ovelha Corado, the “Wurst of the Week” sausage, a tuna pâté, anchovies, and sea salt – to keep the trip on the tip of my tounge for a while. I also picked up a set of appetizer plates for a steal at the Thieves’ Market.

For anyone planning a trip to Lisbon, we stayed at the Borges Hotel on Rua Garrett. It’s in a great location, affordable, and clean and comfortable. Also, consider the following restaurants:

• Louro & Sal, 53 Rua da Atalaia: clean, modern décor warmed with brown paper and bright napkins on whitewashed tables; excellent salads and fish; a delicious house red, and a nonsmoking section
• Mercearia de Comida, 90-92 Rua da Barroca: eclectic décor with mismatched tables and chairs; really good baked sole with prawns; sangria
• Sul, 13 Rua do Norte: Because there was no printed menu I assume the options change frequently; steak that you cook at the table on a hot stone; the best olives on the trip
  

* Be forewarned, you don’t order these apps but you pay for them. Ironically though, the better the restaurant was, the few random apps they put on our table.

Trolleys, Trains, and Shuttle Busses

In stark contrast to Friday's walk-a-thon, Saturday was all about public transportation.

We started the day with a ride on Lisbon’s iconic yellow trolley. Trudging up and down steep hills, the ride was akin to the flume at Bush Gardens – minus the water, seat belts, and safety bar. Our destination was the Thieves’ Market, a sprawling flea market that had everything from socks to tiles to high-design lamps and furniture.

Next, it was a commuter train to the town of Sintra, a 40-minute ride to the hills sixteen miles northeast of Lisbon. From there was got on a shuttle bus that, at speeds that made the bus-load of tourists thrilled and horrified, took us up a steep road with hairpin turns and no safety rail to the Palace of Pena. The palace – with yellow and orange walls, tiles, and turrets – looks like a child’s drawing of a castle. Not far down the road is the Moor’ castle – ruins of an 8th century castle.

My Boots Are Made for Walking…

…Which is a good thing because that was the theme of the day!

Kevin had a meeting from eight to one, so I decided to spend the morning at the National Tile Museum (Museu Nacional do Azulejo). According to my guide book, Berlitz’s Pocket Guide to Lisbon,* the museum was “just up the road from the Military Museum.” The Military Museum didn’t look that far from my hotel, so I decided to hoof it. Over an hour of brisk walking up and down steep hills later I finally found the museum. Housed in a convent built in the early 1500, the building is reason enough for the visit.

I then walked back to the hotel (why, I don’t know) to meet Kevin for an afternoon stroll up to Castelo de São Jorge, ruins of a castle on the highest hill in Lisbon.

By the time dinner came my feet and I were super happy that we were staying near Barrio Alto, a neighborhood with more then enough great restaurants to keep me happy.

* This is a terrible book that I wholeheartedly do not recommend. It didn't give actual street addresses, was chocked filled with wrong information about enterance times and fees, and places mentioned in the book were not marked on the map.

Cascais

Yesterday we took the train west – at the rock-bottom price of €1.15 – to the town of Cascais. Here we found a small beach town with an active marina. My tour book describes the town as a fishing village, and though we missed the morning fish market – a wholesale auction – there were enough boats and fisherman organizing their traps on the docks to affirm this impression.

In front of the marina was a small downtown area with shops and restaurants. The weather was warm and the sun was out, so we were able to have lunch outside in one of the squares filled with café tables.

The only disappointment I had was that there is a New York Times travel article about the thriving art scene here. When we stopped at the tourist information office to pick up a town map to find the Ellipse Foundation Contemporary Art Center we were told that it’s not actually in Cascais, but north in a town called Alcoitao. Though I don’t think it was very far out of town, we decided to skip it and head back to Lisbon instead. The pastries that we picked up to eat on the train made up for any disappointment I might have had.

Lisbon Without a Plan

Kevin and I had a perfect day in Lisbon: We wandered around, had lunch, got ourselves good and lost, sat on the steps of a statue and people watched, found the ruins of the church we were looking for, and drank coffee at a sidewalk café. For dinner I had a traditional dish of bread boiled in olive oil with shrimp and a raw egg mixed in. It was like the Portuguese version of shrimp and grits.

The city has quirky shops and interesting alleys to explore. The people have great style and seemed happy to be trying out their new spring looks. What really struck me a great about the day was that I didn’t feel any pressure to see everything. I don’t know if that is a result of Lisbon’s low-key attitude, its short list of must-see attractions, or the fact that I didn’t imposing a the same set of expectations I’ve had for other European trips.

Last spring I spent two weeks in Italy. I had an amazing time, but I also came home exhausted. I couldn’t relax because every time we slowed down I felt like we were missing something important. There was so much to see and only two weeks to see it in. In Lisbon though, I was happy to sit, people watch, and soak up the flavor.

Traveling to Lisbon

I’m at the Bonn-Köln airport this morning, waiting for my flight to Portugal. The airport is very quite and orderly . . . and it's even under construction. Amazing!