-Hi. I'm Rick Steves, back with more
of the best of Europe. This time, we're going local
in Portugal's capital. It's Lisbon. Thanks for joining us. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Like no other European
capital, Lisbon, built with the riches
of New World discoveries, has a rustic charm. The city is a complex mix. Immigrants from
its former empire, a vibrant young democracy after a long period
of fascism, and money
from the European Union all combine
to give Lisbon bounce. We'll remember great navigators,
eat lots of cod, climb castle ruins
with a commanding view, savor pastries hot
out of the oven, discover back lanes, marvel at an exquisite church
built with spice taxes, join locals in a stylish food
court, enjoy fado music... [ Woman singing in Portuguese ] ...and sip fine port. Portugal shares
the Iberian Peninsula with its neighbor, Spain. The capital city, Lisbon,
sits on the Tejo River. We'll take a side trip
to Sintra, but, first,
we'll explore Lisbon's four historic districts -- the Baixa, Bairro Alto,
Alfama, and Belém. Lisbon was originally populated
by Romans in ancient times, then by Moors from Africa
in the Middle Ages, but the city's glory days were
the 15th and 16th centuries, when explorers
like Vasco da Gama opened up new trade
routes to Asia, making Lisbon one of
Europe's richest cities. ♪♪ Today, Lisbon is a city
of about 600,000 on the yawning mouth
of the Tejo River. With its iconic bridge
and statue of Christ overlooking its huge port, it welcomes ships
from around the globe and still feels like
Europe's gateway to the world. With its characteristic
hills and trolleys, Lisbon has a San Francisco vibe. Today, Lisbon is
a ramshackle-but-charming mix of now and then. Trolleys rattle up
and down its hills. [ Bell clangs ] Noble statues mark
grand squares. Locals enjoy venerable cafés. And a once-neglected harbor
front has been revitalized. ♪♪ Lisbon's history is dominated
by one cataclysmic event -- an earthquake in 1755. It was so strong,
they say candles flickered as far away as Ireland. 30,000 people died as two-thirds
of the city was flattened. It was actually three disasters
in rapid succession. After the quake,
fires raged through the city. Then, a massive tsunami
slammed into the harbor front. The scarred pillars
of the Church of Sao Domingos evoke the horror of that day. It was All Saints' Day, and most
of the population was in church. This is one of the few buildings
from before 1755 that survive. The city was reconstructed
under the energetic and eventually
dictatorial leadership of its prime minister, the Marquês de Pombal. Lisbon's downtown is
almost entirely post-1755. The Baixa, or Lower Town,
sits between two hills. At the top, the Avenue
of Liberty provides Lisbon with a proud
Champs-Elysées-type spine. With wide sidewalks
and plenty of trees, it feels and functions
like a park. From there, a series of fine
squares are in full bloom for our springtime visit. They lead through one
of Europe's first planned city centers
to the harbor and the vast
harbor-front square. Before the earthquake,
this square was the site of a huge royal palace. Today, it's another
wide-open public space. The grandiose arch stands
as an arch of triumph. A statue of the Portuguese
explorer Vasco da Gama represents Lisbon's
trade-fueled Golden Age. And a statue of
the Marquês de Pombal recalls the devastated city's impressive
recovery after the quake. Pombal rebuilt the city
on a grid street plan -- fast, cheap
and earthquake-proof. The spartan and utilitarian
architecture, named Pombaline after Pombal,
feels almost military. That's because it is. The Baixa we see today
was reconstructed by Pombal's military engineers, whose experience was in
building garrison towns in Portuguese colonies overseas. The new Lisbon featured
the architecture of conquest, economical
and simple to assemble, with all the pieces easy
to ship. The 18th-century buildings
you'd see in former Portuguese colonies
like Mozambique and Brazil are interchangeable with the buildings
here in Lisbon. The buildings are all uniform, with the same number of floors
and standard facades. Inside, they were designed
to survive the next earthquake. Outside, decoration was limited
to wrought iron and tiles. Lisbon's churches were rebuilt, but had to fit Pombal's
austere scheme. You hardly notice their
facades, but, stepping inside, Pombal's austerity is replaced
with Baroque splendor. With its distinctive sidewalks,
the downtown feels cohesive. The black-and-white
cobble design is an art form and uniquely Portuguese. To this day, patterns dating
from the 19th century must be chosen from a book
of traditional designs. Wherever you stroll,
don't forget to look down. Plenty of character and color
is packed into Lisbon, and much of it is edible. To be sure we get the most
out of our visit, I'm joined by my friend
and fellow tour guide, Cristina Duarte. -This is my favorite spot
in town -- the grocery store,
where you find cod. -Take me inside?
-Yes. -This is amazing. -You see these fish? This is cod -- bacalhau. It's our national dish. -So, your favorite place
in town. Cod.
You must like cod. -Yes, a lot. All the Portuguese do. So, this is salted, as you see.
-Uh-huh. -And it's dry. And we can eat it, like,
so many different ways. You can find it
in any restaurant in town. -So, in the old days,
they could preserve it? -In salt and then dry it. -And then how do
you prepare it? -Well, you have to soak it
for 24 hours to 48 hours before in water
and changing the water, and then you just cook it
as a normal fish. -So, if I go to a restaurant,
what is the word I look for? -Bacalhau. -And I'll find it on menus?
-For sure. [ Both laugh ] That's it.
-Ah, beautiful. -This is one of the 365 ways
of cooking cod that I told you. -So, what do we have in this?
-In this, as you can see, it is codfish...
-Mm-hmm. -...potato, onion, and parsley, and then it is all deep-fried. It's wonderful. Bolinhos de bacalhau.
-Yeah. -This is just
the perfect snack, either in the morning
or in the afternoon. -It's like fast food
in Portugal. -Fast food in Portugal.
-Yeah. -Mmm.
[ Bell rings ] ♪♪ -Cristina's favorite
eating experiences take us all over town, so we're traveling by trolley. Many of these have been
clattering through town since the 1920s, somehow safely weaving
within inches of parked cars as they climb
Lisbon's many hills. ♪♪ Lisbon's traditional market hall
is our next stop and a joy to explore. Locals still shop here
for the freshest ingredients, but as is the case
all over Europe, modern buying habits are forcing
these old-time markets to evolve. In order for the farmers'
stalls to survive, markets are adding
high-energy food courts. Today, much of this market
features branches of restaurants run by local celebrity chefs. It's a youthful and trendy scene
where you can enjoy a world of enticing dishes
at great prices, and for us, it's
the ideal lunch spot, mixing quality food, expedience,
and fun shared tables. ♪♪ The market stands at the base
of another steep Lisbon hill. It's too steep for a trolley,
so we're hopping a funicular. The Elevador da Bica funicular climbs through
a rough-and-tumble neighborhood, where more tasty bites
of Lisbon await. Small, creative wine bars
inject an inviting modernity into the old quarter. Along with a warm welcome, you're sure to gain
an appreciation of the local taste treats. No visit to Lisbon is complete without sipping the favorite
national drink -- port wine. -Well, cod
is the national food, but port is the national drink. -I like that. -And our server
has complemented this nice tawny port with
the right meats and cheeses. Throughout Europe,
places like this know how to combine
traditional food and wine with a contemporary setting. We're just a short
trolley connection from the dessert course
of our food crawl. To save money, we're using
the local transit pass. You zap in... [ Beep ] ..and zap out. [ Beep ] By the way, throughout Europe, pickpockets are hard
at work on the buses and trolleys most popular
and crowded with tourists, so enjoy the ride, but keep
an eye on your belongings. Next stop, custard pies. This bakery is popular
for their Pastéis de Belém. You'll find these treats
all over Portugal, and they originated right here. Behind the busy café scene,
a sweet sweatshop cranks out thousands of these
tasty delights every day. They tried mechanizing
the process, but it just wasn't the same. Each one is still
carefully handmade. Why are these so special? It's a secret,
proudly kept since 1837. -No.
Get out. -Stopping here is a ritual
for me with every visit to Lisbon. ♪♪ A sweet drink. We'll cap our little food tour
with a sweet drink. Traditional hole-in-the-wall
bars serve just one thing -- Ginjinha. Let's have a drink.
-Let's have a drink. [ Speaking Portuguese ] -You can order it
with fruit or without. I've noticed that most
of the locals get it with. What's the berry?
-The berry is a kind of cherry. It's a sour cherry -- Ginja. -So, the drink is Ginja?
-Ginjinha. It's, like, a little berry
in this -- -Sweet Portuguese cherry juice.
-Exactly. It's, like,
the fruit, sugar, alcohol, and then you make
a sweet liqueur. And "sabe que nem ginjas." -What does that mean?
-Mmm. "It's good, has cherries." -So, if something is just
really fantastic, you say? -Really, really, really good. You say, "Sabe que nem ginjas." -Ah. Crowning the hill
overlooking the Lower Town is the Castle of St. George. Lisbon's castle was first
built by the Muslim Moors, who swept in from North Africa and conquered this region
in the eighth century. After Portugal beat the Moors
in the 12th century, the castle became
a royal palace. While, today, the castle
is just a barren shell, it's surrounded by a peaceful and inviting park with
the city's best viewpoint. ♪♪ Just outside the walls, Lisbon's
salty sailors' quarter tumbles from the castle
down to the river. A popular terrace provides
a captivating overview. This is the Alfama, and it dates
back over 1,000 years. Its tangled street plan survived
the great quake of 1755, making this neighborhood a cobbled playground
of Old World color. While new affluence and tourism
is bringing inevitable change, bits of old character hang on. ♪♪ And people who've lived here
all their lives witnessing that change
seem happy to chat. -[ Speaking Portuguese ] -84 years old, she is. -Nice. How long has
she lived in Alfama? -[ Translating in Portuguese ] 80 years old...
-[ Speaking Portuguese ] -Yeah.
She was born here. -She was born here?
-Yes. -On the other side of the Baixa
stands the High Town, or Bairro Alto. It's another characteristic
and charming district. To save a few steps, we're
riding the Santa Justa Elevator. Built to connect the Lower Town
with the Bairro Alto, it was constructed in 1902, just a few years
after its inspiration, the Eiffel Tower. ♪♪ The Bairro Alto was laid out
in the 16th century to house ship workers back when
Lisbon was a maritime power, and its ships planted
the Portuguese flag all over the globe. Five centuries later, its character survives,
as families who call the Bairro Alto home
go back generations. ♪♪ A popular stop nearby is
the grand old A Brasileira Café. This café retains the ambience it had
back in the 1920s and '30s when it caffeinated
the literary soul of Lisbon, and it's still a good place
for a coffee break. In the evening,
the Bairro Alto buzzes with a thriving
restaurant scene, and various restaurants
serenade diners with the folk music
of Lisbon's backstreets. [ Woman singing Portuguese ] ♪♪ Traditionally,
simple family-run restaurants entertained guests
with fado music. Since the mid-1800s, fado
has been Portugal's blues -- mournful ballads
about lost sailors, broken hearts,
and bittersweet romance. It's impromptu, informal. Sometimes, the singer is just
taking a break from the kitchen. She's accompanied by
a couple of musicians, one playing a 12-string
Portuguese guitar. We're dining a little more
upscale with just the right seat for this intimate music. These are songs of sadness,
love, and hope. [ Singing continues ] ♪♪ It's a distinctly Portuguese
emotion called saudade, a kind of yearning or nostalgia. [ Woman singing in Portuguese ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Music ends, applause ] Like industrial harbor fronts
all across Europe, Lisbon's has recently
been transformed into a people-friendly
waterfront promenade, and from here, a trolley takes
us farther along the waterfront to the district of Belém. Belém survived
the big earthquake of 1755. Because of that, great buildings from Lisbon's
pre-earthquake glory days, like the Belém Tower,
still stand. Back then, this tower
protected Lisbon's harbor. Today, it symbolizes the voyages
that made Portugal so powerful five centuries ago. This was the last sight
sailors saw as they headed out into the unknown
and the first they saw when they returned,
bearing gold and spices. The nearby
Monument to the Discoveries, built in 1960 on the 500th anniversary
of Henry the Navigator's death, is shaped like the ship
that made it all possible -- the caravel. It celebrates how exploring
the world was a team effort. Leading the charge is
Prince Henry the Navigator, holding a model
of his ship and a chart, followed by kneeling
knights and soldiers who Christianized foreign
lands with the sword. Vasco da Gama stands tall,
eyes on the horizon and hand on his weapon. Magellan holds a circle
representing the earth his ship famously
circumnavigated. Across the way
is a naval museum, which shows how
this little country once built a mighty empire. Exhibits show the technology that Portugal used
to become a leader in exploration and trade
in the 15th and 16th centuries. The caravel, the ultimate ship
for exploring and trading, was Portugal's secret
to success. It was fast, small, and light, with sails that
could pivot quickly. Nimble and able to sail
into the wind, it was ideal for sailing
along coastlines. The Portuguese became experts
at navigating by the stars. With ingenious tools like these, they could now sail
away from the coast. Equipped with this technology
and his caravel, Vasco da Gama sailed
around Africa to India. ♪♪ Portugal's mastery of the sea
had a huge impact. Throughout the Middle Ages, Italy dominated European
trade with the East, but within 10 years
of Vasco da Gama's voyage around Africa to India, Italy's trade plummeted, and the seafaring nations
on the Atlantic coast -- England, Holland,
Spain, and Portugal -- emerged as Europe's
economic powerhouses. Next to the museum is
the Jerónimos Monastery with Lisbon's most
impressive church. King Manuel ruled during
Portugal's Age of Discovery, around the year 1500. He built this church
and monastery as a thanks to God for the trade
and wealth that resulted. Manuel financed the construction by taxing spices
brought back from Asia. He built all of this on the site
of a humble chapel where seafarers prayed
before leaving on their frightening voyages. The style of Manuel's church --
Manueline. This style, while medieval, is
on the cusp of the Renaissance. Unlike earlier
medieval churches, the interior is open and airy. Palm-tree-like columns
are slender rather than massive. This uniquely Portuguese style
reflects the wealth of the times and the many cultural
influences of that age. Manueline decoration is
both ornate and symbolic, featuring motifs from the sea. Monsters evoke the mystery
of undiscovered lands. A totem pole of indigenous
faces celebrates Portuguese conquests. And the ceiling, a Boy Scout
handbook of knots, trumpets Portugal's nautical know-how. This is Vasco da Gama's tomb. In 1497, he spent an evening
praying here for a safe voyage. The next morning, he set sail with 4 state-of-the-art caravels
like this and 150 men. These lacy Manueline cloisters,
my favorite in all of Europe, are the architectural
highlight of Belém. The sheer size of this
monastic complex is a testament
to the religious zeal that, along with money,
propelled the Age of Discovery. ♪♪ From Lisbon's ornate
Rossio Station, we're popping out of town
for a short side trip. The station's busy with
commuters coming and going. We're venturing
about 15 miles out, to the royal town of Sintra. For centuries, Portugal's royals
considered Sintra the perfect place
to escape from Lisbon. Now tourists do, as well. Sintra is a mix of natural
and man-made beauty -- fabulous mansions
set amid luxurious gardens under craggy hilltops
with grand views. Aristocrats with money and
a desire to be close to royalty built their extravagant homes in the same neighborhood. Lord Byron called this
bundle of royal fancies and aristocratic dreams
a "glorious Eden." A handy shuttle bus loops
through town from the station, making Sintra's
sights easy to reach. Our first stop --
the Moorish Castle. The approach is a gentle hike
through an enchanted forest. As you emerge from the forest, you see the first sign
of the medieval fortifications. Then we come upon
the 1,000-year-old ruins. These ramparts are a castle
lover's dream come true. Built by the Muslim Moors,
the castle was taken by Christian Reconquista forces
in the 1100s. And what you'll climb on today,
while dramatic, was significantly restored
in more modern times. ♪♪ Still, with a little
imagination... [ Indistinct shouting,
swords clanking ] ...I'm under attack
1,000 years ago. Capping the hill, even higher
than the Moorish Castle, is the fanciful Pena Palace. Like other fanciful castles from the late 1800s
scattered around Europe, this has nothing
to do with defense and everything to do
with the king's ego. This is the world of Portugal's very romantic German-born
Prince Ferdinand. Ferdinand, whose cousins
ruled England and Bavaria, was a royal typical of that age. He took the ruins
of a centuries-old monastery and built upon it the palace
of his romantic dreams. He ended up with a whimsical
and eclectic mix of styles -- Gothic towers,
Renaissance domes, Moorish arches, Manueline ornamentation, and playful fantasies. The interior,
with family portraits, dining-room table still set, and the king's
cutting-edge technology, like a then-state-of-the-art
telephone exchange, is an attempt to
freeze-frame the day in 1910 that the royal family
fled Portugal. That was during a popular revolt
that eventually led to today's modern republic. The king would hardly
recognize his realm today. Portugal's capital city,
while honoring its past, is embracing its future, and it's understandably
an ever-more popular stop on any Iberian itinerary. I hope you've enjoyed our look
at Lisbon, from its days as a maritime superpower, to its relaxed
and easy vitality today. Thanks for joining us.
I'm Rick Steves. Until next time,
keep on travelin'. -Over there. -[ Speaking indistinctly ] ♪♪ ...and built upon it, the palace
of his romantic dreams! -Hey, hey, hey. Hey. -Calm down.
-[ Laughing ] Calm down. -Okay.
-Keep it seemly. -Okay.
-[ Laughs ] "Keep it seemly" travels. ♪♪
