Next year is the 500th anniversary of the great Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama's discovery of the route to the Indies. At the time this was as important as man getting to the moon. To mark the occasion, Expo '98, the last world industrial exhibition of the century, is under construction along the banks of the Tagus in Lisbon on a site of an old seaplane base and oil refinery. Over 130 countries are expected to take part. The underlying theme of the exhibition, The Oceans - a Heritage for The Future, will bring together experts on oceanography and the environment to explore ways of saving the oceans for the future and also to examine their possibility as a food supply source.
From May 22nd to September 30th, over 15 million people are expected to visit the exhibition: when it is over, Lisbon will have a permanent oceanarium with 25,000 fish, birds and mammals in an ambitious reconstruction of the various ocean regions of our planet, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific to the North Sea.
As I stood on the dock under a splendid sculpture shaped like a ship's prow, I felt that Vasco da Gama would have enjoyed seeing the "Space Age" aluminium buildings rising, where once he moored his caravels. The sculpture is a monument to all the nation's great explorers and underlines a recurring theme in Portugal's history of looking seaward.
Behind me was the magnificent Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, the best example of Manueline architecture which dominates so much of Portuguese building, and which was itself a product of the great age of exploration. This museum is a must for art lovers as is also the Gulbenkian Museum where you can see some of the great treasures of modern art including works from the Hermitage in St Petersburg.
Taking a street car, or trolley, to the castle of St George proved to be the perfect way to glimpse a thousand years of history as it rounded sharp bends and ascended the summit. The castle and fort are set in shaded gardens, a boon to Lisbon's citizens in the summer heat, and gives a fine panoramic view of the river and city. Walking down through the old city, one can easily get lost in the maze of little streets and alleys. Keep your eye on the river and it will finally bring you into the heart of the modern city of paved streets and fashionable shops.
Lisbon bustles like any other major European city, but the people are more easygoing and very approachable. Understanding English is generally not a problem, especially with the younger generation who learn it in school and from movies and television. Portugal is still one of the best value for money destinations in the EU: a four course dinner for two with wine at a top restaurant will cost about £70.
Small restaurants serving traditional cuisine and wines, are very inexpensive. Night spots are mostly bars, discos and extended coffee shops.
From Lisbon I took a drive starting with Cascais, a rich seaside resort on the Estoril coast; it offers the elegant Hotel Palacio, watering hole to aristocrats and what's left of Europe's former royalty. Close by is the Casino, which runs nightly floor shows and gaming halls. For those who prefer less expensive accommodation, I would suggest the Atlantic Gardens, which has self-catering facilities.
Hidden away in a side street by the quay I found Ceramicart, a store selling excellently priced original work by today's young artists from Portugal and abroad. Generally I found the best quality goods, like handcrafted ceramics, tableware, hand embroidered linens are Portuguese made , but check the labels, as many are cheap imports.
From Cascais I drove leisurely through rolling countryside and winding roads to Sintra, a picturesque village where ancient castles, some Moorish and turreted palaces of former kings and princes look down on you from every hilltop. These days Sintra is the summer escape for the rich, and the region is famous for its music festivals. Byron's old winter haunt, the Palacio Real, was closed as it was Monday, so I pushed on towards Obidos, listed as a genuine medieval walled city.
From the highway it looked like a Cubist painting etched into the side of the Serra. Close up it is genuinely medieval, though the outer wall has been refurbished in recent times. The city has its own entrance gate, mayor, police force and people live there, operate shops and restaurants, though many are owned by outsiders. It vividly conveys life in a small self contained fortress. I didn't think it possible, but only the Portuguese would drive a car with panache through such narrow cobblestoned streets.
Coimbra stands on a hillside above the Mondego river and is everything you expect a cultural capital city to be. Elegant shopping malls, beautiful houses built into streets that rise up in ascending tiers towards the hilltop where sits one of the oldest universities in Europe. The library and surrounding cathedrals are well worth a tour: they exude a culture that includes treasures brought from all parts of Portugal's empire.
I overnighted at Hotel Quinta Das Lagrimas, a former palace now turned hotel. It is family-owned, with its own gardens and peacocks, private chapel and a cuisine to die for, especially those wonderful soups and pork dishes. The story of the house and the "farm of tears" is built around a Portuguese version of Romeo and Juliet. A delightful romantic haunt.
Turning south again I stopped off at Tomar where I finally found the secret of who financed the great age of Portuguese exploration. Henry the Navigator, the sailor who never went to sea, was Grand Master of the Knights of Christ (formerly the Knights Templar) from 1418 to 1460. Tomar was their centre of power, and he used the vast wealth which they had amassed by cornering the olive markets of the day, to build caravels and develop the science of map making that led to Vasco da Gama's success. The whole history of Portugese power and its celebration in splendid architecture from the 12th to the 17th century is here and not to be missed.
Going from baroque cathedrals to the cathedrals of Bacchus is easy in Portugal. From the heights of Tomar I drove down into the Tagus basin to Santarem, the farming region famous for its horses and bulls and also the main centre for Ribatejo wine. I tied in with a local wine festival which is a combination agricultural fair and music fest where each village displayed their wines and entered them for competitions.
The Portuguese have become more interested in their own wines in recent years, and are now growing them and using state-of-the-art fermenting processes to make them acceptable to export markets in Europe and the US. Visitors can enjoy WineTrail tours, organised from Lisbon, just an hour's drive away, to some of the region's most elegant vineyards.
I stayed with a young couple, Sergio and Claudia, who have just put their life savings and taken on a heavy mortage, to open a new home from home Manor House at the top of Santarem. Casa da Alcacova is well hidden behind an old Roman fort, but worth the effort to find. It is a de luxe bed & breakfast with 10 rooms, period furnishings, hand embroidered linens; there is no TV in the rooms, as they want you to make it your home, and the cocktail bar never closes.
Getting There
Air Portugal (TAP) offers daily return flights to Lisbon from Heathrow. Flights from Dublin are available via Faro and some direct to Lisbon. For further information, telephone (01) 679 8844
