I have just returned from visiting friends near Lisbon. I had been to Portugal before, but sadly not ventured out of the Algarve, drawn by grilled sardines and the warm waters of the Mediterranean.
I spent some time in Lisbon first and stayed at the York House hotel in the Lapa district, which was charming, once a 17th century Carmelite convent. Effortless shabby chic would be the best way to describe my room (at about 120 euros a night). Everything seems so expensive at the moment with the euro pound parity. Apparently the best value plan for longer stays is to rent a small apartment in the centre.
Lisbon is built on several steep hills and this was certainly a shock after being used to flat Cambridgeshire. Thankfully there are plenty of trams to pull you up the inclines, and lots of cafes to dawdle in.
The basic table wine in Portugal is meant to be excellent. It is often worth just sticking to that rather than ordering a more expensive bottle. With this in mind I wandered up to the Bairro Alto district to have lunch. This is one of the oldest districts in Lisbon, with Rua Garrett and the famous Cafe a Brasileira. I found a small restaurant in a side street, and as it was hot ordered a 'house' half bottle of rose.
Stupidly I had forgotten about Mateus Rose, the mass market sparkling medium rose that accounted for 40% of wine exports from Portugal in the 1980's. Hey presto, the waiter kindly deposited a half bottle of that very stuff on my table. All I needed was a Miami Vice white shoulder padded suit and the illusion would have been complete. Looking around, all the other tables have delicious looking bottles of white and red. A great start to my Portuguese wine experience.
Moving swiftly on I found a superb restaurant that evening called A Travessa, an anonymous doorway in a side street leading to a gastronomic marathon. The cover charge seemed to provide endless interesting nibbles, followed by a stream of amuse-bouche finishing in the most amazing oysters I have slurped in a long while. This is where I at last sampled some great local Portuguese wine. The wine was from the Douro region in the north where port is also made. There were a few port undertones in the wine, and it had a heavy, full feel about it. Delicious.
Portuguese time is very relaxing. Nothing seems rushed and that suits a short break down to the ground. Portugal only has around 10 million inhabitants and is about three-quarters the size of England with its population of 50+ million. Portugal does however grow dramatically in size with tourism, as about 12 million tourists visit each year, but still nothing on my own seemingly hectic overcrowded country.
I spent the next part of the trip in Sintra, a stunning town in the hills 16 miles north west of Lisbon where I salivated over a port shop selling vintage port from about 300 euros a bottle. I then moved to the coast and Cascais where I drank plenty of Portuguese white wine with fish that were practically jumping out of the sea onto your plate.
Bad memories of Mateus Rose were long gone.

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