CAMA e CASA

Stay. Play. Love. Lisbon

[camaecasa-blog]

Tascardoso Delicioso

Tascardoso is my standard "yay - you are here!"  first night supper spot in Lisbon. Friends arrive, drop their bags and its time to explore...

Situated at the top of the hill from the apartments on the corner of Jardim do Principe Real and Rua de O Seculo, Tascardoso is a local, inexpensive, no frills, small and friendly taverna. A great place to catch up, make some plans for the trip, drink a hearty amount of vinho verde (classic Portuguese green wine served in earthenware jugs by the litre or half litre) and tuck into some very basic but delicious typical fare - grilled fish/meat with fresh salad and vegetables. My favourite is always a "dourada grelhada" grilled seabream.

The waiter is super friendly, you'll no doubt bump into him in the area grabbing a coffee or running errands, its popular and small but on a warm summer's evening you can happily hang around with a drink on the cobbles out front until a table becomes available. 

Thank you to Daniel Zapico for the image

[camaecasa-blog]

Driving Tunes...

For good vibes and free beats listen to oxygenio radio.

[camaecasa-blog]

Bear Beach

I have been dreaming of Portugal recently and cant wait to return in the spring. Oh boy do I know where I am headed once my bags are dropped and my Father kissed on the forehead hello. In fact we'll go together and take a walk, making right the wrongs of the world, planning adventures, telling tales, dreaming and chatting as only we know how - thoroughly, completely (and to the occasional bane of others) endlessly...

Praia de Ursa is magical, situated on the Cabo da Roca (Europe's most Westerly point) it is only reached by foot. When driving to the lighthouse, a few bends before the end of the world you'll see a tiny makeshift and somewhat disheveled sign (ruined from years of sea air and neglect) on your right that simply reads "Ursa" (Bear).

Park up and set off by foot along the dusty path, you'll need to take your provisions for the day as its a good 30 minute walk and there are no bars or shops where you are headed, only an onslaught of beauty in the form of rocks, sand and never ending ocean.

Great in the summer for long lazy beach days but equally compelling year round for cliff walks and truly awesome views of the Atlantic.

Praia de Ursa, I love you and I'll see you very very soon.

Thank you to my dear friend David for his view of it on a beautiful day in August last year.

[camaecasa-blog]

Patterns of a City

This city, oh this city, pattern, pattern everywhere... and then some.

Just as I somehow begin to grow weary, as summer draws to a sticky september end and my mind again begins to wonder to the hustle and bustle of London, Lisbon throws yet more gems from its seemingly never ending depths.

Strolling back through the streets around my house after a delicious and heart stoppingly cheap lunch of octopus rice at the food market at Rato, the sun seemed to shine its (especially fierce today) rays upon a myriad of detail. Yet more details that for one reason or another, I have NEVER noticed in the now 30 (!) years I have been walking these streets.

[camaecasa-blog]

Little back stretch Polly Clegg April 2012

[camaecasa-blog]

Advice

♥ More Pessoa Love ♥

Ring with high walls the who you dream yourself. After that, where the garden's visible Through the wrought iron gate's affable grille, Plant all the most smiling kinds of flowers, That only so may people know you at all. Where no-one's going to see it, plant nil.

Fix flower-beds like those the neighbours have, In which anyone peering may make out Your garden as you mean them to decry it. But where you;re yours, and nobody sees ever, Let such flowers as come from the soil sprout, Leave the natural herbs free to run riot.

Fix a living double of you, guard it And make sure no-one who comes there and gazes Can know more than a garden of who you be - A showy, at the same time provate, garden Behind which the native flower grazes, The herb so poor that even you don't see.

Advice, first published in Sudoeste - Fernando Pessoa as Pessoa.

[camaecasa-blog]

LX Factory

A cobbled street of converted Warehouses right beneath the Ponte 25 de Abril, LX Factory (pronounced "El Sheesh Factory") is home to a burgeoning creative force in LIsbon.

Bars and Restaurants line either side of the main thoroughfare while the larger warehouses are home to a heap of cool start ups and music labels such as Madame Management, good club nights are popping up and I hear there is a very exciting project coming its way in September alongside London venue Village Underground.

Sunday sees live music in the main building and a market of organic produce and young designer clothes spring up... its bustling with energy and a favourite spot for a late brunch. At Cantina things are simple, generous and delicious.

[camaecasa-blog]

Bistro 100 Maneiras

Long, loud, late and at times rather lavish suppers are a standard in the private room upstairs whenever my dear friend and fashion photographer Miguel Domingos is in town. The tuna tatare is my staple all washed down with a cocktail or 5. Many an evening has been spent laughing and shouting with friends, over a table littered with varying glasses and dishes a plenty - its a night I look forward to when we all happen to be in Lisbon together.

The new Bistro is (I believe) the new and trendy little sister to an existing joint in Bairro Alto. Just around the corner, opposite the beautiful theatre at Largo do Trinidade, this clean, chic and rather white restaurant is spear heading a new generation of gourmet cuisine and good service arriving in Lisbon - Hurrah!

[camaecasa-blog]

Fernando Pessoa

Almada Negreiros, “Retrato de Fernando Pessoa”, 1964

I never kept sheep But it is as if I did watch over them. My soul is like a shepherd, Knows the wind and the sun, And goes hand in hand with the Seasons To follow and to listen. All the peace of Nature without people Comes to sit by my side. But I remain sad like a sunset As our imagining shows it, When a chill falls at the far side of the valley And you feel night has come in Like a butterfly through a window.

But my sadness is calm Because it is natural and right And is what there should be in the soul When it is thinking it exists And the hands are picking flowers without noticing which.

Poems from The Keeper of Sheep - Alberto Caeiro (heteronym of Fernando Pessoa)  

[camaecasa-blog]

Ginjinha

At the bottom of the steps leading from São Roque to the main square at Rossio, nestled into the marble façade is a beautiful mirrored and wooden paneled, 2 meter square must stop shop. 

For a single Euro these Ginjinha joints are all over town, no back bar in Lisbon is complete without a bottle of this classic Portuguese cherry liqueur (think sloe gin). Another great spot is by the beautiful old hat shop on the other side of the square at Rossio, outside Sao Domingos Church. 

Sweet, sticky, boozy and delicious!

It’s a pit stop, quick stop, pop-in, pop-out, refresh, reload, pick me up, slow me down, morning, noon or night kind of affair…

[camaecasa-blog]

Adamastor

Lisbon has many look out points but Adamastor is the one I have been going back to for about 15 years now... join a bizarrely varied cross section of Lisbon society to consume beers and tosta mistas (standard Portuguese snack aka a cheese and ham toastie!) from the kiosk - or bring your own and gaze across the Tagus to the bridge, Jesus and out to the Atlantic estuary.

[camaecasa-blog]

Fragoleto

best.story.ever. 1 scoop of Lime and Basil 1 scoop of Pineapple. the.end.

[camaecasa-blog]

Sacred Spaces

My Father is fresco crazy and as such I have visited MANY a church around the world. As a child trips to Rome were an utter bore as all I wanted to do was eat gelato and pizza al taglio, not traipse around 50 churches looking at niches, ceilings and pillars (as I honestly did on one fateful trip!). 

From time to time however, I do find myself peeking my head around the doors of the odd one or two in Lisbon – if nothing else the cool stone halls are a welcome respite from the relentless summer heat.

Santa Catarina – Calçada do Combro I am of the opinion that a church can never have too many frescos or gilded retablos, Santa Catarina doesn't disappoint.

São Domingos – Rossio Such an incredible interior, as the result of a fire in 1950 I like to refer to it as “the melted church”. Visit and you will see why.

Sé Cathedral The great stone edifice of Se is a marvel en route up to Graca and the Castle. Between the mass weddings and streets revelers, both inside and out become a soup of activity on Santo Antonio (12th June)– the day where Lisbon parties hard in celebration of the patron saint and protector of lovers.

[camaecasa-blog]

Casanova

What a spot to sit in the sun and watch the ships sail by, a favourite lunch joint of mine with delicious wood fired pizza's and fruity prosecco by the carafe - passion fruit? - Yes Please!

Situated in a strip of converted warehouses along the waterfront at Santa Apolonia, Casanova is a bright and bustling Pizzeria, little sister to long standing Casanostra in Bairro Alto. 

[camaecasa-blog]

A Lisbon Story

I first saw this film when I was at Uni almost 10 years ago and was enamored  by the way Wim Wenders captured the magic of Lisbon’s Alfama district in such a wonderfully poignant yet tongue-in-cheek way.  A sensation for both eyes and ears with the nostalgic Fado music from Madredeus alongside the day to day noises of a bustling neighbourhood.

 Definite inspiration for a visit or one to conjure up great memories…

[camaecasa-blog]

Lisbon Story Wim Wenders 1994 

[camaecasa-blog]

Meco

This beach at the village of Aldeia do Meco (about a 40 minute drive across the bridge from central Lisbon) is hands down, my favourite place on earth.

Too many wonderful memories spanning many decades to recount them all but here are a few:

Watching the sunset across the vast Atlantic with so many friends over the years

Racing down the dunes faster than your legs can carry you, shrieking all the way

Lazy afternoons drinking cold vinho verde at Bar do Peixe

Walking for miles…and miles…and miles along deserted coastline

My wonderful friend and talented chef, Vitor and I gorging ourselves on seafood at the most phenomenal little “canteen” imaginable (have a hunt in the village - its called Antonio's)

Taking clay straight from the cliffs for an all over body mask and baking in the sun

…fun and sun repeatedly now for almost 30 years.

Thanks to my dear friend Ben for these stunning shots from our last trip in March *sigh…