mclisbon

coming soon to a mall near you…

In the NYT article, A Half-Century Old, the Whopper to Get a Younger Image, michael m. Grynbaum describes a new look for B.K. in the near future:

By the end of the year, Burger King will introduce a more playful variation on its ubiquitous chain of fast-food franchises. The restaurants feature Starbucks-style open kitchens, circular chrome countertops and plasma televisions that play looped videos of open flames.

They will be smaller than standard Burger King outlets, sized to squeeze into strip malls, food courts and casinos.

I wonder if BK got inspiration from the mcdonald’s chain in lisbon. They are the swankiest mcdonald’s i’ve ever seen. Even in my working-class neighborhood, the mickey D’s was sleek and modern, outfitted in tan and chocolate brown leather banquettes and brushed aluminum finishes. It looked more like the latest keith mcnally restaurant than a place to take kids for happy meals. I walked in there–yes, i really do eat there occasionally, especially in europe where most restaurants are closed on sundays–and felt the gaze of teens and chic young twenty-somethings giving me the stink eye in my sloppy jeans and sneakers. (it was sunday, after all.) There was a regular counter for ordering meals and separate “mccafe” cappuccino bar for beverages. Of course, leave it to the europeans to euro-fy mcdonald’s and make it a hip hangout.

Check out pictures of various mcdonald’s in lisbon by mckroes on flickr.

lisbon – castle of são jorge

the view from castle of são jorge

it seems every european city has a castle; florence, prague, barcelona…yeah, i’ve seen ‘em all. lisbon has a castle too. i can’t say that i was more impressed by it than any of the others i’ve seen. i did, however, get a kick out of their resident peacock. here he is staking his territory against a white dove:

lisbon – belém

torre de belém

belém is one of lisbon’s historic neighborhoods. this is where many of the portuguese explorers set sail on their voyages. it’s touristy but worth a visit. (it’s so nice, i went there twice.) the air is cleaner and the area seems to embody the grandeur of their magnificent past.

this is also the neighborhood where i stopped into a nearby photo shop as i was waiting for the tram to take me back to my apartment. an old portuguese lady from the tram stop came searching for me in the shop. she was telling me something in portuguese. she was telling me that the tram was coming. this was one of many instances where i saw the kindness of the portuguese. imagine a total stranger going out of her way to help you. gotta love it.

i’m finally back on a high-speed internet connection and was able to upload photos. check ‘em out here.

lisbon

the tourism board for lisbon touts the city as “europe’s sunniest capital.” sure, there’s plenty of sunshine to go around but i would learn in my 6 weeks there that lisbon has much to offer beyond sunny skies.

after two months in barcelona, lisbon seemed like a shrinking violet compared to the obvious beauty of her more glamorous iberian sisters. the city looks depressed. many of the buildings have peeling facades and the tall, thin houses on either side of the narrow streets block the sunshine that’s supposed to be the city’s big selling point. portugal is poorer than its neighbors and you can tell right away; everything in lisbon is cheaper, from a cup of coffee to a cab ride to property prices. i got the feeling that lisboans were sad and almost embarrassed about their current state, having fallen a long way from their hayday of intrepid explorers like vasco de gama and magellan. you can hear this sadness in fado, the mournful music of the portuguese people, that’s often blaring from old school barber shops and traditional cafes.

even the food in lisbon seemed to mirror the national identity. the rustic preparations of seafood are full of heart and soul but never fancy or pretentious. one of my favorites is a dish called açorda, a casserole of mushy bread studded with large, plump shrimp and copious amounts of garlic and olive oil. arroz de tamboril is another homey dish similar to a soupy risotto with big meaty chunks of monkfish. most of the traditional portuguese restaurants in lisbon serve whole fish grilled over big flames and you can smell that smoky charred skin for blocks around. if you’re not smelling grilled fish, you might be smelling bacalhau, salt cod which in the dried form smells like o-jing-uh (korean dried squid). if you’re not familiar with that smell think of day-old cat pee.

oh and speaking of cats, the apartment i was renting was surrounded by stray cats. i’d hear them having cat fights when the sun went down. one night, i awoke to the sound of what i thought was a woman in distress. it was haunting and persistent and scared the bejeezus out of me. i later realized it was the yowling of a big tomcat because i caught him making the same noise as he was humping another kitty.

my apartment was in a tiny alley near the bairro alto (one of lisbon’s hip neighborhoods). yeah, it was NEAR it but not in it. my street was so obscure, no cab drivers recognized it. i’d have to rattle off a few of the nearby street names before the location registered for them. i lived in a bustling working class neighborhood that had plenty of little workshops. there was one adjacent to my building and although i could look right into it and hear the old man whirring away all day, i had no idea what he was making–that is, until one day toward the end of my stay i saw a small truck pull up to it. on the side of the truck it read, “laminas para guillotinhas.” that old man was making guillotines?? if my life were a movie, i’d probably be falsely accused of a capital offense and be executed in one of his handcrafted guillotines.

i have more to tell you about lisbon (and pictures to show you) but i’ll get to that later.