In and around Lisbon

So my days in Lisbon have gotten somewhat routine, but still thrilling nonetheless. I am staying in a room in Bairro Alto, which is sort of the trendy neighborhood in Lisbon with a lot of nice cafes, nightclubs and shops. But the neighborhoods best asset is its narrow, picturesque brick streets which are free from speeding traffic and fun to walk around.

Bairro Alto

Most weekdays I have been heading to the Instituto Superior Técnico which is just a short train ride away. I was connected with a number of the folks there through my professor Matt Kondolf who granted me the PSP fellowship. Some of them I had met when they were visiting Berkeley last spring. They have given me a desk there to work and have been pretty helpful in my research.

The purpose of my time in Portugal is to study the Tagus River Estuary in order to draw comparisons between it and the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta region as both are rapidly urbanizing estuaries. I am trying to apply ideas on heritage tourism development in the Tagus River, comparable to what I had been proposing in my thesis work on the Delta. I am focusing my project on the southern part of the estuary, which is undergoing massive urbanization.

This past Saturday I made a site visit to some of the areas. There are a number of opportunities for increased tourism development in the region, which would have numerous public benefits in addition to economic diversification. There is still a fair amount of pristine bird habitat in the region which can support beautiful species such as pink flamingoes in the photo below. There are also a number of historic fishing villages which tourists could visit via boats from Lisbon such as the town of Seixal. And there are agritourism opportunities such as Companhia das Lezirias, which has horses, wine tasting, and cattle ranching. There are also a number of historic bull fighting centers in this region.

Pink Flamingoes

Seixal
 

Companhia das Lezirias

Monday I took a trip with my friends Dri-me and Francisca whom I had met in Sintra. Dri-me drove us down to the Arrabida mountains which are a bit south of Lisbon and overlook the Sado estuary.

View from Arrabida Natural Park.

We went on a nice, strenous hike and had to turn around at one point due to this large sounding dog that we heard barking nearby. We didn’t actually see the dog, but it sounded pretty large and terrifying and could have had rabies. So we turned back to avoid crossing its path. Besides the scenic views of the estuary, one of the interesting things about the area were these little houses in the hills which had been used as meditation centers by Franciscans.

Franciscan meditation houses

Afterwards we went for a swim at a nice beach at the bottom.

Sado Estuary beach

We were pretty hungry after all this exercise and got some pizza. But the highlight of the trip were the Pasteis de Natas… The desserts in Portugal in general are amazing. Everyday I want to try a different cake or pastry, each one tastier than the next. The most famous desserts of this country though are these little custard filled pastries.

Pasteis de Natas

There is one place in Lisbon that is especially famous for them and they have some secret recipe. The ones served at this place are called Pasteis de Belem. And yes, they lived up to their reputation…

Pasteis de Belem