葡萄牙的葡國菜／李明熙
小時候過大海，就以為自己去過葡萄牙，政治上完全正確，但地理上遙不可及。今日漫步在里斯本及波圖黑白碎石路，同樣咬著葡撻，嚐一口馬介休，沒有燈紅酒綠的霓虹招牌，感覺卻一點也不澳門。
葡人吃葡撻不分早午晚或下午茶時段，餐廳及西餅店都有出爐葡撻。客人點一個葡撻，配一杯特濃咖啡，站在餐廳吧枱一口一喝便付款離去，過程不用兩分鐘，街上隨處亦都見葡人外賣，咬著葡撻趕路上班。
在里斯本巿中心的 Augusta 行人專區，有不少以賣葡撻為主的西餅店，遊客流量大，賣完一盤便焗一盤，雖比平民餐廳貴，但保證新鮮出爐。其實，在葡國吃的葡撻，跟在澳門吃的味道一樣，就連在香港 KFC 吃的亦差無幾，只是葡人吃葡撻，都愛撒上肉桂粉，有的甚至撒糖霜粉。但葡撻本身已甜，加肉桂粉就甜上加甜，所以我還是喜歡原味，至少有蛋香。
而另一名菜馬介休全國都有，沒甚麼特別，反而在波圖菜單上常見的 Tripas，跟巴西的國菜 Feijoada 一脈相承，主要是大豆煮牛肚及其他內臟，還有各種血腸，單看材料已知重口味，所以附送白飯。若大豆送飯感覺太滯的話，會改沾麵包，中和一點味道。
此外，在波圖必食的還有 Francesinha 三文治，字面直譯是「法國小姑娘」，意念來自法國的 Croque Monsieur，但單看外表很難歸類為三文治。在兩塊牛油多士之間放入烤好的辣肉後，在上面鋪上火腿及芝士，放入烤箱中加熱，在芝士半融狀態下倒上熱鮮茄醬，吃的時後要用刀叉，感覺似在吃意大利千層麵多過三文治。
Hilly Lisbon／Kimberlogic
After moving through Spain and Northern Portugal so quickly, we decided to stay in one place for a few days in a quiet, residential part of Lisbon. Lisbon doesn’t seem to have a center or “downtown” area.
The city was built on seven different hills so you can find cool things in each area. The only downside to this is all of the walking up and down. We got used to it quickly because we had a couple of warm sunny days and after all of the rain we had been experiencing, we were happy to be outside and not shivering with umbrellas.
A plus side of all of the hills in Lisbon is there are so many lookout points all over the city. Some of the lookout points have nice, manicured gardens, some just a railing, while many have outdoor public seating with live music and bars and restaurants surrounding it. After conquering a few hills, sitting down for a beer, wine or coffee and a “nata” (Portuguese egg tart) with a great view is the perfect way to take in Lisbon.
Lisbon is famous for their trams that run a few different routes around the city. Tram 28 is the classic route with an old wooden tram car that connects all of the major neighborhoods of Lisbon. Tram 15 is the most popular because it connects Lisbon with Belem along the river.
Unlike tram 28 which runs the length of around 10 km, there are some trams that are referred to as lifts (not to be confused with Lisbon’s elevators) and these trams only bring you up or down a hill. This kind of tram is the first one we encountered while strolling through Lisbon. Since we were walking down the hill, there was no need to get on, but we checked the price anyway. For one ride on a tram or on one of these “lifts” it costs 2.90€. We were shocked that people actually pay to ride up or down the hill, when walking only takes about 3 minutes.
Each day we wandered around the city, up and down hills and by chance we passed many tourist places, but we also found local places where we did most of our eating. Our favorite local restaurant was only part of the way down the hill from where we stayed. Each evening the owner would tell us what he had and we would just pick a dish at random. It was here we got to try authentic “home” cooked Portuguese meals like Bacalhau à Brás or for Ming Hay, “inside stuff”.
When traveling for a long amount of time, it is important to make time to do nothing, but it is also challenging. Not to have a game plan feels like you may miss out on seeing things, but to have each day planned gets tiresome too. We have found our balance on this trip and when neither of us have something specific that we want to do at a destination, we take a rest day. Taking a rest day doesn’t always mean not doing something fun though.
我們的 #Home2HomeTravel
