God and the Sea

Today we signed up for a day trip to the nearby towns of Fatima, Batalha, Nazare, and Obidos. We bought the tickets at the Tourist Information office just up the street from our hostel, and the van picked us up just across the street from there. Our excellent driver/guide, Luis, was our companion for the nine hour excursion.

Fatima is the tiny village where three shepherd children bumped into the Virgin Mary back in 1917. She made appointments with them for return visits, and within six months there were thousands of locals showing up to share the vision and/or halusination. (I'm always suspicious of divine revelations that look exactly the way the "seers" expect them to appear.) 

The site is a shrine surrounded by two churches -- the newest of which is a barn seating 10,000. The tiny village has become a pilgrim industry. We were fascinated, but not moved.

Batalha is the scene of a battle (hence the name) where an army of Portugese who were out-manned 4:1 managed to defeat invading Spaniards and thereby sustain Portugese independence (and spawn an era of Portugese naval exploration that changed the world).

The place is a grand Gothic church, former monastery now military installation, tomb of Medieval kings, and shrine to the Unknown Soldier of Portugal.

Nazare is a beach town popular with surfers. It gets its name from a relic of the Virgin supposedly brought from (you guessed it) Nazareth in Galilee. The Virgin really gets around in Portugal! We had lunch and walked along the beach, enjoying the Atlantic ocean spray.

Obidos is an old, walled city -- sort of the Rothenburg ob der Tauber of Portugal. It's a quaint little place with more churches per square meter than would normally be expected, a castle converted to pricey spa-hotel, and aquaduct and ramparts you can walk if you're brave (no railings, uneven stone).

It was a good day. We saw and learned a lot, and topped it all off with a good dinner back in Lisbon.

Sintra

Sintra (SEEN-tra) is a little village northwest of Lisbon that was the national capital back in the Middle Ages, and continued to be the place where kings and nobles built their summer palaces until the end of the Portugese monarchy. It's about a 40 minute train ride, so we rode the train.

Our first stop was the Moorish castle (Castelo dos Mouros), the reconstructed 1,000-year-old ruin of one of a series of fortresses that allowed the Muslims to reign over the Iberian peninsula. The wall and the view are spectacular, and in the distance, one can see Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in Europe. But all that remains inside the castle is the fancy cafe.

After getting a bit lost on the way back down from the castle, we finally found our way back to the bus stop for another trip, slightly down then up hill again, to Pena Palace. This odd and quirky collection of Moorish and Medieval Christian architecture (and some just plain Disney fantasy concepts) was built as a summer palace by King Ferdinand I back in the early- to mid-1800s. Ferdinand was a cousin to "Mad King Ludwig" whose Neuschwanstein Castle we visited near Munich in 2012 -- also part of a recent Hollywood movie about art stolen by Nazis. Clearly the "madness" ran in the family.

After exploring the Pena, we took the bus back down into Sintra to tour the National Palace. Because of extensive renovations in the 1930s, this one looks as if it would be the most modern of the lot. Actually, the core of this palice dates back to the 15th century and the begining of Portugese nationhood. But there are layers of history here.

We walked around the village a bit, tasted some local pasteries and shopped in a few stores, then borded the train back to Lisbon. Since our hostel is actually located right in one of the central rail stations, it was nice of the national railway to deliver us right to our door! After some R&R involving a bottle of local wine that sells for less than "Three Buck Chuck" but tastes even better, we set out for dinner at a local restaurant.

Lisbon, Part 2

Right outside the church, in the square, is a little hole in the wall place considered the oldest and most authentic purveyor of Ginginha in Lisbon. This is a cherry liquor, sold for about $1.50 a shot, that is considered a national drink in Portugal. We each had to try a shot, of course. Very sweet, rather potent.

I don't know if we should blame the liquor or the busy hours of sightseeing, but we were feeling rather tired by now, so took a ride around the full loop of one of the old trollies, just to be able to sit down and take in the sights. After that, we went back to the hostel to relax a bit, before setting off again.

The funicular up the steep hill to Bairro Alto (the upper city) is just down the block from our hostel. We rode to the top for another wonderful view of the city from a different (slightly lower) hilltop. This area dates from post-1755 earthquake, so the houses are only (ONLY) 250 years old, or so.

We skipped the Port Wine Institute because it was a little classier than we were in our travel clothes, and walked on to the Cervejaria da Trindade. This used to be a monastery, but though Portugal is very Catholic, it has had a love-hate relationship with religious orders and shut most of them down in the early 1800s. This one became, perhaps, the world's first craft brew pub. We stopped in for glasses of the Sagres Preta, a pretty decent Portugese replica of a porter.

From there we walked on to Largo do Carmo, a square lined by the headquarters and museum of National Guard, and focal point of the "Carnation Revolution" of 1974 that transformed Portugal from a dictatorship to a democracy. Also here are the ruins of the Convent do Carmo, another monument to the 1755 earthquake.

There is an elevator here that was built by a student of Gustav Eiffel (as in Eiffel Tower in Paris), that would have dropped us within a couple blocks of our hostel. But still feeling chipper after our brief rest, we walked down, past Cafe a Brasileira -- a coffee house that was a hub for Bohemian poets in the 1920s and maintains that decor. It's still a "happening" neighborhood, with live music in the streets.

After another R&R break at the hostel, we took the elevator back up to a nice restaurant we had spotted. It was raining by now, and restaurants do not begin serving until at least 7 p.m. So we splurged on a bottle of Portugese vino tinto (red wine, not bad for the price of 11 euro, or about $12) served with bread and olives. That helped us kill time until we could order what turned out to be a very good meal. Sea food is great and cheap here.

Lisbon

We arrived in Lisbon on Monday evening after dark. Getting dropped off the airport bus in the middle of a strange city after dark (where you don't speak the local language) is somewhat disorienting, But as in much of Europe, everyone seems to have some basic English, so it didn't take long to find our way.

We are staying in a hostel. Formerly known as "youth hostels," these places still have a young vibe, and we are undoubtedly the oldest people staying here, but not the only ones for whom the adjective "youth" does not apply. The room is basic, but clean, and we don't share a bathroom (though that could have been an option had we wanted to save even more). There is no maid to make our bed, and we have to rinse off our own dishes after making ourselves breakfast from the (rather abundant) breads, cereals, and fruits provided, but otherwise it's quite comfortable.

Tuesday morning we took off on walking tour guided by our best travel pal, Rick Steves. Thanks to his guide book, we bought our day-pass for mass transit, found our way to the trolly stop, got on the trolly that would take us to the top of the hill, and walked a short distance to the Castelo de Sao Jorge -- the Medieval castle built by the Moors in the 11th century atop older ruins dating back to the Romans. It was retaken by the Christians in 1147 A.D., and has a commanding view of the city and the mouth of the Rio Tejo.

After touring the ramparts and the small museum, we walked awhile in the surrounding neighborhood, looking at houses still occupied today after being built 300-500 years ago. Being older and wiser travelers, we walked the narrow, winding streets primarily DOWN the hill toward the waterfront, where we visited the Fado Museum. Fado is distinctive Portugese folk music, usually sad.

After learning about singing the blues in Portugese, we caught a bus to the Praca do Comercio and the old downtown, known as the Baixa. While ground floor businesses flourish, almost nobody lives above them anymore, because the old buildings lack the basics of modern plumbing, and rent controls mean developers are unwilling to invest in renovations.

We visited the church of Sao Domingos, which still bears very visible scars of the great earthquake that occured here in 1755. This was a huge quake, estimated 9.0, that leveled most of the area. You would think it happened just last year, because of the impact it had on Lisbon's history. It's mentioned everywhere.

All of that was just our morning! Stay tuned for the rest.

Milan

Milan is a good tourist destination and is a clean and classy city. We took a city tour just so we could see Leonardo's Last Supper, but the other sites were also worthwhile and we had an excellent guide. 

To see the Last Supper you need to book tickets months in advance because they only let 25 people in at a time. Before entering the room you go into a little holding chamber to take out the humidity. Leonardo painted it directly on the wall so it is very fragile and has been restored many times over the years. The colors are much more subtle than we expected and the lines aren't so defined, so it has a dreamy and beautiful quality. We are so glad we went. 

The Duomo in Milan is also impressive, and well guarded with armed military personnel. There are churches all across the city, and we visited several, both historic and neighborhood places of worship. 

We enjoyed seeing the La Scala Opera building, but we didn't manage to get any of the $250 sold-out seats. Lastly, we stepped into the Prada and Versage stores just to say we had been there. Funny that nobody asked if they could help us.

Another Adventure

We arrived in Malta yesterday to begin five months of living in the city of Sliema. We will be administering a Luther College study abroad program with 12 students who will arrive at the end of the month.

We have a traditional Maltese apartment that is quite livable. The neighborhood is good, with the ocean only three blocks away. This is a big tourist area, mostly for northern Europeans, so there is plenty of shopping, many excellent restaurants, and plenty of night life (which doesn't mean much to us, but that our students are sure to find when they arrive).

The University of Malta is about a half hour walk from here. It has about 11,000 students and is rather compact, with buildings much closer together than at most American universities. This historic capital city of Valletta is across the bay. We have seen it from a distance, but have not yet had the opportunity to explore it.

View of the Valletta skyline from the central campus of the University of Malta.

Before the students arrive, we'll be escaping for several days of travel around Europe on our own. Stay tuned!

Advent, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

We again began the year escaping Iowa cold by traveling, because Mark was not scheduled to teach in the "January Term" at Luther College.

This time it was the classic “golden triangle” of north India, beginning in Delhi, on to Jaipur, and ending at the Taj Mahal in Agra. We then flew on to Kathmandu, getting a good view of Mt. Everest from the air.

We were, of course, saddened to know that many of the sites we saw in Nepal were destroyed only a few months later in the major earthquake there.

You can go back through our travel blog, Radio for the Eyes, for details and photos, if you wish.

Other excursions included some time in Door County, Wisconsin, several days along the north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota, a couple of trips to Lake Okoboji in northwest Iowa, and of course, journeys to the Washington, DC suburbs to visit the grandchildren (and Sarah & Brandon, too, of course). In October we traveled to Overland Park, Kansas where grandson, Corbin, was baptized at his dad’s home church. Big sister, Harper, looked on.

Other events included visits with Katherine & Matt, who joined us for several days in Door County and visited us in Decorah in August. There were also a number of trips to Des Moines, where Mark’s parents continue to do well. Mary spent several days with them in October, after Mark’s mom had a successful knee replacement. Mary had excitement of her own, with a fall at home that resulted in broken ribs in September. The long recovery was a reminder that we are getting older!

The new year will find us embarking on another adventure, as Luther College has appointed Mark to direct a study abroad semester with 12 students to the island nation of Malta. The program includes excursions around the Mediterranean, to points in Europe and North Africa, as well as to nearby Sicily.

We wish you, too, a year of adventure – but also a year comforted by the Prince of Peace, whose birth we celebrate in this season.

Mark & Mary Johns