Modern Art?

To finish our holiday we ended up where we began: in Lisbon (long story, don’t ask). Surprisingly this part of the trip had zero shopping involved (luggage packed to brim courtesy of Seville) and was all about culture (of sorts), but my sort of culture. In the past I’ve felt the need to go and see as much as I can to get the most out of a trip but it’s exhausting! I’m coming to the realization that most of the time it’s just about being there, so if I don’t go into another cathedral, monastery or ruin* again I shouldn’t feel I’ve missed out on anything 🙂

Funnily enough, the reason we’re in Lisbon in the first place is purely because of one of my current fave bands: The National. After I went to Japan just to see Queen, flying to Lisbon to see The National didn’t seem that odd to me. Let me just say right now that I should have known better. I know what sort of music they play – there was no reason to suspect that they would be electrifying on stage (they’re not in case you haven’t figured out where this is going) and the most exciting thing about the act turned out to be the video background and counting the roving Super Bock beer boys filling up drinks. I’ve never seen an audience so perfectly still. I mean, there was one guy going a bit nuts at the back, but there wasn’t a lot of movement going on otherwise. If we’d had more comfortable seats I probably would have fallen asleep. Oh well, let’s hope the Lumineers in Berlin offer more reward.

The other side of the cultural experience related to art. You wouldn’t have thought it, but the modern art museums in Lisbon are pretty special, particularly the Centro de Arte Moderna which had an exhibition by the Portuguese artist Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso which was quite something. Unfortunately it is rather small and you have to fork out a few bucks to get in (unlike the other modern art museum in Belem which is free and enormous). What makes this worth seeing is the associated Gulbenkian Museum which has quite a remarkable collection – and story behind it too. My particular favourites were the portrait of Mrs Monet by Renoir and the Lalique collection. Amazing. He was quite the pack rat Mr Gulbenkian. If you are interested in art in any way go and see it. Oh heck, go see it even if you’re not. Plus if you get bored you can always go outside and watch the ducks in the gardens between the two.

Cafes to try in Lisbon:

• Café Tati – Eclectic styled café with delicious and really cheap breakfast
• Pois Café –Over ordered considerably because it all looked so good (try the cheese toasties)
• Deli Delux – Nice café/wine bar with gourmet delights abounding. Can’t believe how cheap the wine is here (we drank two bottles)

*Couldn’t quite stay away from Roman ruins as we passed by Merida on our way to Lisbon. Have to say that it was worth a visit, but don’t bother staying the night because there’s really not that much else to see.