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BOARDING PASS
Want to explore Lisbon’s historic cathedrals, enjoy world-class meals and soak up plenty of OldWorld ambience? United
can take you there with daily service fromNew York/Newark on a Boeing 757.
Go to united.com to book your flight and get schedule information.
you squint. The central theme is gold, with sma erings
of ivory, agate, lapis lazuli and silver. There are cherub
heads clustered like grapes, display cases bearing grubby
skulls and femurs, and a painting of St. Francis Xavier
regarding a crab with a crucifix in its claw. A er an hour
in here, you’re woozy.
Luckily, the rest of your day is being handled by the
Sidecar Touring Company, an outfit that transports
sightseers alongside vintage motorcycles. Your guide,
the garrulous João, takes you around town, and then
around town some more, pausing for the odd snack and
ending up at
A Ginjinha (
5
)
in Rossio Square, where you
are treated to a glass of the red-berry liqueur
ginja
and
a spirited monologue about Lisbon’s history.
From there it’s a 10-minute bus ride up Avenida da
Liberdade, at the end ofwhichyoufindEduardoVII Park.
You amble through the gardens to
Eleven (
6
)
, a funky
restaurant specializing in Mediterranean-with-a-twist
dishes. You have oysters with
shaved leeks, followed by quail
ravioli and black truffle riso o.
LISBON BLUES
Modern audiences
are discovering the
mournful sounds of a
centuries-old musical
tradition
It isn’t the perkiest
music in the world.
Its performers sing in
tortured tones about
love and loss, set to
the strum of acoustic
guitars. But Lisboans are
fiercely proud of their
fado—more so since last
year, when it was listed
as a global cultural
treasure by UNESCO.
This urban peasant
music is, in fact, enjoy-
ing a revival, thanks to
artists like the dashing
Duarte, who wouldn’t
look out of place in a hip
indie rock band. Courted
by fashion designers
and lauded on YouTube,
Lisbon’s young
fadistas
are the hot new thing—
even if their material
is a couple of hundred
years old.
SOUL ARTISTS
Fado musicians at
Senhor Vinho; the Four Seasons Hotel
Ritz’s Almada Negreiros Lounge
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96
MAY 2012
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