Feliz Pascoa!

It's Easter week in Lisbon which is a big deal. No egg hunts or Peeps, but Easter here is a time for families to gather in celebration and eat (and drink their favorite Portuguese wines).

We continue to discover marvelous facets of Lisbon. Thursday we walked down to the incredible Chinese Pavillion (https://lisbon.for91days.com/chinese-pavilion/ ) which is a rabbit's warren of elaborate rooms filled with treasures from all over. It serves as a local watering hole, but has occasional fado performances. The one we attended was incredible---the fado singers were over the top great as were the guitar accompanists, one of whom played the 12 string Portuguese guitar. Amazing! This group plays in fantastic small venues in Lisbon and in no way resembles the tourist fado restaurants catering to large groups of cruise ship passengers. We'll be back, and will plan to visit the Amalia Rodrigues (Portugal's Edith Piaf) museum as well as the Fado museum soon.

We learned that one can hike atop the 18th century aqueduct near our apartment so we'll look into that too. On a side note, the aqueduct was the scene of notorious serial murders in 1841. It seems Diogo Alves liked to throw his victims from the aqueduct, but the authorities eventually caught and executed him. The grisly tale can be found at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/diogo-alv….

Yesterday we visited the 16th century former Carmelite convent which is famous for its azulejo tiles as well as the gilded church. Absolutely incredible !

And finally, last night we ate at Chapitos in the medieval Alfama district. Access the restaurant by going through a tiny shop which opens onto an outdoor bar area which then leads to a spiral staircase. At the top is an incredible restaurant with a sweeping view of the Lisbon waterfront. The owners also run a school for circus clowns who can be seen practicing below.

In the meantime, a happy Easter and/or Passover to everyone!Read more