travelswithalice

September 21, 2016

Foodtrips, graffiti, and horses

In Portugal, a carnival of arts: food art, street art, equestrian art.

Food, glorious food!

In the languid town of Aveiro, the dainty ovos moles seduce the sugar-deprived.

Tantalizing clouds of smoke hover over the streets of Matosinhos in Porto; the air is thick with the hypnotic smell of grilled seafood.

At Cafe Santiago, long lines at the door as the cholesterol-challenged face the ultimate temptation: the notorious Francesinha.

It's a hazardous mashup of Croque Madame, Big Mac, and Sunday Fry-up doused in beer sauce, nestled in a bed of fries under a blanket of melted cheese, and topped with a fried egg.

In the former Mercado da Ribeira, haute cuisine goes slumming. Celebrated chefs present a sneak peek of upmarket fare at food court prices in Lisbon's Time Out Market.

The city as art gallery

Considered a criminal offense by most countries, graffiti is generally practiced surreptitiously by members of street gangs or by shadowy characters with secret identities.

A more evolved version of graffiti has gone mainstream as street art. In Lisbon, as in more and more cities today, some of the leading lights of this subversive art have collaborated with City Hall to turn derelict buildings into giant canvases for what has emerged as a powerful new movement in the contemporary art scene.

Horsing around Baroque-style

The Portuguese School of Equestrian Art (EPAE) is recognized as one of the four top riding academies in the world along with the Royal Andalusian School of Jerez, the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, and the French Cadre Noir in Saumur.

Headquartered in Queluz Palace, the school now holds public displays in Picadeiro Henriqe Calado in Belém, where visitors can watch riding masters put the magnificent Lusitano horses through their paces.