Snuggled up next to Spain on the Iberian Peninsula and perched on the westernmost edge of Europe, Portugal has a long love affair with the sea. The Age of Discovery, launched in 15th-century Lisbon, carried Portuguese sailors to far-flung lands and brought sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, coffee, gold, spices, and chocolate back home.
Today, the traditions of the colonies — and a Moorish invasion or two — are integrated into Portugal’s cuisine, music, architecture, and the azulejos that tell stories of Portuguese life in colorful ceramic tiles.
Portugal has treasures to offer every kind of traveler: the fortified wine of Madeira and the port of the Douro Valley, ancient Roman ruins and crenelated medieval castles, lush hilltop gardens and one-of-a-kind beaches, savory fried snacks and perfectly-sweet pastries — and bookish delights including a baroque library, a literary hotel, and a church-turned-bookshop.
In this episode, we hit the high seas with Portuguese explorers, take a virtual visit to the world’s oldest operating bookstore, and learn the multifaceted story of the Portuguese poet Pessoa. Then we recommend great books that took us there on the page, including a punch-you-in-the-feelings thriller, a charming history of Lisbon, a different kind of WWII story, a swashbuckling adventure starring a language-loving ape, and a memoir-cookbook hybrid that reads like the best kind of travel guide.
Read the full transcript of Portugal: Storytelling, Surfing, and Ineffable Saudade.
Estoril by Dejan Tiago-Stankovic, Christina Pribichevich-Zoric (translator)
The Emigre Trilogy by Erich Maria Remarque: Flotsam and Arch of Triumph
Perhaps you’d like to listen to Portuguese music while you dig into these links.
And photos to set the scene…
Highlights of our trip to Lisbon included:
History
The Battle of Valdevez is immortalized in an enormous blue-and-white tile mural at the Porto train station.
Google Arts & Culture: A Gateway to the Age of Discovery
Things to do in Portugal
Savoring the Scenery — and Port — of Portugal’s Douro Valley
The Literary Man Hotel — This Hotel in a 700-Year-Old City in Portugal Is a Book-Lover’s Heaven
The Biblioteca Joanina is the oldest library in Portugal: official website — more photos and details, and the Cabinet of Curiosities
These Portuguese Libraries Are Infested With Bats—and They Like It That Way
Statement 1: There’s a bookstore in Lisbon that is older than the United States. Bertrand, the World’s Oldest Bookstore; Atlas Obscura on The World’s Oldest Still Operational Bookstore; the Everywhereist on Livraria Bertrand; and The Oldest (and the Coolest) Two Bookstores in Portugal.
Statement 2: One of the national symbols of Portugal is a zombie. The Portuguese ‘Galo de Barcelos:’ a story of faith, justice, and good luck; Wikipedia on the Rooster of Barcelos; The Legend of the Rooster; and more on the Rooster of Barcelos.
Statement 3: One of Portugal’s leading poets used over 80 pen names. Fernando Pessoa & His Heteronyms; Fernando Pessoa: Many Personalities in One Author; 5 Less Known Heteronyms of Pessoa (But Important Ones); 20 Poems by Pessoa; and his Wikipedia page.
Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone
Queen of the Sea: A History of Lisbon by Barry Hatton
Barry Hatton: 5 Historical events to understand the Portuguese
An essay by the author from Latham’s Quarterly: Africa in Lisbon
The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius
My Lisbon: A Cookbook from Portugal’s City of Light by Nuno Mendes
Treat yourself to Nuno Mendes’ recipe for pasteis de nata.
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