Summer Notebook – and so to Óbidos

So! An invitation from one of my sons-in-law to go to Portugal with them. They left ahead of me and kept me constantly posted about the weather – cooler than Malta, even in Lisbon. Bliss.

Packing done. Favourite hairbrush in the bathbag. It seems to be the only one that stops my hair from looking like the wild, wild west.

I mustn’t forget my pills. I am not addicted to pills and have to be persuaded to take an aspirin if I have a headache. I don’t take pills to calm me, to cheer me or to make me more chirpy or indeed make the sun shine more brightly. These are ‘doctor’s orders’ pills.

*** I arrived at Lisbon airport to be greeted by my daughter’s fatherin-law, a cultured man who speaks perfect English. I noticed that our man in Portugal (formerly in Spain), Mark Micallef, had flown in with me and was sorry to see that he was in a wheel chair.

We got to the hotel where my daughter and family were waiting for me, discussed the programme for the next ten days and was warned that I was allowed just one day of shopping, on the morrow, on my own with no children to distract me and demand an icecream every 10 minutes.

*** So the following morning I hurried to El Cortes Inglés, the huge department store which I knew well from previous visits. It wasn’t far away from the hotel and I immediately bought an adaptor which I had forgotten to pack. What is life without a mobile? Yes, it has come to that.

Adaptor in hand, one of the salesgirls who spoke very good English, arranged for my phone to be charged. I immediately went to the top floor and to the Club del Gourmet and bought a few goodies for my family and myself.

*** Ah, tent shaped linen dresses with short sleeves and pockets in the Women’s department. Not something one finds easily here so I spent an hour trying each and every one and finally decided on a blue one and a linen jacket too.

On my way out I was accosted, as so often one is in department stores, by the eagle wide smile of a sales assistant. “How are you today?” she trilled as if she gave a damn. “I have the ‘flu. Highly contagious” I replied, trying to put her off, but it didn’t manage to deter her so I accepted every drop of scent she wished to douse me with. There can never be enough scent in your life as far as I am concerned. Or chocolate for that matter.

*** I have always loved Portugal. It is civilised with beautiful buildings, parks, piazzas and shops. People are mild-mannered. Here in Malta if you linger for more than one second after the traffic light changes there’s a cacophany of klaxons and a few choice swear words mixed in. I did not encounter one such scene ever in Portugal.

Women don’t wear much makeup but I noticed many are tattooed.

You don’t see as many fat people as you see here. There, as in most cities, one has to walk, with healthy results. As my son-inlaw pointed out, you rarely see a fat school kid either.

*** I love the old cafés. It is almost high treason not to visit one or two if you are there, as you should be now that Air Malta has introduced a direct flight to Lisbon.

I love the mirrors, wood panelling, chandeliers , wrought iron and general ambience in these mostly fin de siècle cafés.

The Versailles in the heart of Lisbon is in a splendid Art Nouveau building. There is Brasileira; Nicola with its Art Deco light fixtures is another must experience. The oldest café is the Martinho da Arcada, opened in 1782.

Then there are the pastelarias (cake shops). The sweet toothed Portugese adore cakes but I only fell in love with a few of them and generally found them too sweet.

*** Food was on the menu. I love all the seafood one can get in Portugal including cockles which I had never had before, even if they are not the most interesting of seafoods.

And they love their suckling pig – our majjalata I suppose, a word I cannot stand. I was invited to eat suckling pig in a restaurant just outside Lisbon which we all enjoyed, even the little ones who adore eating.

*** Portugal established the first global empire, in the 15th and 16th centuries, becoming one of the world’s major economic, political and military powers. Portugese explorers pioneered maritime exploration, largely under royal patronage. Possibly the most notable voyage was that of the Bartolomeu Dias (named after the famous explorer) sailing beyond the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.

It was a Portugese, Vasco di Gama, who discovered the sea route to India and the European discovery of Brazil.

During this time Portugal monopolized the spice trade which was so important at a time when there was no refrigeration and spices helped mask the flavour of food which was not always quite fresh if not downright rotten.

*** They’ve had their share of bad luck the Portugese, which erased to a great extent Portugal’s prior opulence. Perhaps the most tragic was the 1755 Lisbon earthquake with between 10,000 and 1000, 000 deaths.

Portugal’s empire, which survived for more than six centuries, was the first of the great European global empires. Its former possessions are now located in across 50 countries around the world. Its largest colony was Brazil.

The Portuguese imported African slaves from other territories they had colonised – Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau - and forced them to grow sugar, tobacco, cotton, coffee, and other cash crops.

There were other, smaller, colonies.

Gold and diamonds were extracted from the colonies in Africa contributing to Portugal’s success and wealth.

*** More than a million refugees from the three African countries emigrated to Portugal after independence and strained the Portugese economy. There is evidence of this in Lisbon where the population is very mixed.

*** The star of this holiday was surely our stay in Óbidos an enchanting hilltown with pretty whitewashed houses enclosed within 14th century walls. Dominating the town is the castle now a pousada. The Moors were here too, hence the castle.

We drove there and were delighted with the first glimpses of the Casa D’Óbidos where we were staying, a manor house dating back to the 19th century carefully restored and redecorated.The house, with cosy interiors and lovely gardens, offers the warm and peaceful atmosphere of the traditional Portuguese houses. It has a tennis court (utterly useless to me but was urged to have a go by my grandchildren, which nearly killed me) and a swimming pool.

From everywhere a magnificent view of the castle can be enjoyed as well as extensive lawns, gardens and orchards.

I had my own cottage. It was the perfect place to get away from the noise, heat and dust that is now Sliema. I loved every minute of it. Fresh bread was delivered in a cloth bag every morning and left on the door. My diet was by now in shambles.

I was even able to read a whole book without having to start it all over again several times.

*** The Portugese have managed to achieve a modus vivendi between tourism and the traditional economy. They don’t seem to have the dilemma we are suffering from between nature conservency and the killer instinct of greedy constructors. We have become a society too busy to revise its own judgments. We’ve even lost our butterflies. To me, Óbidos seems to be the ultimate escape for incurable romantics.

I now wistfully imagine a life in my own cottage, surrounded by trees and flowers, in Óbidos.

As old age decay sets it, there really is no more time for dreams. To quote Cocteau: ‘Each day in the mirror I watch death at work’.

But that was one of the best holidays I’ve had for a long time. mbenoit@independent.com.mt