Enjoying a Fado Dinner with Our German Exchanged Student in Lisbon , Portugal

We are used to travelling on our own in foreign countries. With google search and information readily available on the internet, we could pretty well get most of the information we want about the courtry to where we will be visiting.

However, meeting up with a friend in a foreigh country is exciting and a lot of fun during our travel. We were excited because we would meet with one of the students we befriended in Canada. N. was an exchanged student to the University of Waterloo and we got to know her during her short stay in Canada. When she knew that we were travelling to Portugal, we made arrangement to meet in Lisbon.

We met up with N. at a downtown McDonald's restaurant opposite from the Marquês de Pombal Square. Knowing that N.as a vegetarian, we moved to a restaurant with vegetarian options. Over lunch and lattes, we exchanged information and caught up with one another. We were delighted at seeing each other again. Good to know that N. was working on an internship in another town in Portugal and doing well. We had much to talk about and share. A strong advocate for non waste and recycling, N. always bought her clothing at thrift stores when she was in Canada. I asked her to take us to one such store in Portugal, she did. We went to Humana, a vintage store in Lisbon. The store was in a much smaller scale but it was quite busy.

We had so much to talk about that we didn't want to end our time together too soon. We moved on and planned to have dinner together in a well known fado club located in Alfama, Lisbon, the oldest neighborhood with cobbled lanes and narrow alleys. It's the birthplace of fado. The Fado club was recommended on a Google review site and it was reported as one of the best clubs offering Fado music – some people describe it as comparable to Blues music. To get to this club, we climbed up a steep narrow alleyway from a busy downtown street. When we got up to the top of the alleyway, an entire different area opened up in front of us. Here we saw more narrow alleyways lined with traditional restaurants and eateries on both sides. Obviously, this is supposed to be the night life district, busy with people looking for a nice place to eat or for some drinks and entertainment. Though it was pouring rain when we arrived at the restaurant, there was already a long lineup and we were about half an hour before show time. We waited in queue outside the restaurant in pouring rain for a few long minutes. Finally, we decided going to another club nearby that was not as busy. We were served right away. Shortly after we ordered our meal, a gentleman appeared and started singing. He acted as the warm up for the main performaer of the evening. The restaurant was filling up fast. The singers demanded respect from us, the diners. We were not supposed to be eating when they were performing. Though we didn't understand a word of Portuguese save for N., we enjoyed an evening of nice conversation, good food and Portuguese's famous fado music. 'the iconic musical style that embodies the essence of Lisbon and Portugal, brimming with saudade, a wistful longing for the homeland.' It was a great evening for us all! RT Lisbon, Portugal 03012024