We left you in Central Portugal, in Evora, which I've already told you is wonderful and I'm sad I didn't have enough time to really explore it. But there is a reason for it, which is Jewish towns like Csatelo de Vide. I went to Castelo de Vide after high school, on my very first trip to Europe. We only spent one night in Portugal, and it was in Castelo de Vide. And it left such a strong impression that Portugal has been my top place in Europe to visit ever since then. So I don't actually know why it took me so long to get back. But I finally did get back, and took my parents to Castelo de Vide. It's about 2 hours from Evora, and it is also a very old town on a hilltop (although this hilltop is much steeper than Evora). I was a bit disappointed when we got there because the weather was miserable for like the first time on our trip. We were basically in the clouds and exploring the town in the cold and rain and horrible wind. But as the rain subsided (it never went away, just came and went) we were able to see the countryside and town and enjoy the beauty. What I love about it is as you climb up to the old synagogue (the reason we were there) and the castle at the top of the town, you just get these amazing views of both the town itself (which is impressive enough) and the surrounding countryside (which is dotted with similar cute little towns on hills). So we did get to see that and explore a lot of the Jewish history, which is the reason we came. So in the end, I wasn't so disappointed.
The idea was to stop in Marvao after that to see the castle, which is supposed to be one of the best hilltop fortress/castles in Portugal. But it was still terrible weather and hidden in clouds when we got there, so we got out of the car for like 5 minutes and decided not to climb all the way to the top of hte town and see it. We had already climbed a ton in Castelo de Vide, which is super steep, and didn't need to do it again. So we spent like five minutes, then hopped back in the car and took a different route back to Evora to explore a bit more before it got dark. It still wasn't much exploring, but a bit.
The next day was our last day in Portugal and we had two more stops planned. We left early and drove up to Tomar, a town about an hour north of Lisbon, which has the oldest functioning synagogue in Portugal. The synagogue was built in the early 15th century, and then went through a few incarnations while the Jews were expelled, before being donated to the government and turning back into a synagogue in 1921. It's not a normal functioning synagogue, but people can use it when they come. That was the only reason we came to Tomar, but we did take a few more minutes to walk around town and get lunch. And we stopped in the tourist info stand, but there was nothing that sounded more interesting than Sintra, which we decided we'd stop in if we had time. And we did. So we drove down to Sintra, which is the town like half an hour from Lisbon that has all the royal summar palaces. We didn't have very much time, but we did make it to the Pena Palace, which is one of the most famous sights. It's this crazy, colorful castle on top of the tallest mountain in the area. Originally a monastery back in the 15th century I think, it was taken over by the royal family in the 19th century, converted and expanded into their summer palace. The thing looks like a toy, painted in all bright colors and covered in opulent tiles. And inside it's pretty nuts, too. The old sections, especially, which is where the monastery used to be, are beautiful, but the newer parts are pretty standard. There are plenty of awesome palaces to see in Sintra, but that was all we had time for before running back to Lisbon, eating our last dinner, going to bed, and waking up super early to go home. All in all, it was a really great trip!
Also great is this fantastic music that I found yesterday, and so I have to share it. It comes from Ravyn Lenae, a 17-year-old from Chicago. That's right. 17 years old. Crazy. She put out her debut EP, Moon Shoes, back in 2015, and then it was widely released on a Chicago label in 2016, and finally made its way into my ears in 2017. Luckily, cause it's great. Somewhere between SZA and Erykah Badu. I originally heard the title track, Moon Shoes, which I thought was interesting enough to draw me in. But it did not prepare me for what was in store with other songs like Blossom Dearie.
There is so much right about that song, and literally nothing wrong. I love the children speaking in the back, and the percussion and the way she sings the hook. Such a fantastic song. And it doesn't stop there. There's also Sleep Talking, which is similarly fantastic. And if you thought the percussion on that last song was good, this is even better!
And we're still not done! I normally on share two songs by artists, but I'm going to share 3 this time. Because I feel like those first two are more representative of her general sound. But then there's this song Free Room, which is probably her most popular, and maybe also my favorite by her. It's important you listen to the other two first, though, because I think if you listen to this you will be disappointed by the rest. But if you listen to the rest first and then hear this, you will also love this, but recognize it for it's unique sound in her library. So now you can go listen, and you will probably listen to it like 19 times in a row.
The idea was to stop in Marvao after that to see the castle, which is supposed to be one of the best hilltop fortress/castles in Portugal. But it was still terrible weather and hidden in clouds when we got there, so we got out of the car for like 5 minutes and decided not to climb all the way to the top of hte town and see it. We had already climbed a ton in Castelo de Vide, which is super steep, and didn't need to do it again. So we spent like five minutes, then hopped back in the car and took a different route back to Evora to explore a bit more before it got dark. It still wasn't much exploring, but a bit.
The next day was our last day in Portugal and we had two more stops planned. We left early and drove up to Tomar, a town about an hour north of Lisbon, which has the oldest functioning synagogue in Portugal. The synagogue was built in the early 15th century, and then went through a few incarnations while the Jews were expelled, before being donated to the government and turning back into a synagogue in 1921. It's not a normal functioning synagogue, but people can use it when they come. That was the only reason we came to Tomar, but we did take a few more minutes to walk around town and get lunch. And we stopped in the tourist info stand, but there was nothing that sounded more interesting than Sintra, which we decided we'd stop in if we had time. And we did. So we drove down to Sintra, which is the town like half an hour from Lisbon that has all the royal summar palaces. We didn't have very much time, but we did make it to the Pena Palace, which is one of the most famous sights. It's this crazy, colorful castle on top of the tallest mountain in the area. Originally a monastery back in the 15th century I think, it was taken over by the royal family in the 19th century, converted and expanded into their summer palace. The thing looks like a toy, painted in all bright colors and covered in opulent tiles. And inside it's pretty nuts, too. The old sections, especially, which is where the monastery used to be, are beautiful, but the newer parts are pretty standard. There are plenty of awesome palaces to see in Sintra, but that was all we had time for before running back to Lisbon, eating our last dinner, going to bed, and waking up super early to go home. All in all, it was a really great trip!
Also great is this fantastic music that I found yesterday, and so I have to share it. It comes from Ravyn Lenae, a 17-year-old from Chicago. That's right. 17 years old. Crazy. She put out her debut EP, Moon Shoes, back in 2015, and then it was widely released on a Chicago label in 2016, and finally made its way into my ears in 2017. Luckily, cause it's great. Somewhere between SZA and Erykah Badu. I originally heard the title track, Moon Shoes, which I thought was interesting enough to draw me in. But it did not prepare me for what was in store with other songs like Blossom Dearie.
There is so much right about that song, and literally nothing wrong. I love the children speaking in the back, and the percussion and the way she sings the hook. Such a fantastic song. And it doesn't stop there. There's also Sleep Talking, which is similarly fantastic. And if you thought the percussion on that last song was good, this is even better!
And we're still not done! I normally on share two songs by artists, but I'm going to share 3 this time. Because I feel like those first two are more representative of her general sound. But then there's this song Free Room, which is probably her most popular, and maybe also my favorite by her. It's important you listen to the other two first, though, because I think if you listen to this you will be disappointed by the rest. But if you listen to the rest first and then hear this, you will also love this, but recognize it for it's unique sound in her library. So now you can go listen, and you will probably listen to it like 19 times in a row.
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