Do we Live in "Little Lisbon"?

Some YouTubers Think So...

When you are thinking about moving to another country you spend an inordinate amount of time on YouTube. Some of the videos are very good. Others are downright dreadful.

How you are wondering, does this tie into the story. Keep reading….

YouTube Subscriptions

You subscribe to YouTubers because occasionally they provide valuable information. You overlook the excruciatingly long, unedited videos or those with a propensity for self-promotion. You may even be willing to overlook the many over-the-top complimentary rooms they get for promoting one 5-star resort or another. The latter is the case with a young couple (Amalie and Joen) who have over 78,000 subscribers to their channel Stay Classy Vlog. I believe they started offering videos about Portugal in 2017. They lived for a bit in Lisbon, then relocated to Madeira. They have posted once a week, then daily, then every few weeks, again once a week…I assume they are trying to figure out how to maintain the lifestyle to which they aspire. (NB: I don’t know them. Have never met them. So that last comment is probably not fair…okay, snarky. Perhaps I am showing my age and/or puritan upbringing!)

Anyway, while I rarely get past the first 30 seconds of their videos these days, I happened to watch the entire one entitled “A Tiny Lisbon in Algarve” (below). Yep, it was as I expected…they were referring to Vila Real de Santo Antonio.

The town square.

Little Lisbon

The town square, you see pictured above, is the reason some call this the little Lisbon. The Marquis de Pombal, copied some of his designs from the Lisbon restoration when he rebuilt VRSA. There is of course a river in VRSA … just like in Lisbon. And according to these YouTubers, also a luxury hotel. But for me, the comparison is a bit of a stretch. First, thankfully, VRSA is very flat! Second, it is much smaller. You won’t find scores of museums either. Finally, you can easily walk to the ocean in VRSA. You’ll need a bike, train or car to get to it from Lisbon. These young VLOGers suggest that the ocean is too from town to walk. I disagree! We do it all the time. In fact, one of the best ways to spend a day is to walk (with Onix) to the beach and continue to Monte Gordo. Have a bit of lunch and walk back.

I also take exception to their comment about the best way to travel to VRSA. If you are coming from Lisbon, there are cheaper ways than renting a car or even driving your own car. You could take the fast train from Lisbon (Oriente) to Faro, and then the slower regional train to VRSA. The entire trip can be completed in four hours and runs between €16-33 depending on the “class” of travel and senior and early booking discounts that may apply. We are using this route when we travel to Cascais in early May. A friend, who is visiting from Lisbon is taking the bus for €23. Yes, it will take her five hours, but sit back relax and enjoy the scenery…read a book…plug in your tablet and play some games. Given the cost of tolls and fuel, either option is half the price of driving a car. The VRSA bus station is just 2 blocks from the town square and the train station is a five-minute walk.

Canning equipment at the Historical Archive of VRSA.

Grand House

You might be wondering why this post contains a photo of old tuna cans at the top. We have written about canned fish before. We wrote about our trip to Comur, which we first encountered in Óbidos. We have developed such an appreciation for Comur and canned fish, that we carefully remove the fish by opening the bottom of the can with either a can-opener typically found in sea-rations or an Exacto-knife. We intend to display the artwork from the top of the cans in shadow boxes in our new home. Art that plays homage to our neighbors, Associação dos Pescadores de Atum.

Dozens of men, crammed onto small boats to haul in their catch.

The photo at the top of the page and the two above were taken when I toured the small museum attached to the Historical Archive in VRSA. There I learned about the migration pattern of tuna and the men who used to catch them. The tuna traveled from Algarve to the Mediterranean Sea during the spawning season. In May and June, huge traps (8000 yards of net, 70,000 yards of steel cable, and 350 anchors) which could measure as much as 7 miles long forced the “fat tuna” into a net that was hauled onto the boat. In the summer, the men captured the “thin tuna”.

The tuna was taken to canning factories in VRSA which were started by Sebastian Ramirez in 1853. A pioneer in the fish trade, his business put VRSA on the map. Needing an upscale place for his guests and business associates, his family commissioned a Swiss architect who migrated to Portugal, Ernest Korrodi, to design a hotel. Today, that 5-star hotel is known as the Grand House and is featured in the video below.

To tell you the truth, we have not stayed there. However, we are planning to eat in their restaurant to celebrate Denise’s birthday. We expect to pay three to four times what we would pay for dinner anywhere else in town. A room at this time of year is listed on their website for €330/night. In August, expect to come in right under €450/night. A friend and her son stayed there in December. She tends to gravitate to these types of properties and thought it was a bargain at €282/night/room. Then again she stayed at a hotel in the Douro for €700…way out of my league. But if you are into this sort of thing…go for it. You only live once.

Final note…Watch the video below to view VRSA through these VLOGers’ eyes. Their videography and editing are first-rate. Finally, though their dinner was free they claim they paid for the room. Why does that make me smile?

Next Week: what led up to the Carnation Revolution and our dinner at Grand House.