Salt Fare-North Sea

I am used to bacchanalia, but this last meal I had on my weekly Monday night Lisboa restaurant tour was easily the most ridiculous--most faithful to the roman vomitorium--gluttony I have ever experienced. After class I went home and though I was completely exhausted I decided to go with my brit friend Betty and her Manchester friend Tony to get a drink in Bairro Alto and then off to the Tim Burtonesque new Lisbon fashion designer (highlighted yesterday in the New York Times), Storytailors clothes shop. It was architecturally stunning and the clothes truly belonged somewhere in between the Brothers Grimm darkside graphically and formally seemed to reside amongst a bridge between the early 19th century literary Romantics, Victorian aesthetic, and the haute coulture of Gotham City. Afterwards we drank the best Sangria I’ve ever had, spiked with cinnamon and mint. I split from them to head to my Monday night restaurant pick. I only eat out once a week because even though I am here on a $3200 scholarship, in Euros that converts to about fifteen Euro. The restaurant had a very cheap prix fix meal that sort of blended concepts of Old Country Buffet with really haut Portuguese cuisine and an all you can drink menu that included as many bottles of good red/white wine you want as well as however many decanters of Ruby Port, Portuguese Grappa, and an amazingly delicious Almond Liqueur you wish to imbibe before you presumably make it home. Included are pictures of a few of the courses which started with appetizers from a bar that contained over 70 different selections of Portuguese apps, then the main dish is served (it was bacalhua portuguesa which I again found too salty), then the cheese course (with a selection of 12 different Portuguese cheeses), then the fruit plate, then the assorted nuts and dried fruits (which accompanied the 3 decanters of digestives.)

Today a few schoolmates and I went to the beach. It was a perfect day and I knew I would fall asleep as soon as I got there so I went to the pharmacy to get some high SPF sun block and it was 21 Euro ($33). This is what the meal above had cost me, what the ticket to see Leonard Cohen is also going for, and is equivalent to 10 bottles of Portuguese wine (literally). This country has its priorities all out of whack. More tomorrow on the subject.