{"id":6319,"date":"2024-09-15T23:32:19","date_gmt":"2024-09-16T06:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/?p=6319"},"modified":"2024-10-17T07:25:36","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T14:25:36","slug":"retina-society-in-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/2024\/09\/15\/retina-society-in-portugal\/","title":{"rendered":"Retina Society in Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Arriving at Faro<\/a> airport, we quickly secured our rental car<\/a> to explore the Algarve. Google Maps<\/a> failed to locate the Ludo Trail<\/a> head, but we managed to briskly navigate the 7.5 km of salt flats and wild flamingos to make our kayak tour<\/a> to Benagil Cave<\/a>. Two hours of paddling was overambitious, and we were starving on arrival at Lagos<\/a> as we savored Mimar’s<\/a> octopus salad and grilled octopus followed by our first pastel de nata. We checked into our charming residence<\/a> and finished the night with incredible fish cataplana and Sunday-only seafood rice at Prato Cheio<\/a>. Next day, we joined Instagrammers for sunrise at Praia do Camilo<\/a> and Ponta de Piadade<\/a> before our decadent breakfast spread<\/a>. We stopped by Albufeira<\/a> for another nata, cork purse, and leather bag on the way to Lisbon, where another Google Map<\/a> fail nearly made us miss Ultimo Porto\u2019s<\/a> grilled octopus and goldenfish. Rush hour traffic had us relieved to return our car before we checked into the Four Seasons Ritz<\/a> to enjoy the indoor pool and roof deck views. We awoke early Tuesday to visit earthquake-survivor Church of Sao Domingos<\/a>, then passed Rossio Square<\/a> and Santa Justa Lift<\/a> along Rua Augusta<\/a> to compare<\/a> natas<\/a>. The Atlantic breeze at Cais das Colunas<\/a> kept us cool while we waited to retrieve our Lisbon Cards<\/a> from the tourist office<\/a> on the way to Lisbon Cathedral<\/a>. After enjoying some Amalia Rodriguez<\/a> at Museo do Fado<\/a>, we bused to Time Out Market<\/a> for a bacchanal of seafood soup, bacalao fritters, octopus salad, and pork rice. We abandoned the tram due to another Google Map<\/a> fail and Uber’d<\/a> to Belem Tower<\/a>, followed by a seaside stroll to the Monument of the Discoveries<\/a> and Museu de Marinha<\/a>. We bypassed the wait outside Jeronimos Monastery<\/a> for Pasteis de Belem’s<\/a> OG pasteis before returning to see the cloisters and church. Our reservations at Belcanto<\/a> did not disappoint, with hand-sketched cards describing innovative dishes like \u201cthe goose that laid the golden egg\u201d and \u201c3 little pigs\u201d for which we wore white sleeves to wipe our mouths. An early train to Sintra<\/a> on Wednesday had us shivering outside Pena Park<\/a> for an hour before opening, but we beat the massive crowds to Pena Palace<\/a>. We carefully navigated the steep walls of the Moorish Castle<\/a> and the steep descent to town for Casa Piriquita<\/a> pastries before enjoying Romaria de Baco’s<\/a> excellent cilantro broth, fried seafood, and squid ink rice. Tired from walking, we found a helpful cab driver who rearranged our itinerary to Quinta da Regalena<\/a>, where the mysterious initiation well and caves reminded us of Xcaret<\/a>, but the staff soured our experience by not letting us exit the front entrance. We concluded our day trip at romantic Monserrate<\/a>, then returned for Bistro 100 Maneiras’<\/a> snapper ceviche, truffled sweetbreads, and warm mushroom-asparagus-egg salad that put us to sleep before I could practice my talk. We took a trolley next morning to the roofless Carmo Archaelogical Museum<\/a> and baroque Church of Sao Roque<\/a>, then filled on bifana and prego<\/a> sandwiches before returning to the meeting for my talk while Melody split off to visit flapping mola mola and obese turbot at the Oceanario de Lisboa<\/a>. We reconvened at the hotel to have my new pants measured by the in-house seamstress, then went to Mesa De Frades<\/a> for a dinner and fado show. On Friday, we bought pastries at Oriente Station<\/a> for our bus to Evora<\/a>. Here, we lingered in Sao Francisco\u2019s<\/a> skull- and femur-heavy Bone Church and enjoyed their diverse display of nativity scenes from around the world. The other Evora sights were low-cost and low-yield, including a sparse design museum<\/a> of old tech and the Ingreja da Misericordia<\/a> that at least served as a rest stop for my back. The medieval cloisters and roof at Evora Cathedral<\/a>, however, had us expecting avionette soldiers and abductor virgins around every corner. A quijadas de Evora<\/a> tided us over to Taberna Tipica Quarta-feira\u2019s<\/a> chef menu, which included a tongue bifana and delectable almond-sugar paste. We returned to Lisbon to rest and digest before a late tourist-trap dinner<\/a> with retina friends. I caught a few conference sessions Saturday before joining Melody to browse Azul tiles at the National Tile Museum<\/a>, souvenir shop at Miradouro das Portas do Sol<\/a> and de Santa Luiza<\/a>, and indulge in melon gazpacho and grouper collar at Prado<\/a>. My friend Leo hooked me up with a tie for the society banquet, but Melody\u2019s sandals snapped before the dancing began. On our flight back, I reflected on our week of fado, nata, and 5-star luxuries like free daily gelato, all of which were only surpassed by the incredible food and music of the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arriving at Faro airport, we quickly secured our rental car to explore the Algarve. Google Maps failed to locate the Ludo Trail head, but we managed to briskly navigate the 7.5 km of salt flats and wild flamingos to make … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6319"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6399,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6319\/revisions\/6399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xephalon.net\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}