A visit to Lisbon, capital of Portugal, and RACA’s reciprocal Club “Grémio Literário”

After my request to RACA, a Letter of Introduction was sent directly from RACA’s Membership and Marketing Manager, Yue Pan, to RACA’s Reciprocal Club in Lisbon, the Grémio Literário.

I contacted the Grémio Literário by email and arranged a date for visiting the Club.

My Letter of Introduction was also left at the Reception desk, and this made it possible that I could visit when it was convenient for me during my stay in Lisbon.

The Club is not open on Saturdays and Sundays, but I had the opportunity to visit the Grémio Literário on a Monday, for lunch, together with a guest of mine. We were seated on the beautiful veranda with a spectacular view on the famous garden and the bay of river Tagus opening to the Atlantic. We enjoyed a delicious three-course-meal with Portuguese specialties – after the soup we had the choice of fish and chicken, as meal of the day - with a Portuguese beer, and for dessert a wide variety of Portuguese cakes and fruits, with coffee, at a very good value. Later I met some members of the Club, and enjoyed friendly conversations, and especially because one of the members’ son had studied at Melbourne University.

The Grémio Literário has many spacious, impressive rooms and facilities for members and guests, especially library, bar and dining facilities (see here). The Club is situated in a very fashionable and historical area of Lisbon, and it has a very colourful history (see here), surrounded by many beautiful historical buildings, cafés and shops.

In the past, Lisbon was early settled by Phoenicians and then by Romans, later by the Moors, who occupied the trading centre, they were expelled by crusaders, in 1147; in 1255, Lisbon eventually became the capital city of the Kingdom of Portugal. In the following centuries, through discoveries and conquests in the "Age of Discovery”, the city became the “once most magnificent capital of the world" – until the earthquake of 1755, which destroyed most of the treasures of the city’s “Golden Age”. After the devastating destruction of most parts of the city, reconstruction followed in the 19th and 20th century.

Today, traveling in Lisbon is very easy and practical, by underground trains, a day ticket costs € 7.50, and trains run every couple of minutes, with a wide spread network system all over Lisbon.

Before traveling to Lisbon, I did some research on YouTube re. what the best tourist attractions are, also recommended art galleries and museums - this was helpful because on some days of my stay there was very stormy weather. The highlight of my trip was a day visit to Tomar by bus, approx. two hours northeast of Lisbon. - This place and its history is also mentioned in the book from the writer and philosopher Umberto Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum.

Traveling to and from Portugal I used the airline KLM (cheap flights if you book well in advance, and depending on what time of day and season you fly, usually with a stop-over in Amsterdam/Netherlands).

I hope if members of the RACA are planning to visit Europe they will put Lisbon on their list of places to visit.

Laurence Barnett, RACA member