Entertainment

In general, you'll fare better if you keep in mind that Portugal is not a brash, booming country with a lot of wild, gaudy entertainments, like the countries in northern Europe. It is a country with a heavy patina of history and sophistication. If you want to be entertained in the best Portuguese style. you'll have to take the trouble to enter into the heart of Portugal and learn to appreciate, for example, the very special decor of the Café Majestic in Porto, the special friendliness of the not‑so‑pretty hostesses in the sailors' bars by the Tagus, the fast of‑a sardinha grilled over an open fire, purchased on a nighttime walk in the Alfama and washed down with a glass of ordinary wine, and, of course, the~ song of the Fadista.

Though we will recommend some nightclubs in the largar titias, as a rule you shouldn't expect too much from this form of entertainment. Of course, the prices are too high for the Portuguese, so the shows are mainly the Portuguese entrepreneur's idea of what the tourists would like to see.

A difficult job in these days of bouncing currencies that send a different set of nationalities across the waves each year. A few years ago the shows were tailored to American fastas. Lately they've been trying to please the Germans and Japanese. Perhaps next year it will be the oil sheikhs' turn. You get the idea.

Perhaps more interesting for those who like loud music and local color is a district of girlie bars by the river in Lisbon. This is located mainly along São Paulo, and the seasoned traveler cannot help but enjoy the European low‑life atmosphere, so raunchy that even communist propaganda films trying to depict the decadent of capitalist society cannot exaggerate. This area is dealt with more thoroughly in the chapter on Lisbon.

In the casinos systematic Swiss bankers with their mathematical methods, huge Negro pimps In mink coats, scurrying, pushy little old ladies, gloriously drunk Portuguese aristocrats, and red‑faced, laughing Americans and Germans all place their bets until the "Nada mais" of the croupier signals the end of betting for this turn of the wheel. The crap tables were empty last year, but the roulette and French Bank tables were as crowded and fascinating as always at the casinos that stay open until the wee hours in such resorts as Estoril and Figueira da Foz along the Portuguese Coast.

Gambling is a big entertainment in Portugal. You are sure to go to a casino at least once while you are here, if only to watch, though you can hardly appreciate the sights without taking part to some small extent.

The casinos charge an entrance fee, and you'll need to have your passport checked at the entrance. The games played at most of the casinos include roulette, French Bank, Bacará (Chemin‑de‑Fer), Black Jack (" 21 "), craps and chuck luck. 1f you plan to go in for this entertainment in a big way, get hold of a book of rules and bone up before your trip. Though the casino at Estoril does pass out booklets with the rules and methods of betting, the other casinos do not have such booklets and, in the excitement of the betting it's hard to find someone who will explain. Resides, some of the games are quite complex.

The casinos usually are in large buildings including a gaming room, a room for slot machines, an art gallery, a night club, with perhaps a cinema and shops as well.

Such resorts as Cascais, near Lisbon, Espinho, near Porto, and many towns along the Algarve Coast are right up with the rest of Europe in the plush discotheque sort of entertainment. If after traveling through primitive farmland, studded with ancient castles, you begin to feel a nostalgia for the twentieth century, it's in these resort towns that you'll find your way back. Back to the world of European playthings, their wide assortment of companions, American girls wearing mink coats over their bathing suits, along with their victims of the night, bored businessmen looking for that stray companion that is never to be found, and travel book writers taking it ali in.

The cinema is very popular among the Portuguese. If you've been in Spain you'll be expecting large‑scale dubbing. Happily for you, however, the films are shown with their original sound tracks. As everywhere else, most of the films, especially on the popular level, are from America or England. You can find out what's playing by asking the concierge for the cinema page in the local paper, and while you're at it, have him book you a seat in advance, especially if it's on a weekend.

Most of the theatres are quite plush with chandeliers and so on. You are not allowed to smoke during the films but there are long intermissions, one after the preliminary shorts and another half‑way through the feature. People walk around in the lobby, smoking and imbibing soft drinks.

Continuing with the cultural entertainments, there are theaters and a short opera season. The former show revues, for the most part. The important ones are in Lisbon, in the Parque Mayer, off the main Avenida Liberdade. A listing is provided in the Lisbon section. The Portuguese revues are a potpourri of singing, circus acts, jokes (in Portuguese, of course), dancing and more singing. Sometimes there will be ballet or fadistas.

The Opera season is only in Lisbon at the São Carlos Opera House, beautifully decorated. Unfortunately, the season is short, and tickets are hard to come by. It begins in mid January and lasts only through mid‑April. There is a black market for tickets, and this is most likely how you'll have to buy yours.

A very Portuguese entertainment, perhaps the most popular in terms of total human time spent at it, is the sitting in coffee houses for hours and hours, watching the passing world. You can do this anywhere in Portugal, at any time of the day or night. Lisbon has the most famous squares for coffee house sitting, while Porto has the most gloriously decorated establishments.

In Lisbon, you'll sit in the Praça do Rossio (Praça de Dom Pedro IV) or the Praça dos Restauradores for your coffee, if you like a beautifully laid out public square and very large coffee houses. If you prefer to take your liquid refreshment in the main shopping district, ask for "Chiado" district. One of the best coffee shops there is "A Brasileira". In Porto, the magnificent "Majestic Café" has no peer, with its nineteenth century British atmosphere and decor.

The coffee served is a blend of the best in the world, a mixture of Brazilian and African beans served in small cups. Better use plenty of sugar, as it's quite strong. If it's not to your taste, you can also get tea that is fair to middling.

All around you will be sitting the Portuguese. If during the day, it will be the women shoppers; if during the evening, the men discussing the women, among other things.

The last and most important entertainment in Portugal is the Fados, which we have discussed under "Folklore". To the Portuguese, going to hear Fados sung is like going to a poetry reading. It is that profound an experience. For you, who will not understand the words, it can still be highly moving. All the best Fado houses are in Lisbon, in the district called Alfama and Bairro Alto. There is also Fado to be heard in some of the resort towns, especially on the Algarve, and in Coimbra, where students in tattered black robes sing a more romantic variation.

Incidentally, it is today fairly common for women tourists to attend night clubs, etc., if they go in twos or groups. As in any country, a woman alone in a nightclub, bar or even Fado house is inviting an adventure.