We really started moving around a lot on the tour. After Barcelona we hit Madrid which was a real quick stop. The only thing I remember about the show was the house sound guy was wreaking from alcohol, and the club was called Sala Heineken (Club Heineken) the Starbucks of rock clubs. Pretty awful, I must say. We saw a little of downtown Madrid, had a decent tapas dinner in a little local restaurant around the corner from the club, but hit the road right after the show. No one was really complaining.
Next stop, Lisbon, Portugal. I was really looking forward to this stop on the tour and was not disappointed. What a beautiful port city in that classic old historic style. Rocky, cobblestone streets and buildings. Very narrow streets, tiled roofs and all overlooking the Atlantic. Portugal is the western most city in continental Europe.
We knew we were in for an interesting day when the bus wouldn't fit up the street where the club was, so we had to load all of the gear out of the trailer, into a cargo van, then from the cargo van into the club. It took the van almost 45 minutes after we arrived at the club to get there due to so much traffic and windy one way streets.
This was probably the smallest place on the tour with the smallest amount of production, but we were all in a good mood and happy to be in the gorgeous city. Once we finally got soundcheck over with, we walked up the street to Resto. This was probably one of the best meals we had on the tour, and we ate a ton of food. It was that good. The Portuguese red wine, the olives, salads, and my amazing Argentinean beef, was outstanding. I could have cried it was so good.
The show went on to an intimate and appreciative crowd, then we did the cross load out again, and were taken to a Fado bar. Fado is basically the Portuguese blues. What Flamenco is to Spain, Fado is to Portugal. It was a small restaurant down a narrow cobblestone street (go figure) and just several of us with a few guys from the record label. They bought us an remarkable bottle of red, and about every 20 minutes, a quartet sits down in the corner and they perform about 3 Fado songs. So much emotion and musicianship in the playing. It really is a craft and an inherited style of music. Very moving to say the least.
We didn't really get to eat so we begged our guide to take us to another bar for a drink and some food and he said there was really nothing open late on a sunday night. He gave it some more thought and took us down by the water to this trailer by a park where a few locals were hanging out. This was the equivalent to the American diner. It was a grill/bar on wheels. Burgers, beers, candy, snacks, you name it. It was heavenly. The "burger royale" was a cheeseburger with fried egg, carrots, potato sticks, all wrapped up in one. That was the ticket.
And a beer, of course. Just what you want at 2am before you go to bed. I'm young, right?
We had the afternoon off the next day, so we walked around as much as we could. Nothing too touristy, a bunch of shops, monuments, statues, drug peddlers, cafe's and brunch. Not a bad day. We all met to grab dinner down the street before we headed out for France. If you have the chance, go see Lisbon. Drink the port, the local red wines and see the castle, if you dare, it's one of the best places in the world to windsurf.
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