July 13, 2022
Portugal is burning.
Record heat marked our first days in Lisbon. We’d come to this city hoping to get lost in the narrow streets and alleys of the historic Alfama district. We’d rented an apartment near a metro station in an area of the city on the outskirts of downtown. We knew we’d have to walk or ride into the historic center, but the weather was not cooperating. Our first day, we had to seek refuge from the heat by late morning. The next day, we set out early, hoping to explore the Alfama before we melted into the pavement. Our first destination was a viewpoint (called a “miradouro” in Portuguese) overlooking the city. We schlepped up a steep hill from the bus stop, and found ourselves looking out over the city. Trees shaded us as we marveled at the tightly packed red-tile roofs and white-washed walls of the buildings below. Further out, the river Tagus (Rio Tejo) flowed under a bridge that looks like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The bridge, I’d later learn, is the 25 de Abril Bridge built in 1966.
From after taking in the view, we wandered our way down through the narrow streets of the Aflama. Soon, I began to sweat. After a few twists and turns, we decided to aim for a monastery, which I thought would be a blissfully cool building to explore. The entrance stood at the back of a courtyard.
At first, the shade of the courtyard, a stone fountain, and water canals around the perimeter drew me in. I imagined sitting on the bench with cool water flowing behind me, the sounds of the people and cars outside fading behind the tall stone walls.No sooner had I sat on a bench than I realized that the canals had no water and the fountain too was dry. Having these features without water made me feel hotter than if they hadn’t been there at all. This wouldn’t be the respite I’d imagined.
Hoping for cooler temperatures, I entered the sliding glass doors of the monastery. But, alas, there was no air-conditioning in the entryway and the stone building didn’t keep the interior much cooler than outside. By this time, I was hungry and beyond hot. In the sweltering heat, I couldn’t even pause to consider the significance of the historic building or follow my curiosity about the Azul tiles inside. We’d talked of spending the afternoon at the beach, and now allI could think of was cool water and ocean breezes. We abandoned our valiant attempts to marvel at the historic center of Lisbon, wound our way out of the Alfama, and found a ride-share to a beach resort on Costa da Caparica.
Our Airbnb host had recommended a resort called Borda D’Agua. We arrived so happy to see a breezy restaurant on the sand with thatched-roof umbrellas and chairs to rent. We ordered lunch (a salmon salad for me) and spent a blessed hour or so in the cool restaurant. Later, from rented lounge chairs, we basked in the breeze and ran across the scorching hot sand to the cold water.
What we didn’t know was that all around us, Portugal was burning. The small country was currently battling 272 wildfires. Towns to the south of us were reporting the most extreme heat ever recorded in Portugal (47 degrees Celsius, 117 Fahrenheit). The government had declared a state of emergency.
At the beach, we knew none of this. We’d heard about some fires, but hadn’t seen any evidence of them until our train trip back to Lisbon. From our air-conditioned train car, we saw a pillowy plume of smoke rising from the distant horizon. Wanting to know more, I searched online when we returned to our apartment. There, I learned about people dying from the heat, fires sapping emergency management resources all over the country, and everyone prohibited from entering any forests for any reason. Portugal was burning.
I wondered if we’d chosen the exact wrong time to visit Portugal. We knew it’d be hot, but not like this. Would we spend our entire vacation indoors without seeing or experiencing the wonders of Portugal? Sure, I’d wanted some time on the beach during our trip, but not the entire two weeks. Soon, we’d be heading to Porto where it sounded like temperatures would be somewhat lower. I crossed my fingers, hoping this would be true.