lisboa city lisboa city

MAFALDA ARNAUTH
THE
ENCHANTMENT
OF
LISBOA
The olive trees at the esplanade of the Belém Cultural
Centre offer little shade on an afternoon in which the
sun is already high in the sky and there is no breeze
from the sea. An intense, yet diffuse light is reflected
from the Tagus, spreading across Lisboa, the city built
on steps, stage to a spectacle of a thousand colours.
Mafalda Arnauth, a young fado singer whose voice and
style, in just a few years, have gained a new generation
of admirers of Fado, is about to release another album.
She talks to MY OWN LISBOA about her plans and the
relationship she has with Lisboa, “a city to fall in love
with“.
“This is the album of my life, in terms of histories,
moments, influences”, she explains. It contains songs
she has written and composed herself, as well as
adaptations. It includes Milonga do Chiado (a
neighbourhood of Lisboa), to which Mafalda has added
the refrain – “Ah, how I understand / that I still miss you
/ The cruel ashes that remember / A happy time. I was
also left / without all that I wanted / Without all that I
loved /And whenever I return here/ I share with you
the smell of what it was to love”.
Mafalda Arnauth loves Lisboa, she walks around it every
day – but she does have a favourite area, Graça. One
day, whilst she was showing the city to an Argentinean
friend, from the top of this hill, she was inspired to write
a fado: “And I run down to the river / kissing the
Cathedral on the way/ I reach the Alfama in a delirium
/ because my Faith is larger”.
“I really miss Lisboa. When I travel, I have enormous
saudades, especially because of the never ending
contact we have with the river and the sea”, she says.
“And then, Lisboa is this mix of so many different people.
The old part, where in some quarters neighbours live
so closely together almost as if it was still the Middle
Ages, and the more modern areas, with their
cosmopolitan rhythm, which is in complete contrast”.
The ascents and descents of the trams also have their
charm, but Mafalda recommends walking. From Graça,
Castelo, through the Alfama, down to the river, then
along the riverside to Belém. “So that a foreigner can
get to know the people of Lisboa better, because there
is a characteristic common to all the Portuguese – a
playful cheekiness, it’s very typical, at the same time as
being sweet and open. It’s something you can’t describe
with words. You can only discover alfacinhas (an
affectionate term for the people of Lisboa – meaning
baby lettuce) by having real contact with them”.
Mafalda made her debut in 1995, at the São Luís Theatre,
a venue in the area of Chiado, which she describes as
magical. However, her voice has taken her to other
exceptionally beautiful places with a very special
atmosphere, such as the Ajuda Palace.
It can’t be said that the fado singer only likes the food
of Lisboa – “The problem is that I like everything, that’s
my weakness”, she laughs. However, she loves traditional
Portuguese cooking and the advice she gives to anyone
who isn’t familiar with it, is to eat fresh fish and sea
food, bacalhau (codfish), naturally, and the sweets. And,
if it’s during the summer they mustn’t miss sardines.
“For a restaurant, try the Solar dos Presuntos, near
Avenida da Liberdade (on the same road as the Coliseu
dos Recreios). It’s always good, the dishes are really
Portuguese, not touristy”. Or try Guincho or the left
bank of the Tagus, for fish and seafood, “there are a lot
of good restaurants over on the other side”.
RESTAURANTS
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