1936 On the Continent

past. The archway, in perspective, frames one of the finest and most celebrated statues in Europe. Let us go down to the great riverside square, Terreiro do Paço. You English call it Black Horse Square. Have you ever in any part of the world seen a more wonderful and harmonious mingling of solemn and graceful effects in a square of such gigantic dimensions? In the buildings above the archways the official life of Lisbon is carried on. Here are the Ministries, the Government offices, and, nearby, the Custom House, close to the South and South-west Stations, where you will take a steamer one day for Setubal and its golden orange-groves, for Palmela and its castle on the heights, and for Arrabida’s romantic hidden sands. Farther still lies Alemtejo, whose enormous wheatfields reach as far as Evora. Evora appears in the list of European towns possessing the most valuable and unique monuments. Algarve, where a subtle suggestion of Moorish legends lends charm to every corner, is so different from that of the rest of Portugal that it almost appears to be a fragment of the Island of Madeira. Algarve, covered with flowers and warmed by an African sun, is situated at the southernmost corner of the European continent.
The Chiado
    In the afternoon we go up the Chiado. Here we find Lisbon’s most elegant society women passing the time and watching the attractions offered by the fashionable milliners, dressmakers, jewellers and booksellers. The corner building is the Tauromaquico Club, frequented by members of the aristocracy. Further up is the “Brazileira,” the coffee-house rendezvous of artists and the intelligentsia. Almost opposite is the Garrett restaurant where you can have your tea and dance.
    Do you see that bronze statue of a man crowned with laurels and holding a sword and a book? It is the monument to Luiz de Camoens, author of the “Lusiads,” the immortal bard who sang the glories of my country. Look! How amusing it is to watch innumerable flocks of birds twittering in clamorous chorus as they prepare toretire to their homes in the trees surrounding the statue. It is, in its way, almost as great an attraction as the changing of the guard at St. James’s Palace.
    Now it is almost nightfall. Traffic increases. Mannequins and dressmakers from the big emporiums are leaving work. The luminous advertisements come to life. Santa Justa’s elevator is illuminated. In the distance the dome of the Estrela Church is outlined in the dusk. There are many more people in the streets at this hour. There is more noise. We still have time to walk past the ruins of the old Carmo Convent and see its beautiful Gothic curves; look at the curious fountain opposite, crowded with pigeons; and let us go up to Saint Pedro de Alcantara. What do you think of it? A really wonderful sight. The sun, far away behind Belem Tower, is sinking into the sea. But it bids a lingering farewell to the beloved city that brings out unexpected flashes of light on Lisbon’s seven hills. Window panes glitter, and a shimmering, almost eerie, light enwraps everything. Under this verandah, on a lower plane, is a park for children. There, half-way up the hill, boys from the Atheneum have their skating-rink. Do you see them? Near us, sitting on a bench under a flowering Judas tree, two lovers are whispering together.
Lisbon After Dark
    Night has come. Look round once more. The castle perched on the heights, the Graça, the towers of the old See Cathedral form, as it were, a huge altar-piece dotted everywhere with glimmering lights. Then there is the river and the shores beyond. To-night we will dine at the “Aviz.” You will never forget this celebrated palace, unrivalled in its rich adornment and good taste.
    After dinner we will go to a small popular theatre in the Park Mayer to see a Portuguese
revue
with several “turns” in which you will be able to admire picturesque regional costumes and gay folk-songs. Then we will again go up the Chiado. We look in at the “Rex” or the “York-Bar” for a glass of port, and then on to the “Retiro da Severa” to listen to the “Fado,” the sad song of this soft-hearted, sentimental people. We can pay a visit to the night-clubs—Maxim’s in all its grandeur and with its first-class attractions, or the “Arcadia.” A gallant adventure or an amusingflirtation may come your way here during the soft dalliance of a tango or a waltz.…
    I am going to see you to your hotel—the “Avenida Palace.” This