Day 9 in Portugal
Monday 2 February After breakfast at the hotel the four of us grabbed our coats and umbrellas and headed off to the Trindade. Our first objective for the day was to visit the Casa Musica, an event facility that Pauline's friend Graça recommended. Located in the Boavista neighborhood just west and a bit north of our hotel, it is apparently one of the more well-known stand-alone music halls in Portugal, perhaps in Europe. Designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and opened in 2005, we thought the building looked a bit tired outside and inside. We had hoped to go to the top floor for the view but the restaurant wouldn't open for another couple of hours. And we didn't feel like paying to look at the auditorium -- for my money the place was oddly laid out and a bit East German in the overall feel. Of course, I never visited East Germany during the hot days of the cold war but it seemed like something they might have put together. There was a cafe inside but nothing of note to e...