Portuguese enclave

The other day we went to South Lambeth, a neighbourhood full of Portuguese bars, restaurants, shops and bakeries. It was great fun, not only because we ate “bolinhos de bacalhau” and drank “Sagres”, but mostly because of the experience of doing social tourism. We went to Estrela Bar, where we had a delicious meal and observed manuels and marias coming for a “bica”, a chat and watch TV. Yes, because there’s no decent Portuguese bar that doesn’t have at least one screaming TV on. The manuels wearing colourful shirts showing their hairy chest and a golden chain. The marias wearing clothes two sizes too small and too much makeup and perfume. Some things never change. The customers arrived in their sports pimped cars or on their flashy motorbikes, stopped in front of the terrace, accelerated making as much noise possible and then went to look for a parking place. This way you guarantee everyone has seen you. I couldn’t avoid listening to this lady talking on the mobile complaining about the draughts that made her feel so ill and talking about someone they knew (“ai estas correntes de ar que me dao cabo da saude” e “nao quero estar aqui a falar mal de ninguem, mas essa rapariga… nao quero dar opinioes, mas sabe como e’, a rapariga nao tem emenda”). It was a genuine Portuguese place, in all aspects: food, waiters, customers, decoration, smell and atmosphere. So Portuguese, I loved it and S. too.
We are for sure going back not only to buy some Portuguese delis but to make sure I don’t forget my roots.