LISBON - Portugal - page 54

Liquid Sightseeing: Ginjinha (zheen-ZHEEN-yah) is a favorite Lisbon drink.
While nuns baked sweets, the monks took care of quenching thirsts with this sweet liquor,
made from the sour cherry-like ginja berry, sugar, cinnamon, and brandy. It's now sold for
€1.10 a shot in funky old shops throughout downtown. Buy it with or without berries ( com
elas or sem elas —that's “with them” or “without them”) and gelada (if you want it poured
from a chilled bottle). In Portugal, when people are impressed by the taste of something,
they say, “Sabe que nem ginjas”— “It tastes like ginja. ” The oldest ginjinha joint in town
is a colorful hole-in-the-wall at Largo de São Domingos 8. If you hang around the bar
long enough, you'll see them refill the bottle from an enormous vat. (Another ginjinha
bar, named for Eduardino the clown and considered the most authentic, is a block away
on the restaurant row, Rua das Portas de Santo Antão, next to #59; daily 7:00-24:00.)
• The big square around the corner (fronting the National Theater) is Rossio.