We climbed out of the Metro in the old city sector of Lisbon not sure what we would find. We certainly did not anticipate having to push past a group of Gregorian Chanters limbering up their guitars and vocal chords. The place they selected to perform was in front of a large group of diners sitting under umbrellas praying that the rain would stay away. As you can see from the photo below, the chanters were properly attired in their black medieval smocks. The guy practising the falsetto tenor voice was also hurriedly puffing his way through his final cigarette before the performance. (I would like some medical advice on how cigarettes helps preserve falsetto vocal chords.) We hung around for 10 minutes or so... they seemed to be taking their time psyching themselves up for the performance... so we moved on.
They have these cute little trams in Lisbon... and we caught one to take us along the dock area towards some tourist sites. We jumped out when we saw a huge complex of church buildings. It turned out to be a monastery (Jeronimos) that is now used in part as a museum and also remains in part as a functioning church. It was too late in the day to cover the museum. However, we heard a church service in progress and popped inside the church to stand at the back and observe. I don't know if this was a special service. I don't know the liturgy and singing in a standard Portuguese catholic service. What I do know is that the singing in the immense church was rich and full from the echoes from the high ceilings... and the beautiful clear voices sent shivers down my spine. A good falsetto tenor voice can get you like that. I would like to think the choir was delivering Gregorian Chants.
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