Spring at Sage: Portugal

Depart Los Angeles for Portugal.

Walk Belém’s waterfront and examine how Belém Tower, Jerónimos Monastery, and the Monument to the Discoveries present Portugal’s maritime past.

Work with treaty texts and primary sources at Torre do Tombo, then explore navigation technology at the Maritime Museum. Read Lisbon’s strategic geography from São Jorge Castle, experience Fado, and use street-level evidence to ask who benefits from trade and tourism.

Experience the 1755 earthquake through the immersive QUAKE museum, then examine maps as both tools and arguments in a cartography workshop. Meet a local expert and view Lisbon from the Tejo River.

Explore the National Tile Museum and paint an original azulejo, using color, pattern, and symbolism to communicate a story before traveling to Porto.

Map how goods move through a port city and take part in a customs simulation. Explore Mercado do Bolhão, bake pastéis de nata and, if the schedule allows, attend an FC Porto match.

Work with Porto de Impacto to identify a community need and pitch an intervention. Visit the spectacular Livraria Lello and relax by the Atlantic coast.

Ride a traditional moliceiro boat through Aveiro’s canals and explore the colorful façades and fishing traditions of Costa Nova.

Return to Los Angeles with a more complex understanding of prosperity, memory and shared progress.