What does Sarah Palin have to do with Portugal? The answer is nothing. But she does share her hometown Wasilla, Alaska with the up-and-coming indie-rock band “Portugal. The Man.” And what does that band have to do with Portugal, you ask? The answer is nothing.

The band says when it came time to name themselves, they wanted to represent a group of people, and the name of a country sounded ideal. None of them are Portuguese, and they give no reason why they chose Portugal except for “it just sounded best.”

But “Portugal. The Man” has come across the Republican vice-presidential candidate who just may (gods, heavens, universe forbid!) end up becoming the leader of the free world as president of the United States — band member Zach had to deal with her when a skate park was built in Wasilla and their friends know her children.

Whoda thought that such a small town like Wasilla would end up having so many of its children on the international stage? And while “Portugal. The Man” may be only the second most famous name to come out of Alaska, they hope to surpass their controversial former mayor/now-governor/hopefully-never-vice-president in popularity. They’ve toured Europe and are now taking their music around the United States. Curious? Their latest album “Censored Colors” is on sale together with their previous releases. Their official website has more information about them: portugaltheman.net

GoLisbon.com just added another major hotel to its already unbeateable list of accommodation offers. No other Lisbon or Portugal website offers more places to stay (hotels, hostels, apartments, and pousadas), and all that was missing in the luxury category was Lapa Palace. This is one of the best hotels in Lisbon, and with a priviledged location. Once the private home of a noble family, it now welcomes the rich, the famous, and others who aspire for the same. Despite that, prices remain only a fraction of what you’d pay for such a caliber of service elsewhere in Europe.

If for some reason you are not able to book a room at Lapa Palace, there are other hotels in Lisbon where you should not be surprised to run into a familiar face in the elevator or breakfast room:

TIARA PARK ATLANTIC
Located at the top of Edward VII Park and overlooking the center of the city down to the Tagus, this has been the Lisbon home of famous names such as Bruce Springsteen. Rooms are decorated according to the four elements, and the restaurant offers traditional Portuguese cuisine.

LAPA PALACE
GoLisbon’s latest addition has welcomed Sting, Cher, Tina Turner, and a number of heads of state and members of royalty. The garden is a piece of heaven in the city, and the wellness center (which includes a sauna, massages, and beauty treatments) provides further relaxation before dinner at its Cipriani Restaurant, which is also open to non-guests and is one of Lisbon’s most refined places for an Italian or Mediterranean meal.

PESTANA PALACE
Madonna is this hotel’s most famous guest, although Diana Krall is another well-known name that has enjoyed its luxury and even offered a private performance during her stay. It’s a 19th century palace that is now part of “The Leading Hotels of the World”, surrounded by lovely gardens and with a swimming pool and spa to guarantee a refreshing stay in Lisbon.

DOM PEDRO PALACE
Located in a business district, this hotel accommodates mostly business travellers, and there are several special rooms for conferences. But that doesn’t mean that leisure travelers won’t feel welcomed, as former guests Bill Clinton, Claudia Schiffer, or Hillary Swank will tell you. Its restaurant Il Gattopardo is recognized as having one of the best Italian menus in the city, and from the presidential suite there’s a view over practically all of Lisbon.

For all other Lisbon hotels, click here.

Starting this Thursday, October 9th, the best of Lisbon fashion will be presented down the runway in Cascais’ citadel. It’s the 31st Lisbon Fashion Week, showing Portugal’s designers’ Spring-Summer collections for 2009 until October 12th.

This is a by-invitation-only event, so even if you’re in Lisbon this week, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll make it there, although you can always see some of the highlights later on Fashion TV. So what to do if you’re interested in fashion and want to see some of Lisbon’s creations?

The epicenter of Lisbon fashion is the Chiado district, extending into Bairro Alto next door. You may visit the boutiques of Ana Salazar and Fatima Lopes, the two most international Portuguese designers, or check out the new talent receiving all the latest buzz.

A name you should not miss is Storytailors, a team of two designers that opened up their space in Chiado that was described by the New York Times as “certainly the most brilliantly strange new store to set up in Lisbon.” Their inspirations are fairytales and fantastic stories, giving their creations a very original look that has even caught the attention of the fashion chameleon Madonna.

Also in Chiado is the Alves/Golçalves boutique, with both men’s and womenswear known for their classic-chic looks, while up the hill in the same neighborhood is the shop of Jose Antonio Tenente, who although based in Cascais has his shop in Lisbon.

Obviously these are not the only names in Lisbon fashion, but they’re the ones you should not miss. Other designers to investigate include Aleksandar Protich (born in Belgrade but Lisbon-based), Dino Alves, and Miguel Vieira.

Lisbon’s Fado Museum, dedicated to Portugal’s Fado music and now a decade old, reopens today after being closed for renovation for a few months.

Photographs of prominent Fado singers greet visitors through the museum’s three floors, while also on display for the first time in the renovated space are two works related to Fado by Jose Malhoa and Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro (two of Portugal’s top 19th century artists).

An audio guide available in four languages explains the collection and allows you to select the Fados you want to hear. In addition to that you may also consult images, recordings, biographies, and musical programs from the past, a multimedia service now expanded in the museum.

Even if you’ve never heard of Fado, or even heard one single Fado song, visiting this museum will give you an insight into Lisbon’s cultural heritage and its increasingly international music. Although Amalia Rodrigues was the first singer to take Fado outside of Portugal’s borders in the 20th century, new performers are achieving unprecedented success on the World Music stage around Europe and elsewhere. Mariza, Misia, Ana Moura, and Mafalda Arnauth are just some of the names being placed under the spotlight, and Lisbon’s Fado Museum will explain the story behind their sound.

If you’re curious about Fado, visit GoLisbon’s Fado section, where you can see a few videos of Fado performances, including Mariza’s appearance on CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman in the United States.

A pink mansion up a street from Avenida da Liberdade is the home of Cinemateca, Portugal’s Film Museum, screening art-house and contemporary films six days a week. Nineteenth century camera equipment is displayed around a grand staircase leading to an art nouveau courtyard, where you can discuss the film you just saw or go to the café next to it.

Cinemateca is celebrating its 50th anniversary on September 29th, and since this year will also be the 100th birthday of Portugal’s most prominent film director Manoel de Oliveira, it will screen his entire work in October. De Oliveira has the record of being the world’s oldest active filmmaker, having made movie magic since the times when films were still silent. He’s received multiple honors and prizes at film festivals (in Cannes he received the Jury Prize), and his latest film will be opening internationally later this year. It will be “Columbus – The Enigma” in which the origins of the famous explorer are traced to a small town in Portugal.

De Oliveira is seen as a European master, having also worked outside Portugal and with international stars such as John Malkovich and Catherine Deneuve. His films are often described as theatrical and many have historical or philosophical themes. His 100th birthday will be on December 11th.
On October 24th, Cinemateca will continue with its 50th anniversary celebration by screening the films of John Carpenter.

When Portuguese writer Jose Saramago won the Nobel Prize, his name became known around the world and his works were translated into several languages. Then Hollywood came calling for adaptations of his novels for the big screen, but Saramago always refused to provide the rights for that. However, someone must have made a good argument to convince him to turn his best-selling “Blindness” into a major feature film, and after opening the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, it will now premiere worldwide in October. It will start with a limited release in the United States on October 3rd, telling the story of a society in an unnamed country and city suddenly struck by an epidemic of blindness. It stars Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo, who bring to life a tale about the collapse of society due to the shocking fragility of our social institutions, or of humankind in general. For the trailer and complete information about the film, see its official website: www.blindness-themovie.com

Lisbon will also have a new Saramago attraction soon with the opening of the Saramago Foundation inside the landmark Casa dos Bicos. That 16th century palace will be home to the author’s library and serve as host of a number of literary events, which GoLisbon.com will obviously tell you about when they happen. In the meantime, if you’ll be in Lisbon before the opening, you can still check out the curious façade of the building, with its hundreds of spikes.

Today being September 11, here’s something about New York, and Lisbon, of course.

The borough of Queens in New York City was named after Catherine of Bragança (often spelled “Braganza” in English), a Portuguese princess who became the Queen of England when she married Charles II.

Born in the city of Vila Viçosa in 1638, she was proposed as Charles’ bride by her father, the king of Portugal at the time, John IV. This solidified the old alliance between Portugal and England, and she moved to her new country in 1662. She took with her an old habit –- drinking tea at 5 o’clock, introducing that custom to English society.

But that wasn’t the only mark she left in the English world. Although it was an unhappy marriage, her husband dedicated the newly-taken-over land in the New World to her. New York was Dutch territory at the time, and was called New Amsterdam. Charles renamed it New York and a large piece of land within it was “the Queen’s borough.”

As a reminder of that, a 10m (33ft) statue was planned to stand by the Hudson in New York facing Queens, but protests from the local African-American community prevented that from ever happening. That’s because Catherine’s court had profited from the slave trade, and the local community was not comfortable honoring a person with such a past.

So a scale model (a quarter of the proposed size) used to build the final piece was instead shipped to Lisbon, where it stands today facing the Tagus River and the Atlantic towards Queens, New York. You will find it when you walk along the river in the Parque das Nações district in the direction of the Vasco da Gama Bridge.

For other historical personalities in Portuguese and world history, click here.