The Rogue Historians

12/08/2020

And that folks, is all she wrote!

It has been a wonderful 8 years full of hopes, dreams and a lot of hard work. Rachel and I have poured our heart and soul into The Rogues for the last 8 years, but nowhere in our planning did we account for a global pandemic and an abrupt and long-lasting halt to tourism. As the months have stretched on our budget has thinned and we can no longer afford or justify the monthly operational costs and as such we have decided to close ‘The Rogue Historians’. We will keep the website as a personal blog, so be sure to keep following but we will no longer be offering guided tours of Rome or Lisbon.

We want to thank all the wonderful people who helped us along the way. My Grandad Dave for helping us get going in the first place, Rachel's father, Declan, who invested in us early on and often, the rest of our families who liked, shared and commented on every post we put up to help spread the word. To the wonderful clients who took all our tours, 99% of you were awesome (though a few were real pricks).

But mostly I want to thank all the wonderful guides who made The Rogues what they were, Jeannette Peña, who held down the fort in Rome for years, underpaid and overcommitted, a true gem and one of the best friends you could wish to have, and who deserves so much more than the luck she has had this past year.

Hugo Kennedy, our first-ever guide and even across the continent a faithful friend, who still listens to my crap on an almost daily basis

And to the rest of the Rogue family, those wonderful guides who helped us along the way, Ricky Nolan Duggan Pete Mulroy Luca Coniglio, Andrea, Fred Chaves, Sara Seabra Rita Jardim, Jonathan Balog, Thomas Robinson, Benjamin Messenger, Monica Berlin, and the army of other guides I’m surely forgetting, whether you did one tour or a thousand thank you to each and everyone for making us what we are.

But most importantly to Rachel, my wife, best friend and business partner, who worked 3 jobs in the early years to fund this project, who continued to push the company even with babe on hip, and who believed in me when I’d lost faith.

29/07/2020

From the early 1930s through to 1974 the Portuguese endured what many call ‘The Long Night’ as for the majority of the 20th century Portugal would find itself under an at times brutal dictatorship.

For the majority of that period, António de Oliveira Salazar ruled Portugal until his death 50 years ago this week in 1970. Today it is almost impossible to see Salazar's name or image anywhere in the city, his name and likeness removed from every public building and every square.

Except one, here at Cais das Colunas, but even when you know it is there you must look hard, as it sits well below the high tide mark and with each turning of the tide it is erased a little further. But when the tide is lowest, on the left-hand column you can still make out the name Salazar.

28/07/2020

With colours like these on every corner, Lisbon can be the perfect place to blow away some Covid-blues.

25/07/2020

No tourists in Alfama, but we do have the World's happiest dog!

18/07/2020

Ever wanted to own an original Salvador Dali piece?

Well, it's easier than you think. In 1958 Enric Bernat created a product called 'Gol' it was supposed to look like a football and sell well to the football-crazy Catalonians.

It was a flop and in the 1960s the product was renamed Chupa-Chups. But Bernat hated the designs his team had come up with. He complained loudly over coffee with his artist friend, Dali, who spent the next hour sketching on newspapers and creating the logo we see today.

Insisting his work be placed on the top so that the logo would not be distorted it has been purchased over 4 billion times since its rebrand in 1969.

So with Chupa-Chups sold in 150 different countries, it really is easy to buy your very own Salvador Dali piece.

16/07/2020

Portugal’s oldest prison carriage will be heading from Coimbra to Lisbon’s National Coach Museum next year.
In use from the 19th century until the early 20th century, it would have been pulled by four horses and had capacity for 6 prisoners until it was replaced in 1913 with a motorised vehicle.
Thanks to for the original article!

19/06/2020

Looking for a last-minute fathers day gift? Then book a trip to Lisbon this Sunday for just €10. The Virtual Dark Heart of Lisbon is led by passionate historians and storytellers that mixes together Rogue Historian filmed footage of the city and archival material.

A 1-hour live documentary based around the worst crimes in Lisbon's history. Including the aqueduct killer Diogo Alves, whose crimes would see him become the last person executed by the state and who's head was kept in formaldehyde and is still on display in Lisbon today.

All profits go to our guides and every €10 spent comes with €10 off of any Rogue Historian Tour taken any time in the next two years.

https://theroguehistorians.com/the-dark-heart-of-lisbon-virtual-experience/?et_fb=1&PageSpeed=off

18/06/2020

The Champions League returns to Lisbon! With the quarter finals, semi finals and final all to be played in Lisbon through August. Not quite how Benfica fans would have wanted to see it return who have not won the famous trophy since 1962 when they retained the trophy they had won a year earlier. The manager Bela Guttmann (right) would seek a pay raise and be denied, upon leaving the club he stated ‘not in a hundred years will Benfica be European champions. Benfica have reached 8 European finals since then, losing all 8. The great Eusebio (left) would even go to Guttman’s grave before the final in 1990 and pray for the curse to be lifted. They lost that final 1-0 to Milan as well as finals in 2013 and 2014. Oh well only 42 more years to wait 😢

18/06/2020

This June is different from how June typically is in Portugal especially Lisbon. The streets are usually filled with people, decorations all around and the smell of sardines on the BBQ fill your senses. We can’t have these celebrations this year but the Rogues managed to have a small celebration together last week (keeping to the limits of the quarantine).

We ate sardines, gave out manjerico and spent a lovely evening together. The manjerico plant is symbolic during this holiday as it’s a hard plant to keep alive, you give it to your loved one to keep it alive together. The plant cannot be smelled, but pet to smell your hands as if you would pet your love. We’ve missed a few holidays the last week or so including St. Anthony’s Day the Saint of love and it’s the day to celebrate love.

We hope to have you here with us next year during the month of June for all the celebrations for the Festas de Lisboa including St Anthony’s Day!

17/06/2020

Our virtual tours including; 'The Dark Heart of Lisbon', and a 'Live Portuguese cooking class', are now live. You can find all details by following the website link below. For every €10 spent on virtual tours, we are offering €10 off of any tour in Lisbon for the next 2 years.
All profits from the tours will go to our fantastic guides to help them through this time.

https://theroguehistorians.com/virtual-experiences/

18/05/2020

Phase 2 may be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!

17/05/2020

Portugal loosens it’s lockdown again tomorrow, taking us into phase two of our reopening plans. Restaurants and bakeries can open at 50% capacity and museums and state monuments can reopen. It may be a bit early for tours to restart but we have plenty of virtual tour options coming soon!

12/05/2020

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale,and international nurse appreciation day.

So we send our love and appreciation out to all the nurses and frontline workers out there, but especially our adopted Rogue family. Michelle and her friends have taken tours with us in both Rome and Lisbon, and just like Florence they take hygiene to incredible standards, using industrial levels of gin to disinfect themselves on a daily basis.

Stay safe and hope to see you all again soon!

02/05/2020

Urban gardening tips from Ian and Elysia!

22/04/2020

Some quarantine days are better than others. Like the ones when your local calls you and says “guys the beers going off, bring as many bottles as you can and fill up!”
Big thanks to

09/04/2020

We wouldn't normally post po*******hy, but this video of the Trevi is just ............🥴

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-TP6KrgWjA

La fontana di Trevi in una prospettiva mai vista prima. Ho iniziato ad usare i droni sognando un giorno di poter fare una ripresa di questo tipo . Quel giorn...

08/04/2020

I will see you again... but not yet. Not yet!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTHIXUzVGu8&feature=youtu.be

http://www.invidio.it - Produzione Video - Le più belle riprese video realizzate con drone, di un'insolita Roma completamente deserta, durante la quarantena ...

04/04/2020

Day 21: I've officially lost it. I miss being a tour guide, I miss earning a wage, I miss being social. I've spent the time rebuilding our website (work in progress) and working on new blogs.

I can't go out and explore Lisbon and write a Top 10 things to do in Lisbon article, so here is a Top 10 Things to do in my house article instead.

Highlights include eating at Rachel Cantina and getting drunk in the beer garden.

Special shout out to our friends at Quimera Brewpub, The Garage - Smokehouse & BBQ, Ruvida, DaLuca's, Remi Coffee&Wine, and O concept Lisboa

https://theroguehistorians.blog/top-10-things-to-do-in-my-house/

Visit the post for more.

31/03/2020

Day 16: Ian has lost it! We found him giving a guided tour of the living room to a bunch of cuddly toys. Amazingly, even this captive audience look disinterested!

27/03/2020

Day 13: how are we coping with self-isolation? We’ll let the littlest Rogue show you!

26/03/2020

The "Terreiro do Paço" tile panel survived the 1755 earthquake, on a farm in the outskirts of Lisbon. It was from there that in 1963, it came to the then Museu da Cidade, today's Museum - Palácio Pimenta, along with three other panels, acquired for what today would be around €250.

These 192 ceramic comics, which stretch almost 3.5 metres in length and just over a metre high, are one of the few testimonies of the heart of the capital in the first half of the 18th century and its everyday life. This invaluable iconographic value has gained a new breath with the restoration campaign that started in 2018.

23/03/2020

It's time to stop.
Time to restart, time to reset, time off so we can move on.
The best of everything? We're in this together ❤

21/03/2020

Primavera according to the vulgar language (common tongue) From prīmus + *vēra. Literally "first spring". Spring refers to the season, and also to ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth. These days mark the first days of spring. La primavera. A moment in which many can’t wait to leave their homes, feeling a few, small rays of sunlight tickle one's skin. The moment of a first stroll and seeing the awakening of the trees, a glimpse of life as the flowers buds begin to grow and perhaps a few have already opened. This year I am sure for many of you, hasn’t been very cold, however, there’s still the hope of feeling a stronger sun and a warmer breeze.
We can’t show you Lisbon or Rome in Spring right now as we are under quarantine. So here is the littlest Rogue learning how to tend to our garden instead. Here’s to a better spring than this wretched winter.

Words are stolen from our number #1 Rogue In Italy Jeannette Peña

18/03/2020

Quarantine and Self-Isolation for the Rogues

‘The best-laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!’

So wrote Rabbie Burns in his Scots poem ‘To a Mouse’, and wow did we have schemes for 2020, and wow how quickly have they gone awry. 2020 has been a year like no other we have experienced, with Italy currently under quarantine and Portugal looking likely to follow today or tomorrow.

The Rogues have been on lockdown for a while. Jeannette Peña is on lockdown in the centre of Rome with her partner Federica (her daily diary posts are currently keeping me sane and helping us not yet under full quarantine be better prepared for what’s to come). Luca is quarantined on the outskirts of Rome with his family, and Pete is making us all jealous of his pictures from the countryside around Le Marche.

Our Lisbon family, Fred, Sara, and Rita are all currently in self-isolation and from pictures, we have seen so far they have enough alcohol to withstand the nuclear apocalypse. Monica is even learning to cook, so there are still miracles to be found if you are willing to look hard enough.

Rachel, Elysia and I, are currently on day 4 of our self-isolation in Lisbon. Although we are not quarantined yet (it's likely a national emergency is declared this evening), most non-essential businesses are closed. Grocery stores, butchers and supermarkets etc are still open but limited to four people every 100m2.

We are really trying to limit outside interactions, not for ourselves (don’t get me wrong I don’t want to catch it) but the average age of our neighbourhood is about 70 and we’d like to see as many of those as possible on the other side of this.

Supplies in shops and butchers are plentiful (at least in Alcântara), we have never seen so much produce going into the butchers and the grocers, and judging by the numbers we see outside, masks must be back in stock somewhere.

In terms of our schemes, we still have a new website and blog coming soon, a lot of our guides are busy working on new tours. We are all struggling financially, as without any money coming in through tourism our livelihoods look bleak, but we are all healthy and that’s key. We have lots of time to be working on these projects, but at the moment at least we are pressing pause and spending time enjoying each other. In our household, there is a lot of music, a lot of dad dancing, a lot of cooking (the kitchen has always been the centre of our home), a lot of silly games, a lot of laughing, and to be honest of a lot of worrying.

We are starting each day with breakfast and a Beatles album, working our way chronologically through each one, and I have to say their songs may get more complex and well written later on, but man, that early stuff puts you in a good mood for the day.

We may get round to more of these, Rachel (whose Masters degree was on the first European pandemic, the ‘Plague of Athens') may even get round to writing an article on the history of pandemics. We may do a few video posts from our respective spots, and we also might not, we may just play too many games of scrabble, spend time video chatting with friends and family, drinking through our supply of alcohol, listening to music one notch too high, trying new recipes, baking cakes, and spending time as a family.

And maybe once this is all over we can meet up with our extended Rogue family to enjoy one too many glasses of wine and just enjoy time spent with each other.

Love to you all,

Ian