Lisbon! Portugal, Fado, Azores,...when we saw the offer by SATA airlines last October, we could not resist: we never had visited Portugal and this seems to be our opportunity to do so, even though November is the rainiest month of the year. We had some concerns, so, we decided on a week only.Here are our tales/explorations of our week in Lisbon...which, by the way, merits its name of City of the seven Hills! To us, it felt like there are thousands of hills! And the most memorable one was to be the one leading to our hotel!!!! While this Elevador is doing the job, there are always many people trying it out and we chose to climb the hill on foot, even with our luggage! (Ok, H. did the luggage thing!) . We made this video because we wanted to show how steep this hill really is! and then there are rather slippery stones, the moss growing between the stones, all providing exciting adds-on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6nQZRmbZ4M&feature=youtu.be
We were delighted with our hotel Pensao Londres! On the third floor of a very handsome building in Bairro Alto, the room was super large (4 beds) and had a wonderful view on the river Tagus. All staff members at the reception were fluent in French, and English and so, we felt that it was a great beginning! Because ... Marleyne had given up on Portuguese as soon as she made her first attempt at learning the language (although Portuguese say that their language is close to French! the pronunciation is really something else!).
Once on top of the hill, we got to the Sao Pedro do Alcantara Belvedere, one very popular one. We sat on the benches, enjoying the sun and resting... We returned many times to this spot!
We soon located a grocery store down the Rua da Rosa where we could purchase the local necessities, like WINE! We found a white Douro wine which was delicious and which we drank every day of our stay!!! And a red one (mmhhhmmm: every day too ...), Monte Grande 2013 which was also really good: that is always the moment when we feel that we have arrived! That first night, we meandered through Chiado till late at night, but the jet lag and tiredness of the voyage eventually made us return to our grande suite for a taste of our wine and a very good night sleep!
On our itinerary of the next day was the area of the Alfama; it is an old part of the city which has not been affected by the 1755 earthquake and has been described as very pittoresque in all the guides. The tram #28 criss-crosses its narrow streets and has been described as one of the main attraction in Lisbon. 
One of the hall mark of the Alfama, besides its location at the foot of the Sao Jorge Castle, is the Lisbon cathedral or Sé (Seat of Episcopal). Devastated by three earthquakes in the 14th century, as well as severely damaged by the one of 1755, it has been renovated but the interior is rather modest and dark, not showing its previous riches of the early 18th century.
We did enjoy the miradouro of Santa Luzia...and the churches of its diverse districts ( The district includes the freguesias (parishes) of São Miguel, Santo Estêvão, São Vicente de Fora and part of the two streets, "Freguesia da Sé: Rua do Barão" and "Rua São João da Praça").
As can be seen here, the skies were dark and certainly added atmosphere to the Lisbon's panoramas.
Of course, we were looking forward to our first fish meal and we stopped for lunch at a small restaurant, with mostly locals eating inside. And we choose sardines, of course, with red wine (which made it really hard !!! to climb hills for the rest of the afternoon!!!). The sardines were good and were served with boiled potatoes and one small salad...but no dressing, no pepper or other condiment. Au naturel... A thing we learned about Portugal ... no dressing, no gravy ...
Formerly called Praça de Dom Pedro IV, this large square has been Lisbon’s nerve
centre for six centuries, having been the stage of bullfights, military parades and the burning of
heretics during the Inquisition! In the mid-19 century the square was paved with hand cut grey and white stone cubes forming wave patterned mosaics which gave it the nickname of “Rolling Motion Square”. There we looked for a café where we could sit and relax...we picked the Swiss Patry on Rossio Square...not a good choice as it is really overpriced for Lisbon (2 coffees for 7 euros!, and only tourists around us! We should have paid attention!!!) but hey, we were tired!
After our small supper at the hotel (or large apéro!!!), consisting of prosciutto, olives, cheese, and wine, we went out again, enjoying the mild evening. Wondering through Bairro Alto's small streets, we landed on Atalaia street and decided to join the crowds in the street... the beer (0.5l) was 1.10 Euro ($1.50 can) - no way we would pass that ...
By midnight, the street was so crowded that a car could barely pass through!
Saturday...Saturdays are market days for us. There are several markets in Lisbon but we chose to visit the one at Cais do Sodré, Mercado Ribeira, the largest food market in Lisbon. This area has been revamped, we heard, as it used to be an area filled with low lives and drunken sailors! No more!
We visit the market, we found it a bit too orderly and sanitized for our taste.... and rather quiet; are we too late? too early? nice specimen of fishes though ...really handy to get a visual cue of those fishes whose names are flashing on menus !!!
Carapau, for example, are small sardine type fishe ...in season right now. One of the staff at the hotel explained to us that sardines (the ones we had earlier) are usually not good in the months containg a "r"...like November. Oups...next time, we'll look for these guys. Carapau!
By midnight, the street was so crowded that a car could barely pass through!
Saturday...Saturdays are market days for us. There are several markets in Lisbon but we chose to visit the one at Cais do Sodré, Mercado Ribeira, the largest food market in Lisbon. This area has been revamped, we heard, as it used to be an area filled with low lives and drunken sailors! No more!
We visit the market, we found it a bit too orderly and sanitized for our taste.... and rather quiet; are we too late? too early? nice specimen of fishes though ...really handy to get a visual cue of those fishes whose names are flashing on menus !!!Carapau, for example, are small sardine type fishe ...in season right now. One of the staff at the hotel explained to us that sardines (the ones we had earlier) are usually not good in the months containg a "r"...like November. Oups...next time, we'll look for these guys. Carapau!
That same day, in Belem, I ate chocos..yes, like the one you see in the next picture! Chocos are seiches (French) or cuttlefish (English).
Belem, at the mouth of the Tagus, was the place from where the great sail expeditions departed...that day, it was quite windy, and we could see, out to the Atlantic and at the mouth of the river, big waves breaking. Before the 1755 earthquake, the Belem tower was in the river... now it is a handy attraction for tourists just beside the shore.
Here is the Monument of Discoveries, 52 meter high, commissioned by the Salazar regime in 1960 for the 500th anniversary of Henry the Navigator; it commemorates all those who contributed the Portugal's Age of Discovery. The monument is designed in the shape of a caravel, with Henry the Navigator standing at the prow of the ship...We enjoyed strolling along the river, and imagining those morning of departures with large sailboats navigating the river. It is in that spirit (and as sailors) that we visited the immense Navy Museum, housed in buildings connected to the Jeronimo Monastery. Here are some high lights of that museum.
Another amazing site in Belem was the Jeronimo Monastery. A Monument to the wealth of the Age of Discoveries. This Monasteries was commissioned by Manuel 1 around 1501 after Vasco de Gama returned from his historic voyage. It was financed by "pepper money", a tax levied on spices, gold and precious stones. Vasco de Gama's tomb can also be visited in this church. There Monastery is the best example of the Manueline or Portuguese late Gothic architecture. It was cared for by the Order of St Jerome until 1834, when all religious orders were disbanded. When we visited the church, there was a Mass in French , for a wedding!
Another attraction in Belem is the Belem Cultural Centre with at his midst a great Contemporary Art Museu or Museu Berardo. This is an immense gallery with more than 1000 works executed by 500 artists during the last century. One of the major collections of modern art in the world!!!! (Guess who really insisted on going there????) Here are some highlights of what we liked best!!!
And what else is special about Belem????????????? The small but soooo delicious Pasteis de Nata (custard tarts). We had had them in downtown Lisbon but they were cold. This time, in Belem, the place they actually originate from, we tasted them just fresh out of the oven. Something to
die for...we had to order more! With espresso, nothing beats it. Never mind our waist line!!!!
And just in case you wonder how our feet felt after so many sights, this is how....
(Let's be serious, we made two visits to Belem because there were so many interesting sights to visit!)On Sunday, many museums are free. We also took the Metro as we intended to visit the Lisbon city Museum, which is far away from the City Center. We were interested in seeing paintings of Lisbon before the 1755 earthquake and in learning more about the history of the city. Unfortunately, so many documents and artefacts have been lost in that earthquake...the museum was interesting but the place looked a bit like an afterthought...with many of the museum rooms empty. We were able to admire the tiles on walls and decorative elements in addition to maps and paintings. But that's is about it ...
After the visit, we were hungry...and it proved difficult to find a restaurant open in that area of town (Sunday!!!) ...we thought of having lunch at the Gulbekian Museum, that we wanted to visit anyway. When we got there, we saw this HUGE line-up...not to the Museum exhibitions that were free on Sunday but to the restaurant...oh oh... we left, went outside and wandered around to check out other cafés on the premises of the museum but line ups everywhere! Oh dear...luckily, we had brought the rest of our baguette and some chocolate with us..just in case!
With renewed energy, we then visited the Gulbekian Modern Art museum....a beautiful place. But after hours in Museum, we did not find the energy to go visit the another part of the Gulbekian with its classic (not modern) collections of European and Asian paintings. There is only so much one can do on an almost empty stomach....
Exiting the museum and its beautfiful parks (and yes, the outside cafés were still full and it was impossible to sit anywhere!), we thought of going to the Mall around the corner...yep, the English Cortes. And guess what? The very large food court was filled with Portuguese of all ages, waiting in line! We could not believe it...it just seems that there are very few establishments open on Sunday but there are very many Portuguese and tourists wanting to eat out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And then there was this day of rain... It was on Monday, so no museum was open, sadly. We dressed with our rain gear, and made our way to Cais do Sodré, by the way of the Praca do Comercio. Locals refer to this immense open space as the Terreiro de Paço or Palace Square because it was indeed the site of the Palace Square for 400 years.. . The equestrian statue of King José 1 is centrally located in the square. The first Palace along with its 70,000 books was destroyed by the 1755 earthquake. In the rebuilding of the city, however, this Palace was restored with great pride and it is now painted royal yellow! and give an air of grandeur to Lisbon, especially when arriving from the sea. While the square saw the unfolding of several important historic events in the past, it is now used for cultural events and festivals.
There is a great triumphal arch at the north side of the Praca and it leads to Rua Augusta and the area of Baixa. Baixa was the area of Lisobon that suffered the most damage in the 1755 earthquake and which has been completely redesigned by Marques de Pombal shortly after the quake. Baixa is still the commercial hub of Lisbon, very much alive during the day and at night.
On a rainy day, what is better than hanging out in cafés????? We passed by so often the beautiful café Brasileira and today, we stopped: espressos! it was fun to look at the crowd, and to imagine the history of this charming place. The establishment A Brasileira was opened by Adriano Telles in 1905 at in an old shirt shop, to sell "genuine Brazilian coffee" from the State of Minas Gerais a product generally unappreciated in homes of Lisboetas of that period. In order to promote his product, Telles offered each shopper, who bought a kilogram of ground coffee a free cup of coffee. It was the first shop to sell the "bica", a small cup of strong coffee, similar to espresso!
It was the favored place of intellectuals and academics in Lisbon...a bit like Les Deux Magots in Paris!
We took the opportunity to drive the Tram #28 , despite the rain. And we were not the only one. We were at the back of the tram, with the large window and could visit the Alfama district, without walking up and down the hills and getting wet! We drove to the end of the line at Martim Moniz, the most multicultural area in town. There were several tiny shops, selling cork items (ribbons!!!), Indian restaurants and food stores, but it was raining a lot by then and we walked quite a bit bofre finding a place to eat. We stopped in a pasticeria and had a sandwich with a hot coffee.
We walked back to our hotel (despite the weather, we walked nearly 8 hours!), nevertheless enjoying the streets..and bumped onto the Rua Alacrim, a street that goes from the waterfront up to our area of town. On that street, filled with Antique shops, is also a beautiful café called Pensao Amori. Another really atmospheric place, with velour seats, chandeliers, red seats,... We were thirsty and thoroughly enjoyed our beers in this romantic atmosphere!
By the time we came back to our room, our clothing was soaked!!!! And the rain continued...
For the rest of the afternoon and during early evening, we looked at the rain pouring on Lison while drinking our red wine! When we got hungry, we managed to cross the street to the Tapas Bar 52...and we barely had time to order our wine when the electricity went out! For about 15 minutes! oups! But, as everybody has a cell phone or something, there were several little lights popping up at every table! No more need for candles! This was a Tapas bar...but not with Spanish prices! Oh no, they had tourists on their mind!!! Butt the food was very tasty! Mushrooms in Jerez and garlic, Baby Calamaris and Calamaris rings, the way we like it!!!!!!!!!!! fried ans spicy!!!!!!!! Delicious!
The next day, our last day, we tought of taking the train to Sintra, 1 hour away, to visit the castle. But the weather was uncertain and, with rain still in the forecast, we chose to stay in Lisbon! We went back to Belem, visited the Marine Museum and enjoyed the sights, once more! On that evening, our last, we found a very, very nice Tapas bar, Artis http://www.yelp.ca/biz/artis-wine-bar-lisboa
The food was excellent and the atmosphere convivial; we met two couples with home we shared these long row of tables, and enjoyed our tapas (patatas bravas and traditional Portuguese sausages) before making our way to another and also very charming Fado (!!!) establishment (tiny!)...where we found space at the bar, and enjoyed wine and Sangria while some sausages were burning in their little plates: chourido assado!
There was no better way to end our stay in Lisbon than listening to Fado!
The next day, our last day, we tought of taking the train to Sintra, 1 hour away, to visit the castle. But the weather was uncertain and, with rain still in the forecast, we chose to stay in Lisbon! We went back to Belem, visited the Marine Museum and enjoyed the sights, once more! On that evening, our last, we found a very, very nice Tapas bar, Artis http://www.yelp.ca/biz/artis-wine-bar-lisboa
The food was excellent and the atmosphere convivial; we met two couples with home we shared these long row of tables, and enjoyed our tapas (patatas bravas and traditional Portuguese sausages) before making our way to another and also very charming Fado (!!!) establishment (tiny!)...where we found space at the bar, and enjoyed wine and Sangria while some sausages were burning in their little plates: chourido assado! There was no better way to end our stay in Lisbon than listening to Fado!
Adeus Lisboa!
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