Springtime in Lisbon

We arrived for our 3 day Lisbon stay on a sunny early April day and after no more than a 20 minute drive from the airport were checking into our hotel, the Lisboa Plaza in the central Restauradores area just below the botanical gardens. It was a traditional Portuguese hotel with lovely reception rooms and very friendly and helpful staff.

We headed out straight away for lunch and strolling along the tree lined Avenida de la Liberdade we came across the much recommended Pinoquio. A simple straightforward seafood restaurant, popular with locals and tourists, we discovered that Lisbon restaurants always provide some soft local salty cheeses and some sardine pate with the bread as an optional starter- they were delicious and we found it hard to resist them in any of the restaurants we ate at. We chose steamed clams, which were fresh and delicious and then moved on to a whole brown crab which was freshly cooked and prepared for us and came to the table perfectly dressed and still warm. Washed down with delicious vinho verde it was the perfect way to start our visit.

 

We set off to explore Lisbon on foot, which is the easiest way to get around as the city centre is quite small. We wandered down the main (pretty) pedestrian shopping street Rua Augusta with its beautiful paving, window shopping and ducking into side streets, marvelling at the number of small old style specialist stores still thriving in the city centre and side stepping the wonderful old trams that nip around the city.
We headed for The Se (cathedral), a Romanesque gem tucked away in the middle of narrow winding streets in the old Alfama area of the city and enjoyed wandering round its peaceful interior.

 

On arriving back at our hotel, we found our tour operator had given us a bottle of local port, which was a perfect aperitif before we headed out again to dinner. This time we headed to the Barra Alta area, famous for its nightlife and whose narrow cobbled streets were heaving with bars, restaurants and clubs. We reached it using the Ascensor da Glora – an old 1930s tram car which goes up the steepest and narrowest of roads from the Avenida de la Liberdade to the Bairro Alto district above , just several hundred metres, rattling all the way and causing pedestrians to pin themselves flat against the buildings as it passed. The tram and the walls of the road were heavily graffited (a Lisbon feature) which all added to the uniqueness of the experience.

We ate at another traditional local restaurant, Antigo 1 de Maio. We waited for our table, whilst drinking a beer in the street and choosing from the fresh fish and seafood in the small window display before squeezing into the small but packed restaurant. We again couldn’t resist the local soft cheese on offer and then let ourselves be guided by the waiter and ate the freshest and most delicious grouper we had ever eaten and tuna in a local style sauce. This restaurant specialises in traditional puddings and it was very difficult to resist them but we enjoyed watching the other customers choose from the vast array: from pumpkin and chestnut cake to ice-cream gateau. As we walked back to catch the elevator tram we were kept catching sounds from the melancholic Fado bars, that particular soulful Portuguese tradition.

On our second day, getting breakfast sustenance from the superb Pasteis de Nata (custard tarts), we headed on foot up to the castle, taking one of the street elevators which cut out some of the climb of Lisbon’s many hills. The castle sits on one of the hills and commands the most magnificent view of the city. We spent a couple of hours exploring the castle’s ramparts, views and the historic Santa Cruz area enclosed in the walls. We found some exquisite hand painted tiles to use as coasters in the particularly good castle shop which stocks only Portuguese goods but also many locally made goods from Lisbon.

  
From there we decided to try the famed number 28 tram ride. Still using original 1930s tram cars, It is a legitimate tram route, used by locals, but its route covers so much of the popular tourist sites and areas that tourists use it as an experience in itself. We had also got the amazingly good value Lisboa card which allows you free use of public transport (metro, tram, train, bus and last night’s elevator tram) and free entry into many of Lisbon’s attractions and so our sightseeing trip on number 28 was free as well as incredibly good fun. It took us up through the steep narrow streets of the oldest Alfama area, on the east of the city and then through the main central shopping zone before roaring up the hill on the west side of the town through the Chiado area. We spent a great hour or so peering out of the 28’s windows as the city jolted by and then got off so we could walk back into town along the seafront.

Once we reached the magnificent Praco do Comercio, the largest open square in Europe, we sat and enjoyed a freshly squeezed lemonade and enjoyed its grandiose dimensions before doing some unashamedly tourist visits, the Lisboa experience (a really informative museum on the history of Lisbon which is very helpful in putting all the sights in context) and also a climb up the triumphal arch which was built to commemorate the final rebuilding of the city after the great earthquake of 1755. We capped a hard day’s sightseeing by stopping for a sour cherry liqueur, from one of the specialist ‘hole in the wall’ bars.


That evening, after a delicious white port aperitif, we headed to Aqui ha Peixe, a more contemporary fish restaurant on the edge of the Barra Alta. The cheeses on the table were exquisite and although we had vowed to resist, we devoured them both, a local cheese from Obidos and one from the Douro along with a particularly good sardine pate. We the most delicious octopus salad we have ever tasted and then cataplana de frutos do mar (local fish stew) and calamari and prawn rice, both specialities of the area and very fresh.


On our final day we took the tram out to Belem, about 4 miles away on the seafront to visit the Torre de Belem and the Jeronimos Monastery, both built at the height of Portugal’s seafaring success and testament to the wealth of the kingdom. The spectacular Manueline monastery is one of the city’s highlights and a good contrast with the small but picturesque Torre de Belem, built to quard the estuary but now looking like a little folly. It was a gloriously sunny day and it was lovely to stroll along the sea front. we had to stop at the much famed bakery Pasteis de Belem, where they make the most famous of custard tarts – it is an institution and after sampling them (they are sublime) we bought a pack of 6 tarts to bring home to our children.

We jumped off the tram on the way back into town at the Mercado da Ribeira food market. It is the old covered market, still functioning, but full of permanent restaurant stalls selling the best of local Portuguese food. We ate at Balcao da Esquina, this time managing to resist the cheese, just, and ate the most delicious fresh dish of chilli prawns (possibly our favourite dish of the trip) and another amazing octopus salad, followed by pork with clams. It was a lovely way to spend our last meal, sitting outside the market in the glorious sunshine. Last minute souvenir hunting included, stopping at the sardine shop, showcasing dozens of brands of canned sardines, mackerel from Portugal and we couldn’t resist stocking up plus sour cherry liqueur and white port at the airport.

They were an amazing 3 days, but as we left we realised there were still so many things we wanted to see and do: the Museu Nacional do Azulejo (tile museum) plus a number of other museums we hadn’t set foot in, a train ride down the estuary to the fishing port of Cascais and we wanted to really experience some Fado so we decided that we had to come back, and do so very soon.

Why not talk to us about visiting Lisbon. It is a year round destination, perfect for a city break, with plenty to see and do, a quirky accessible city centre and above all great food.

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