Foreign buyers interested in Portuguese real estate will most likely be drawn to Lisbon — a city that is strikingly modern, but with an old world European charm. This seaside Portuguese city offers quaint farmers and flea markets, rich European history, and old fashioned charm and service — all a stone's throw away from one of Europe's largest modern urban revitalization projects. See the following article from International Living for more on this.
Lots for travelers and travel writers. My first-ever "foreign" travel story was about Lisbon, Portugal’s capital, so it’s always a treat to return. Inside its distinctly quirky package is an alluring mix of old-fashioned elegance, shabby chic, the endearingly dilapidated, and the strikingly modern.
Built on seafaring, Lisbon smells of sardines, salty breezes, and strong black coffee. Its signature tune is a melody of break-your-heart fado songs, the chirruping of cage birds, and the call of seagulls.
Little has changed since my initial visit. Vintage trams continue to rattle through the perpendicular Alfama neighborhood. Then there’s the Alfama itself, its skinny medieval streets garlanded with laundry, hole-in-the-wall bars, repair workshops, greengrocers and late night fado clubs.
The grandstand view from the Portas do Sol (Gates of the Sun) mirador is how I remember, too.
Plunging down to the Tagus river estuary and the Atlantic is another sea: one of red-tiled roofs, church spires and palm trees. And here’s more Alfama nostalgia—the poems carved on wood in the grounds of Sao Jorge’s Castle. At night, the antique hilltop fortress gets floodlit like a topaz beacon.
Unwrapping the layers of this Cinderella city is always thrilling. Downtown’s Baixa district is the posh Lisbon of elegant squares and black-and-white mosaic boulevards. The Chiado is literary Lisbon. The atmospheric Bairro Alto and Alfama neighborhoods are the Lisbon of cobbles, dark passageways, and tiny sunlit squares.
If you’re here on Tuesday or Saturday, browse around Feira da Ladra beside Santa Clara’s Church in the lower Alfama. Some goods may have dubious origins, but this gigantic flea market isn’t the dodgy "Thieves Market" it once was. Among the tourist tat and cheap clothing imports, you can still unearth beautiful old azulejos (picture tiles) and curiosities from former Portuguese colonies.
Everywhere in Lisbon is festooned with azulejos—houses, churches, even railway stations. Depicting seabirds and sea creatures, my favorite art tiles decorate the entrance to the Ribeira—a covered produce market at Cais do Sodre. Fish is the star turn here: inky squids; hake, crabs and all sizes of shrimp; sheets of bacalhau, Portugal’s signature dish of dried codfish.
Every restaurant menu includes at least one bacalhau dish. There are at least 365 recipes—one for every day. Off the tourist trail, Portugalia Cervejaria (Avenida Almirante Reis, 117) is a great local place—a traditional beer-hall specializing in hearty 7 euro lunches. I loved its dining room with blue and white azulejos, giant fish tank, and seriously ancient waiters whose courtesy was as wonderfully old-fashioned as their aprons.
Funiculars and 19th-century elevator contraptions are the easy way into the hilly Chiado and Bairro Alto districts. The classic way to reach Belem is by tram. Come out here for the Monument to the Discoveries and the sugar-white Jeronimos Monastery where the navigator Vasco da Gama lies entombed.
Every Lisbon pasteleria (pastry shop) sells creamy egg custard tarts called natas. The originals come from Casa Pasteis de Belem, near Jeronimos monastery. The shop was created by monks in 1837 to raise funds. Locals and visitors munch through around 12,000 of these sweet treats each day.
If Lisbon’s nostalgia-fest gets overwhelming, take the Metro to Oriente and one of Europe’s largest urban regeneration projects. The new waterfront, the Vasco da Gama Bridge, a mega-mall and Parque das Nacoes futuristic architecture jolts you right back into the 21st century.
This article has been republished from International Living.
