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The neighbourhoods of Lisbon - part 1
Lisbon is a walkable city, with a mix of different neighbourhoods. Many have museums and galleries - plus there's lots of churches, both big and small. Cafés, restaurants, shops, bars and attractive squares filled with statues and fountains are everywhere. Historical buildings, black and white cobblestones and Azulejo tiles add plenty of visual interest. Throughout this capital city the look-out points (miradouros), shady parks, squares and almost every street has a never ending choice of benches - it's a relaxed and friendly place, with lots to see and do.
For non-walkers, or those who get weary after walking up Lisbon's hills, there's plenty of tuk-tuks, tour buses, funiculars and those famous trams.
We like to roam the streets and wander around, so we tend to walk everywhere we can…sometimes taking a break at a café, but often just sitting on one of those many benches. From our research on Lisbon we learned that there's also a couple of elevators around this city that aren't in obvious locations - but when we found them it helped with those hills! On our previous visit to Lisbon we'd seen many of the historic parts of its downtown including the Baixa. We'd walked through the Arc of Triumph and Rua Augusta, with its shops and cafés. We'd admired "Fig" and Rossio square along with its attractive station as we strolled gently upwards to Praça dos Restauradores. Over the following days when we took the quick train ride in from Belèm we tried to cover as many of the other districts as time allowed….so here we go!
The Chiado & Bairro Alto areas are on the west side and higher up than the downtown Baixa. We started at the Miradouro de Alcântara - a terraced lookout area with views that stretch over the city below. A funicular called the Elvador de La Glória takes passengers up from a spot near the top of Restauradores square. We walked up the side of the tracks - a tough walk, but one that's a popular "challenge."
A quick right turn at the top is a park and lookout area. There's a few kiosks selling refreshments and plenty of benches around to enjoy the views. Another smaller park is on a terrace a few steps below. From this lookout there's great views of the city, including the cathedral, the castle and the riverfront where cruise ships dock. We found a bench in front of Santa Maria - an old church that had a couple of battle scenes in Azulejo tiles along one side. With a beer from one of the kiosks we enjoyed a picnic and the view, together with a street musician's friendly dog who sat patiently at our feet waiting for scraps. When we'd run out of "treats" he went in search of another source of food. After our rest we made our way slowly down through the Bairro Alto district - stopping off at another lookout area which is a little further downhill. With a choice of a few more cafés there's an open area for taking in the view and enjoying whatever street musician is performing there. We stopped for a while to listen to a talented young woman playing the violin. Above the rooftops, her mournful music matched the moody looking sky…it was a moment!
Alongside an old wall we walked down some wide steps and through an interesting "tunnel" where a series of cartoons filled the arched roof with a condensed "commentary" of the history of Portugal. The captions covered the 12th to the 20th century and if our knowledge of Spanish was better, I'm sure it would have been a lot more interesting. If you have a translator app on your phone, you'll be able to get the gist of it.
Continuing downwards we enjoyed the remainder of this district which has a bohemian vibe. It was quiet during the afternoon as we wandered its interesting narrow streets and alleyways. Apparently it can be a very rowdy place at night…it's popular for "authentic" restaurants but also has a reputation for its late night bar scene.
Turning down onto Rua Nova Trindade it's easy to recognize the transition into the very different area of Chiado, where there's something that may be of interest to "foodies." Different parts of a building house a few restaurants owned by José Avillez - who for those in the "know" is a famous Lisbon chef. We had a quick peak at one of the more casual ones which once housed monks. It became a brewery in the early 19th century. Lovely old tiles depicting scenes of both religion and beer still decorate the walls!
Further down, on a flatter area is an attractive small square with an old fountain and a convent. Although destroyed in the earthquake there's still some lovely gothic arches remaining, which can be seen at the side and back of the building. The top of an elevator can also be found at the back of the church. Built by an architect who was a student of Eiffel, San Justa elevator has a viewing area and is one of the handy ways to travel up and down one of Lisbon's many hills. For "shoppers," a place of interest in Chiado is a street full of small shops. Here on Rua Garrett most of the them sell Portuguese made goods which range from books and fabrics to wine and sardines! At the lower end is a large mall where there's an elevator down to a lower part of the city.
One other interesting place we'd read about in this area and at the opposite end of Rua Garrett is a square where there's a café with a history. Coffee has been sold and drunk here for over a 100 years, but was made famous by a famous Portuguese poet of the 1920-30s. Ferdinand Pessoa (whose statue is outside) spent a lot of time here along with other artists of his day. The Art Nouveau decor is beautiful both inside and outside. It's now a popular stop off for tourists and shoppers. We sat by a fountain in the nearby square which is dedicated to another famous Portuguese poet. A statue of Louís de Camões sits in its centre….we sat on the steps at his feet and enjoyed a pastel de Nata!
- comments
Val I think both of you will be buying mountain climbing apparel for your next adventure as I am exhausted just reading about your hike up the side of the track … which is right NEXT to the funicular! Finding the funicular/elevator positions would be our 2nd most important thing on the agenda…the 1st of course being the GF restos 😂
Glynis The hike up the track was challenging, Val but maybe not as dangerous as it sounds. It was easy to hear the trams coming + everyone else who was walking up on the road moved away from the tracks We did find the elevators a bit hard to find althiugh one was actually in a shopping mall, but it did the job! X