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Published: October 3rd 2023
Parque Eduardo VII
View towards River Tejo and Castelo São Jorge Spending a few days in Lisbon with me, this is what my mum wanted to do for her 80
th birthday. We had booked flights from Stuttgart. So, I caught a train to Stuttgart and we left from there together two days later, on the 2
ndof November. Our flight was at 9:40 am. I had heard all the horror stories of crowded airports in the aftermath of the Corona pandemic, with passengers having to stand in line at check-in and at security control for hours. Thus, I wanted to be at the airport three hours in before our departure, meaning we had to leave my mum’s place at 6 in the morning. It was an early morning for both of us, and we were pleasantly surprised by a very well-organised airport in Stuttgart: almost no waiting time at check-in and at security control, so we had plenty of time for a nice breakfast. The flight was only three hours, and we landed in Lisbon at around lunchtime. We caught a taxi to our hotel, dropped our bags off, and had a nice late lunch in the restaurant there. Of course, our dessert was pastel del nata, the famous Portuguese sweet. It was
Rossio I
View towards the National Theatre freshly made, still warm and simply delicious.
Our hotel was not far from Marqués de Pombal Square and thus a good starting point for various activities. We wanted to get a first impression of the city, so we walked up to the top end of Parque Eduardo VII, from where we enjoyed a beautiful view of the city and a few of the seven hills it is built on. Yes, like Rome, it is built on seven hills, but the hills in Lisbon are way steeper than the ones in Rome. Below, we could see the river Tejo, and to our left was São Jorge Castle. The weather was splendid, and we took some time to take in the impressions. Then we caught the metro train down to Rossio, or King Pedro IV Square, which is one of the main squares of the city. In the middle of the square, there is a column with a statue of the monarch the square was named after, and there is the National Theatre on one of its ends.
We spontaneously caught a tram up to Bairro Alto, a district that has lots of cafés, bars, and restaurants and that is
Rossio II
Lift (too crowded, we did not want to queue) well-known for its nightlife. The ascent was very steep, and the tram was an amazing piece of engineering! From the top station of the tram, we walked a little further to a square from where we had a wonderful view of São Jorge Castle on the adjacent hill. We sat down for a coffee and enjoyed the view for a bit. Then we walked a little further up the street and caught some random tram that was just arriving. It miraculously had a stop not too far from our hotel (as Google Maps was telling me), so we hopped off and walked back to our hotel to check into our room. My mum took a little rest before we headed out for dinner. Or to be precise, we just crossed the road to an Italian restaurant. My mum didn’t want to walk too far anymore, perfectly understandable, so we had Italian instead of Portuguese food. And it was great food – mozzarella di bufala with tomatoes as a starter and as a main pasta with parmesan cheese sauce (where the pasta is stirred in a big loaf of parmesan cheese, veeery tasty). And of course, a good glass of wine.
Bairro Alto I
Tram climbing the steep hill from Rossio to Bairro Alto This trip to Lisbon was my first trip to Portugal. I must admit that I had been prejudiced in one way: Whenever being in Spain or Italy, I always found that it was tremendously helpful to speak the respective local language because a lot of people did not speak English. I had thought it would be the same in Portugal. But here, everyone spoke English very well, and starting a conversation was not a problem at all. In general, the city had such an international atmosphere, with people from all over the world going there to study, work, and live. So, a lot of positive first impressions from Lisbon on our first day there!
The next morning was my mum’s birthday. We had a reservation for dinner, but other than that no specific plans. It was a rainy day, so we decided to go on a hop on hop off bus tour. On a day like this, this was a perfect thing to do. Moreover, my mum then would not have to walk too much. We started with the Oriente Line, the line that goes to the northeast into the modern parts of Lisbon. We started at Marqués
Bairro Alto II
Square with a view. de Pombal Square and learned that the marquess was the person who rebuilt the city after a devastating earthquake in 1755 in a very prudent manner. The bus drove down Avenida da Liberdade and to Rossio, where we had been the previous day, and from there down to the river and then along the river towards the northeast. We passed different boat terminals, the huge Lisbon Aquarium, Vasco da Gama Tower, and the Gare do Oriente, the train station with a futuristic architecture.
When returning to our room after the bus tour, we found a small bottle of Ginja de Óbidos, the traditional cherry liqueur, that had been left there by the hotel for my mum’s birthday. The liqueur tasted very nice! We had a rest, which gave me time to prepare a talk that I was going to give in a few days’ time. In the evening, we caught a taxi to Drogaria Restaurante, where I had arranged a birthday dinner for my mum. The food was excellent, as was service, and the atmosphere was really nice. My mum enjoyed her dinner, and so did I.
The next morning, it was sunny and warm again. We went
Bairro Alto III
View towards Castelo São Jorge on the Belém Line with our hop on hop off tour. The route went from Marqués de Pombal Square down to River Tejo again and then westwards. We got off at Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, the famous former monastery, founded by the Order of Saint Jerome. It was built in the early 16
th century in Gothic Manueline style of architecture. This style is also known as Portuguese late Gothic. It synthesises different Gothic styles and was also influenced by discoveries Vasco da Gama had brought from his trips. To me, it looked a little bit like a synthesis of Gothic with Mauryan and Gaudí styles. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
After buying the tickets, we had to queue for a bit, but this was not a problem. The weather was splendid, and the front façade of the building with all its fine decorations was worth taking a close look at. Once we were inside, we took our time and explored everything slowly. The walking tour first went up a flight of stairs, through a room with frescoes, and a door led out onto the first floor of the cloister. We could walk all the way round and then
Lisbon tram
... in Bairro Alto descended to the ground floor, where we could once more go round all the way. There was also a small chapel and the refectory.
Before visiting the church, we took a break and bought pastel del nata de Belém in the nearby pastry shop. The pastry was still warm, and we enjoyed it with some nice coffee, sitting outside and enjoying the nice weather.
The church of Santa Maria at Mosteiro dos Jerónimos is the gravesite of many famous people: not only members of the royal family are buried there, but also the famous seafarer Vasco da Gama and the poet and chronicler Luís de Camões.
We caught the bus again and continued to Torre de Belém (officially “Tower of Saint Vincent”), a fortification built in the 16
th century not too far from the monastery. It used to serve as an embarkation and disembarkation point for Portuguese explorers and a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. It is built in the same style as Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. We had a late lunch at a nearby restaurant before hanging out in front of the tower for a bit. There was music, and the atmosphere was just beautiful. We stayed there
Statute of Marqués de Pombal
... on Marqués de Pombal Square. He was the man who rebuilt Lisbon after an earthquake in 1755. for quite some time before catching the bus back into town.
On our third day, we caught the hop on hop off Castle Line and got off not far from Castelo de São Jorge (Saint George’s Castle). The bus did not stop right in front of the castle, so we had to climb a few steep roads. The original fortification dates from the 1
st or 2
nd century BC and was extended throughout the centuries. Nowadays, it consists of almost a maze of impressive, thick and high walls that one can walk and from where one has the most beautiful views of the city. Inside one of the buildings, there is a small museum that provides an overview of the various settlements on the hill, the first of which has been dated to the 8
th century BC.
We had a late lunch in a nearby café and walked the streets around the castle for a bit before catching our bus again. We got off at Mercado da Ribeira, or TimeOut Market. This is a big indoor marketplace where one can buy all kinds of tasty food and drinks. We got some more pastel del nata and cocktails.
On
our last evening, we went to Restaurante Luso to listen to Fado, a traditional Portuguese kind of song and music. It usually has mournful tunes and lyrics. When booking the fado evening, we had to book a four-course dinner with it. The food was average at best, but the music was just fantastic. There were three different singers, one young woman, one older woman, and one young man. Since I do not speak Portuguese, I did not understand what they were singing about, but the music really went under the skin. What a nice thing to do on our last evening!
The next day, we caught our flight back to Stuttgart at 1 pm, very with lots of wonderful impressions of the city of Lisbon. The journey went smoothly, and we arrived back home in the evening.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Yummy
I can taste these from afar.