A Travel Blog
It is true that the black stuff does taste better in Ireland, if only because frequent and rapid consumption by so many citizens ensures that every pint is fresh.
My search for a respectable pint of Guinness outside the Temple Bar district raised a few intriguing candidates, but The Confession Box was a five-minute walk from our hotel so it jumped to the top of the list.
Before our Lisbon memories fade, we wanted to document some of the best restaurants, cafés and bars we visited. Over our three weeks we had great luck finding tasty food, with only one or two of the “meh” experiences that can happen anywhere. In no particular order, these are some places we’d recommend to others.
Throughout our visit to Lisbon we’ve enjoyed many panoramic views of the Rio Tejo, which inevitably include the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge that connects Lisbon to the opposite shore of the river and its towering statue of Christ, the Cristo Rei.
This opposite shore is in fact another city: Almada. And the closest part of Alamada to Lisbon is Cacilhas, a former fishing and shipbuilding district.
Last weekend we had dinner at The Food Temple, a vegan restaurant just around the corner from our rented house in Mouraria. Reservations were a must!
It turns out that Alice, the founder of The Food Temple, was born in Vancouver.
North of the Rossio train station along the beautiful tree-lined Avenida da Liberdade there’s a small funicular that connects to the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara on the hill above.
There are a number of such funiculars around Lisbon, but many are currently closed or under repair. This one was originally built in 1885 and electrified in 1914.
As we spend our last week in Lisbon, it’s time to close the gaps on a few areas we feel we haven’t adequately explored. One of those is Bairro Alto, so we took a meandering wander from the top of the Acensor da Bica along Rua da Rosa.
The area definitely has character, with lots of little bars and restaurants, but around noon on Easter Sunday there was still a “morning after” vibe going on.
Here are some of the buildings in the more upscale Príncipe Real neighbourhood of Lisbon. It felt a bit like Nolita in NYC with its eclectic mix of interesting shops, bars and restaurants.
One of the most impressive sights at the Jardim França Borges park in the heart of Principe Real is this giant white Mexican Cypress umbrella. It is over 100 years old.
Today we had a quick (by Portuguese standards) lunch at a little neighbourhood restaurant 10 minutes from our house.
Restaurante Santo André is perched on a triangular intersection on a steep hill, and much of its square footage consists of a roofless patio. Tram 12 passes by on one side, and the hill is so steep that looking through the patio window we could see the roof of each tram rising into view before the rest of the vehicle became visible.
Earlier in the week we’d passed by this little bar located on the Escadinhas de São Cristóvão stairs leading down to Baixa. It looked pretty cool, but it was mid-day and nobody was there.
We decided to go back on Friday evening, and although we were still much too early by Lisbon nightlife standards, things were heating up with some live music on the stairs outside.
One benefit of an incredibly hilly city is that the tops of those hills provide great views. In Lisbon they call these viewpoints miradouros, and every person and guidebook recommends a different one.
But the Miradouro da Graça seems to be popular with everyone. We climbed up on Monday evening, a little before sunset, hoping for perfect views. Although things were a little hazier than we expected given the blinding sunshine of the day, we were not disappointed.
We left the historic Alfama and Baixa areas and took the ludicrously crowded Tram 15E along the riverfront out to the Alcântara neighbourhood. There, at the foot of the Ponte (Bridge) 25 de Abril, we visited two of the more recent additions to the Lisbon map.
The LX Factory reminded us a lot of Toronto’s Distillery District. In 2008 an abandoned 1840’s textile factory was converted into artist studios, cafés, shops and market stalls.
We enjoyed brunch at Dirt Candy, the famous vegetable-centric restaurant now in a larger location on the Lower East Side. We’ve been meaning to visit ever since we read their cookbook and illustrated graphic-novel style autobiography a few years ago.
