Where: Lisbon, Portugal
When: August 22 - 24, 2012
With: Dave
After finishing our time in Sintra, it was time to venture to the exact opposite of a small, sleepy village: Portugal's capital city, Lisbon. The drive was short, but easily the most terrifying of our entire two weeks. The GPS couldn't find our hotel because it was located in a place where public traffic isn't allowed, so while leaving the motorway and entering the hectic streets of Lisbon, I was shouting my best guesses of where to go using a combo of iPhone and GPS. While in the midst of this, our little rental attempted to climb narrow, uphill streets with cars, trolleys, and tourists all around us. The anxiety building through all of this culminated when our little automatic car decided it wanted to be a manual like all its friends, and started rolling backwards down a hill we were trying to climb through traffic. We nearly took out a bus full of tourists behind us. The rest of our journey consisted of me hyperventilating with my head down at the directions, not wanting to see what was going on outside, while Dave pleaded with the trolley ahead of us to not make any more stops on the hill so he could keep moving. Finally reaching a point at the top of the hill where we could pull over to collect ourselves was a huge moment of relief.
Our hotel was located inside the walls of a castle that sat on top of said hill. When we reached the summit, we were at the edge of the castle walls and the road turned down into this tiny archway filled with tourists. We thought, there's no way we're allowed to drive through there, it's just too narrow and filled with pedestrians. But there didn't seem to be any other way in. So Dave sat in the car on the side of arch while I went running through the streets, trying to find our hotel before someone came to make us move (which would have forced us back down the hill...and we were both done with driving on this hill).
When I got to the hotel, it turns out that oh yes, we'd need to drive the car up through this archway and down streets so tiny that at points, I could reach out both arms and touch either the building on either side. And oh yes, all those streets were two-way, adding an additional challenge to the already difficult navigation required. I can't even explain the look on Dave's face when I came back and told him he needed to drive through this archway and the streets beyond. (Honestly, imagine like 10x the number of people than are in this picture).
I ran ahead attempting to clear a pathway of people for the car to follow and to look out for speeding cars looking to put these streets to the two-way test. Luckily, the hills weren't too steep, our car didn't roll backwards, and people dodged appropriately. One small scuff to the side mirror along the side of a house, but otherwise the car made it unscathed. After parking the car, we went straight to a cafe for a beer at the first place we found, just to make an attempt at calming the nerves and lowering the ol' blood pressure before heading back to the hotel to check-in. (Some photos of the two-way streets to get to the hotel and the trolleys we had to dodge).
The hotel itself was really cool. It was actually built into the walls of the old castle. The design was very current, which made you forget you were in an old castle at points, but occasionally you would notice a glassed-in spot on the ground where some old part of the castle had been excavated and was on display under your feet.
After fully calming ourselves down, we headed out to explore the area that makes up the Bairro Alfama. The Bairro Alfama includes a castle, its walls (both built by the Moors in 711) and the neighborhood within and around the walls. When a massive earthquake basically razed the city of Lisbon to the ground in 1755, the only portion of the city to survive was the Alfama. Therefore, its twisty streets have remained the same since the days the Moors roamed them. Now, the neighborhood spills from the castle down the hill in a tangled maze of white-washed walls, curving streets and red-tiled roofs.
We started at the top where it all began at the Castelo de Sao Jorge. After entering the castle grounds, a large square surrounded by old cannons provides stunning views of Lisbon below.
The castle itself still stands. While its mostly just a series of walkways, archways and stairs, the ruins are in excellent condition. It looked very similar to the castle at Sintra in that it was definitely made for patrolling and protecting the city.
Each restaurant loudly boasted to have the best fado in all of Lisbon. We almost wished we hadn't already booked dinner as it would have been so nice to duck into one of the hole in the wall places. But we didn't know how easy it was to find fado and had wanted a guarantee, so we went for dinner at a night club with daily shows. It is meant to be a place where the ultimate fado singers in Lisbon sing. The main downside was that is was kinda touristy. We were ok with that until a group of 40 teenagers came in on a group tour, and loudly talked through all the performances. We could barely hear anybody sing, and the performers were visibly upset that no one seemed to be paying attention. We listened to a few singers, but after our meal was finished, we decided to head out for something a bit more intimate.
Sadly, much of the fado music for the night had ended. So took advantage of one of the several outdoor cafes serving wine. This one was located up against a church. The nightlife in this area seemed to be vibrant, but we couldn't quite find anywhere to stay out past 11. So we eventually called it a night.
We finished our morning wander of the neighborhood at a small cafe near the water to have our breakfast amongst the locals. Children ran around, riding their bikes, while parents enjoyed a cup of coffee (or more often than not, a bottle of beer at 10am). We took it in and enjoyed before heading out to explore some of the other Lisbon neighborhoods.
It was a gritty and unassuming place, but definitely one with a lot of character. And ended up being my favorite part of the city by far.
When: August 22 - 24, 2012
With: Dave
After finishing our time in Sintra, it was time to venture to the exact opposite of a small, sleepy village: Portugal's capital city, Lisbon. The drive was short, but easily the most terrifying of our entire two weeks. The GPS couldn't find our hotel because it was located in a place where public traffic isn't allowed, so while leaving the motorway and entering the hectic streets of Lisbon, I was shouting my best guesses of where to go using a combo of iPhone and GPS. While in the midst of this, our little rental attempted to climb narrow, uphill streets with cars, trolleys, and tourists all around us. The anxiety building through all of this culminated when our little automatic car decided it wanted to be a manual like all its friends, and started rolling backwards down a hill we were trying to climb through traffic. We nearly took out a bus full of tourists behind us. The rest of our journey consisted of me hyperventilating with my head down at the directions, not wanting to see what was going on outside, while Dave pleaded with the trolley ahead of us to not make any more stops on the hill so he could keep moving. Finally reaching a point at the top of the hill where we could pull over to collect ourselves was a huge moment of relief.
Our hotel was located inside the walls of a castle that sat on top of said hill. When we reached the summit, we were at the edge of the castle walls and the road turned down into this tiny archway filled with tourists. We thought, there's no way we're allowed to drive through there, it's just too narrow and filled with pedestrians. But there didn't seem to be any other way in. So Dave sat in the car on the side of arch while I went running through the streets, trying to find our hotel before someone came to make us move (which would have forced us back down the hill...and we were both done with driving on this hill).
When I got to the hotel, it turns out that oh yes, we'd need to drive the car up through this archway and down streets so tiny that at points, I could reach out both arms and touch either the building on either side. And oh yes, all those streets were two-way, adding an additional challenge to the already difficult navigation required. I can't even explain the look on Dave's face when I came back and told him he needed to drive through this archway and the streets beyond. (Honestly, imagine like 10x the number of people than are in this picture).
I ran ahead attempting to clear a pathway of people for the car to follow and to look out for speeding cars looking to put these streets to the two-way test. Luckily, the hills weren't too steep, our car didn't roll backwards, and people dodged appropriately. One small scuff to the side mirror along the side of a house, but otherwise the car made it unscathed. After parking the car, we went straight to a cafe for a beer at the first place we found, just to make an attempt at calming the nerves and lowering the ol' blood pressure before heading back to the hotel to check-in. (Some photos of the two-way streets to get to the hotel and the trolleys we had to dodge).
The hotel itself was really cool. It was actually built into the walls of the old castle. The design was very current, which made you forget you were in an old castle at points, but occasionally you would notice a glassed-in spot on the ground where some old part of the castle had been excavated and was on display under your feet.
After fully calming ourselves down, we headed out to explore the area that makes up the Bairro Alfama. The Bairro Alfama includes a castle, its walls (both built by the Moors in 711) and the neighborhood within and around the walls. When a massive earthquake basically razed the city of Lisbon to the ground in 1755, the only portion of the city to survive was the Alfama. Therefore, its twisty streets have remained the same since the days the Moors roamed them. Now, the neighborhood spills from the castle down the hill in a tangled maze of white-washed walls, curving streets and red-tiled roofs.
We started at the top where it all began at the Castelo de Sao Jorge. After entering the castle grounds, a large square surrounded by old cannons provides stunning views of Lisbon below.
The castle itself still stands. While its mostly just a series of walkways, archways and stairs, the ruins are in excellent condition. It looked very similar to the castle at Sintra in that it was definitely made for patrolling and protecting the city.
After the castle, we descended down into the real heart of the Alfama: the neighborhood around it. Tight alleyways where no cars can go are lined with houses, shops, and restaurants. Above your head, balconies covered with colorful laundry and all around you, tables and chairs and people dinner outside. As you walk, you can hear music drifting from inside people's homes and guitar players singing fado as people ate. The energy in this area was fantastic.
Each restaurant loudly boasted to have the best fado in all of Lisbon. We almost wished we hadn't already booked dinner as it would have been so nice to duck into one of the hole in the wall places. But we didn't know how easy it was to find fado and had wanted a guarantee, so we went for dinner at a night club with daily shows. It is meant to be a place where the ultimate fado singers in Lisbon sing. The main downside was that is was kinda touristy. We were ok with that until a group of 40 teenagers came in on a group tour, and loudly talked through all the performances. We could barely hear anybody sing, and the performers were visibly upset that no one seemed to be paying attention. We listened to a few singers, but after our meal was finished, we decided to head out for something a bit more intimate.
Sadly, much of the fado music for the night had ended. So took advantage of one of the several outdoor cafes serving wine. This one was located up against a church. The nightlife in this area seemed to be vibrant, but we couldn't quite find anywhere to stay out past 11. So we eventually called it a night.
The next morning, we headed out for a daytime exploration of the Bairro Alfama. The top of the neighborhood has a stunning view of the Atlantic Ocean.
Heading down into the heart of the Alfama.
The streets were a maze of cobblestone and impossible to navigate. We just kept heading down with no real agenda as to where we'd end up. The best way to track where we'd been was to note the artwork covering the sides of buildings of several of the buildings.
We finished our morning wander of the neighborhood at a small cafe near the water to have our breakfast amongst the locals. Children ran around, riding their bikes, while parents enjoyed a cup of coffee (or more often than not, a bottle of beer at 10am). We took it in and enjoyed before heading out to explore some of the other Lisbon neighborhoods.
It was a gritty and unassuming place, but definitely one with a lot of character. And ended up being my favorite part of the city by far.
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