Once Upon a Time in Lisbon

Lisbon was the last stop on our honeymoon getaway. We had travelled west through northern Spain, and then we had made a turn to the south to get to Porto and then to Lisbon. We pulled into Lisbon's beautiful azulejos (painted blue tiles of Moorish influence) decorated train station and were ready to enjoy the delights of a happening city. Lisbon, however, was not as happening as any of the cities in Spain. Still, there were many things to be visited and enjoyed.

Our favorites
1. Riding the trams and funiculars around town.
2. Fado music
3. Sangres Beer Festival in Lisbon's very own historic castle
4. The stone paved pedestrian walkways in Lisbon's commercial district. You eventually reach a grand arch that was used in the TV version of Gulliver's travels.

Quick Tips:

TRANSPORTATION tips
Get any bulk (daily / 2 for 1) transportation tickets when you arrive (at train station, newsstand, etc.) because it is nearly impossible to find them without a long walk. They sell tickets for the trams and buses 2 for 1 at some newstands (They're 170 p on the bus, a bit cheaper than that at the newsstands for a 2 for 1). The subway is a different system run by a different company all together.

SIGHTS tips Plan your time around the opening and closing times of the sights you most want to see. We were disappointed that the Torre de Belem, one of the most famous sights in Lisbon, closed just as we got there at around 5:00/5:30 pm.

Best Way To Get Around:

Lisbonians get around on a system of trams, buses and subways. The subway is new and clean, but to get to most sights, the bus and tram are best. A day pass for the bus/tram system is a good deal, but you have to find out where to buy it first. A good bet is probably around the train station, but there is an official transit ticket station in the southwestern part of town.

While York House was considered to be out of the way, it was actually located quite close to the main attractions (the monastery, cloisters, Torre de Belem, a view of Lisbon''s Golden Gate Bridge look-a-like, the 25th of April Bridge, Lisbon''s best patisserie and yummiest pastry, patis de Belem) in the part of Lisbon known as Belem. The trams and buses were a short downhill walk from the hotel entrance.

The hotel itself had a quaint and friendly atmosphere. The bellhop carried our heavy bags up the first long flight of stairs (an outdoor flight of stone steps softened by a layer of carpet, with high stone walls draped in greenery, ivy and blooming vines). We surfaced in a small stone courtyard in front of the entrance of the former convent. Elegant tables were set up outside by the well-regarded hotel restaurant. (In the mornings, hotel guests ate their complimentary buffet breakfast at these tables)

After more stairs, this time wooden and covered by a plush blue patterned rug, we walked into our room. It was a standard size room and the walls of the room hugged around the bed. There was a little space in front of the bed for a rug and then a table with a tv. Directly across from the door, there was a windowseat with an old fashioned pair of wooden doors and a metal window latch. The floor was marble and well carpeted. The bathroom also had a marble floor, came with all the essential toiletries, towels, and a hairdyer.

Service, however, was not always the best. We asked for a fado recommendation, and were sent to a tourist trap (although the music was still very enjoyable). When we called them for assistance when my husband was pickpocketed, they did the bare minimum by giving us the international numbers for credit cards.

We had heard so much about Portugal's famous fado music and couldn't tell from our guidebooks which fado restaurant to head towards so we asked our hotel (York House) for a recommendation. They handed us the brochure for Faia and said that many people had liked it. Unfortunately, Faia was a bit of a tourist trap (we should have known from the slick brochure).

Faia was located on a steep street in the Bairro Alto, the hilly, narrow cobblestoned part of Lisbon known for its nightlife. At the door, a gentleman dressed in uniform stood stiffly at attention. We looked at the menu -- the prices were on the high side, but we were so hungry and so disoriented with directions that we decided to go on in. The inside of Faia was decorated to look like an upscale homey cavern, with sloping ceilings, and carved stone pillars. The lighting was dim and the restaurant was only half-full.

We ordered the lamb dish and bacalao a la faia (fish Portuguese style), and were served two orders of couvert (a variety of appetizers including olives, sardines, crackers, etc.) and mineral water. While we waited for our food to arrive and for the music to begin, a costumed woman with bad teeth stood with us and had a picture taken. Later, she suckered us into paying 1000 escudos for the photo.

Although our dishes were gristly and chewy, respectively, and the service was rather curt and forceful and tourist-trappish, the music was wonderful. There were altogether 4 performers, each performing solo, all women dressed in black (black shawls, black dresses), and accompanied by a small band playing a guitar, a Spanish guitar and bass.

Fado music reminds me a bit of Edith Piaf songs, but darker. There's that kind of bistro homestyle romantic sound behind it. The singers each had their own style of singing, but the better ones had a great sense of drama, belting out their songs so their voices filled the entire restaurant.

If you're on your way to Belem to visit the Monastery de Jeronimo, you have to stop here first. There are tons of places that claim to offer the pastry of Belem, a creamy egg tart baked until nearly scorched that you eat piping hot from the oven, and powder with cinnamon and confectioner's sugar, but this is the real deal. The outside of this little bakery is decorated with blue tiles -- the azulejos left over from the Moorish influence. Once inside, you'll see that the store is humming with industry. An assembly line packs the pastries in cardboard rolls, 10 to a roll, and people are lined up at the counter waiting their turn to get a pastry. If you're lucky, you might be able to get a seat in the backroom so you can sit and enjoy your pastries while basking in the fragrance of the bakery.

We ate 8 of the pasteis between us in about 2 minutes. The waiter brings you a large container of powdered sugar and cinnamon so you can drown your pastry in it before biting into its wonderfully tasty filling and flaky crust. The pastries were extremely affordable and so good.

Since all of the attractions in Belem had closed, we headed up toward the main plaza (Plaza Mayor) of Lisbon, only to find that it had been torn up for reconstruction. Piles of little square stones lay on the torn up ground surrounding the plaza's fountain and statue. So we climbed onto a tram that took us up the steep hills of the Alfama district to find the Castle of St. George. (Seriously, if you want to visit Lisbon's castle, don't walk unless you like a strenous adventure. Not only are the streets extremely steep and windy and unmarked, but they are narrow as well and you share the road with the trams.)

We were happily surpised that the castle was so lively (also there was no price to pay for wandering). A huge beer festival had taken over the old walls. The outer courtyard was lined with booths selling Sagres Beer, several types (at least light & regular). Benches and tables filled up the interior. For about 1 USD, you got your very own plastic beer mug full of yummy rich malty grainy Spanish beer. The tapas they sold to accompany the beer was appalling overpriced. I think it was maybe 900 escudos for a plate of fatty sausage. They also had curried meat pies, and fish, and shish-kebabs. As you ventured further into the castle, you could gawk at the whimsical statues by a famous local artist. The interior courtyard of the castle was also full of beer festivities and as you wandered around, there were several displays set up showing how beer was made, and how popular Sagres beer was, and also about the origin of beer and some of the first beer drinkers -- monks.

After wandering around the castle's ruins (all its walls seem to be pretty much intact), we stood by the wall looking down in the harbor and watching the sun set. This was truly one of the most enjoyable experiences that we had in Lisbon.

Just a little further west of the Pasteis de Belem is Lisbon's famous monastery. You can visit the church for free, but to enter the cloister, there's a small fee. The monastery itself has a beautiful exterior, with tall stone walls and intricate detail work. The church was small and dark, and was only interesting because there was a tomb dedicated to Vasco de Gama (and no, the explorer wasn't buried there).

The cloisters were partly cleaned when we visited. You could see how dirty and grimy they must have looked before they started the cleaning by comparing the restored walls which were light brown and bright to the unrestored walls, which looked dull and extremely old. The architecture inside the cloisters was reminiscent of Gaudi, with the soft-serve ice cream cone turrets. The cloister garden was green and well-tended, but not too exciting.