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-   -   Lisbon trip report (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/lisbon-trip-report-1183480/)

Governator Jan 16th, 2017 01:57 PM

Lisbon trip report
 
After my recent Christmas trip to Venice and Florence with the wife, I stayed on and visited Lisbon for 4 nights, Amsterdam for 4 nights then back to Lisbon for another night.

I really got know Lisbon pretty well. It's a lovely city. Beautiful architecture. Nice calm people. Lots of shopping and restaurants.

I recommend the Hotel Lisboa Tejo very well located next to Figueres and Rossio squares from where you can catch every kind of transportation including the airport bus. Close to the Santa Justa elevator.

For Fado there's Adego Machado, talented performers, excellent food.

Take the tram 28 from Figueres (or walk up) to get up to the charming narrow streets of Alfama.

Take the 15 tram from Figures to get to Belem and the big Monastery and the Belem tower from where the Portuguese explorers set out.

Take the Gloria funicular from Restauradores (near Rossio) to get up to Chiado to check out the elegant Brasiliera pastry shop and walk over to Barrio Alto to check out the night clubs. Check out the view from near the Carmo, the church that was the largest in Lisbon and was damaged in the 1755 earthquake.

Other things to see, Nascoes where the 1998 expo was. There's an aerial cable car and Europes largest aquarium, the Oceanarium.

If you go to the Gubenkian museum double check the hours, the guidebooks say it's closed on Mondays but it now open on Mondays and closed on Tuesdays.

FuryFluffy Jan 17th, 2017 12:44 AM

Thank you for the trip report, Governator, I enjoy reading it. Do you have photos of Lisbon?

TPAYT Jan 17th, 2017 05:07 AM

Good info on a city we'd like to visit. Thanks for the details.

Governator Jan 17th, 2017 05:21 AM

FuryFluffy,

Still editing the pics down, will post some soon.

Governator Jan 17th, 2017 05:22 AM

TPAYT, You're welcome. Thanks for reading.

Governator Feb 1st, 2017 08:48 AM

FuryFluffy,

Link to Pictures of Lisbon.

https://goo.gl/photos/qRsiTUkM1Drfrgzx7

FuryFluffy Feb 1st, 2017 11:33 AM

I see, thanks. You have very nice photos there ^^
They capture some tint of Lisbon.

Governator Feb 1st, 2017 06:58 PM

Thanks. Glad you like them. :)

nubbyrose Feb 3rd, 2017 04:57 AM

Where's the pics? The link doesn't work.

FuryFluffy Feb 3rd, 2017 05:48 AM

They were there yesterday...

cmcfong Feb 3rd, 2017 01:19 PM

I can't see them either.

tdk320n Feb 4th, 2017 04:15 PM

Pictures are not there

Governator Feb 5th, 2017 09:43 AM

New link for photos

https://goo.gl/photos/dZdZqa4S7GgK5k7p6

Elisabeth54 Feb 6th, 2017 02:01 AM

Obrigado Governator! I love the pictures and they give a really good impression.

I'm more and more looking forward to our planned stay in Lisbon and it's surrounding area at the end of March.
Any additional suggestions for restaurants and Fado bars are, as always, most appreciated. That's what I love so much about the Fodor's community, people are willing to share experiences. Great!

Governator Feb 6th, 2017 08:39 AM

De Nada, Elisabeth54. I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures.

Adego Machado was the only Fado we saw. There are a number of other places in the few blocks around it.

There was one which was highly recommended, on Yelp, but very small and intimate, not suitable for a sit down meal. If you can get in there early for a seat, it's probably a very authentic experience. Hopefully someone here knows the name.

'Timeout' is a large market that was converted to a food court, near the Cais do Sodre metro stop. The booths serve up food inspired by Portuguese gourmet chefs.

There's a place that I wanted to try but didn't get a chance to. A small locals type place near the Rossio train station called Café Beira Gare. I liked looking in there and seeing the local business men in bellying up to bar after work. I stepped up to the bar once and enjoyed a small Sagres tap beer for only 1 Euro.

There are restaurants with tables set out in the middle of Rua Augusta, a pedestrians only street. We ate at Pastelaria Brasileira Horaris, very affordable prices, decent food.

One tip, when you're at the Miradouro de Santa Luzia in Alfama, look for a staircase that goes down in the direction of the water. It will take you down into a very interesting neighborhood. That's where I took a bunch of my pictures including the one of the old fountain in the wall.

Another tip, at the top of the Ascensor da Glória there's a nice Miradour, Miradouro Sao Pedro de Alcantara. I walked from there to Estrela Basilica passing through the lovely Jardim Da Estrela gardens. The Basilica has a very interesting history. Built by order of Queen Maria I of Portugal, as a fulfilled promise for giving birth to a son. However the son died of smallpox at the age of 27.

From the Basilica I took a taxi all the way back to Largo Chiado for only 5 euros including tip.

You're going to love Lisbon. I did.

Elisabeth54 Feb 6th, 2017 12:26 PM

Thank you again for all your suggestions. This trip will be special in more than one way. A few years ago I found out that a number of my maternal ancestors were Sephardic Jews who fled Portugal around the time of the Inquisition in the 16th/17th century. They traveled through Spain, France and Belgium and finally arrived and settled in Amsterdam. From there some of them went to Surinam in South America. I was given a family tree going back to 1614. I have always been very interested in history and presently am reading on the history of that time. The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon is one of those books. It should be an interesting experience to stay in the city which they were forced to leave four hundred years ago.

Governator Feb 6th, 2017 07:50 PM

You're welcome. I am half Sephardic, as well. My father's parents came to America in the early 1900's, from Istanbul, where my ancestors lived for 400+ years after being expelled from Spain around 1492.

That sounds like an interesting book. I see it was a #1 best seller in Portugal. I'm going to look for it at my local library.

luz_de_lisboa Feb 6th, 2017 11:59 PM

Elisabeth54 how interesting! Depending on whether you have whatever proof they require, you maybe be eligible for Portuguese citizenship via the recently enacted Right of Return law.

luz_de_lisboa Feb 7th, 2017 12:00 AM

And Governator, I enjoyed your images!

Governator Feb 7th, 2017 03:50 AM

Thank you, luz_de_lisboa. I'm glad you liked my pictures of Lisbon.

Elizabeth54, I guess you're aware of the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portug...gue_(Amsterdam)

I visited it about 20 years ago on my first trip to Amsterdam.
I noticed it had an interior design similar to the Sephardic synagogue I attended as a child, in Brooklyn. The pulpit was in the center of the room, rather than at the front, and there was an upper gallery where the women would sit separately from the men.

Sticking to the Portuguese theme of this post, the first Jews to settle in New York City, in 1654, were Portuguese refugees by way of Brazil.

Esperanza77 Feb 7th, 2017 09:37 AM

Wonderful pics Governator, we were in Lisbon in November and loved how unpretentious it felt.

We caught the fado show at Fado in Chiado, just the show in a theatre like setting. No dinner and no photos or video-taking allowed, so it's just wonderful music and singing for 45 minutes. The musicians and vocalists were amazing (17 Euros and it starts around 7, other places start much later). And it's just around the corner from the place that sells wonderful pastei de nata, Manteigaria. The area stays up late.

The street art is also wonderful in Lisbon, if that's your thing, take the tour.

Elisabeth54 Feb 7th, 2017 10:20 AM

Hi all, yes, I know the Portugese Synagogue in Amsterdam. I suspect though that my ancestors converted to Catholicism back in Portugal. Later on these converts where also persecuted and thus left Portugal, travelled through hostile Spain and landed in the Lowlands, now Belgium and the Netherlands.

They arrived in Amsterdam, converted back to Judaism and became active in the same synagogue you mentioned in Amsterdam. Holland was not as liberal as its reputation made believe. Jews were not allowed to practice the vocation of their choice and were severely limited in their freedom.

Around 1630 the Dutch occupied part of Northern Brazil, near Recife. For purely practical reasons they were more liberal regarding freedom of worship so many Jews and Catholics immigrated to that area. However, as I read, Dutch occupation ended around 1654. Some travelled a little further north and settled at Jodensavanne, in the (now former) Dutch colony of Suriname. That is where my maternal roots lie. Some stayed and some re-settled in Amsterdam and in New York (New Amsterdam at the time)
I find it a fascinating story of which I have only recently become aware.

Governator Feb 7th, 2017 06:03 PM

Thanks for viewing my photos Esperanza77.

Thanks for sharing your story Elizabeth54.

One more tip I wanted to give, when you go to the Jeronimos Monastery at Belem if you pay to see the Archeolgical Museum in the same building, different entrance, it includes admission to the Monastery and you won't have to wait on the long line with those who just want to see the Monastery.

Lastly, eat lots of pasteis de nata. Everywhere I bought them they were delicious.

FuryFluffy Feb 8th, 2017 04:23 AM

>> Archeolgical Museum in the same building, different entrance, it includes admission to the Monastery and you won't have to wait on the long line

Good tip.

Elisabeth54 Feb 9th, 2017 04:50 AM

Again, obrigada to all. I will most definitely post a trip report upon our return.

bvlenci Feb 9th, 2017 05:41 AM

<i> Holland was not as liberal as its reputation made believe. </i>

The Protestant parts of the Netherlands were not very accepting of Catholics, either.

I lived in the Netherlands in 1986, and found quite a sizable minority of Dutch people to be downright racist, although a lot of other Dutch people insisted that tolerance was universal. Even a lot of the liberals were rather patronizing or condescending. I've decided that no nation is really innocent of racism and anti-Semitism.

DebitNM Mar 7th, 2017 02:53 PM

The weather looks pleasant save one in a cable car where it was raining - thinking about going next January so weather is of interest.

Great pictures!

Governator Apr 2nd, 2017 04:38 PM

DebitNM,

We lucked out first week of Jan 2017, it rained only one day. That wouldn't have been the case had we gone in 2016 or 2014.

The temperature always seems to be in the 50's that time of year, looking at weather history. Mild compared to NYC where I come from.

https://www.wunderground.com/history...eqdb.wmo=08535


Thanks for the compliment, re the pictures :)

tdk320n Apr 3rd, 2017 02:21 AM

Thank you for all your wonderful info. Looking forward to my first trip to Lisbon this May.

Governator Apr 3rd, 2017 05:56 AM

tdk320n,

You're welcome. Enjoy!

KarenWoo Jul 30th, 2017 04:09 PM

Governator,
Did you think your hotel room at the Lisboa Tejo Hotel looked dated? That's how my guidebook describes it. Otherwise, the price and location is what we are looking for.

Governator Oct 14th, 2017 03:18 PM

Just saw your question. On the contrary the rooms are newly renovated. The front of the hotel was shrouded as it was still undergoing renovations. I didn't find that to be a problem.

DebitNM Oct 14th, 2017 04:45 PM

Glad to see this pop up; we are going in May/June to Porto, Lisbon and then Amsterdam! Perfect post to re-read.


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