lauramsgarden

I am sitting by the beautiful pool at the Pousada in Evora and thought I would start our trip report as I imagine it will be long. More on Evora later.

So Lisbon - first an overall impression that I suspect is colored by the part of the city we stayed in (Lapa) - the analogy I keep coming back to is she is a beautiful lady who has raised too many children and worked too many hours. The buidlings are beautiful - marble and many of them covered in gorgeious tiles - but also covered in grafitti almost everywhere, and a lot of trash (though that could have had to do with St. Anthony's day). On our last night we ate out in a different part of town (near the Ritz etc) and that looked a good deal more upbeat - sort of like 5th ave in NY.

We arrived on time but weary of course and cleared customs and got our luggage in very short order. We stayed at As Janeles Verdes on the street of the same name, a bit off the beaten track, but oh my I cannot say enough nice things about them. When we arrived they offered us breakfast in the courtyard. All the front desk staff spoke not only impeccable English but from what I could tell pretty darn good French and German as well. Our room was small but pleasant, and the bathroom was gorgeous and huge. Each room comes with a carafe of Port gratis. There is a library and balcony on the third floor with a lovely view of the river and ships going by (we had a full moon) and an honor bar stocked with drinks both alcoholic and non. Breakfast was in a lovely courtyard with a fountain and honestly, it was my favorite hotel breakfast ever, with Nesspresso coffee maker, fresh breads, cheeses, meats, eggs, etc. All the staff was helpful and friendly. and it was most reasonable.

The hotel gave us a free pass to the Museu of Ancient Art which is next door so we went there the first day and it has a wonderful collection. Very enjoyable.

The next day we tried to get a visit to the Alfama in before St. Anthony's festival started. We took a taxi to the Praca Commercio - only really negative part so far as he literally took us for a ride which was most annoying - grrr). We bought Lisboa cards which cover most museums and public transport. because of the festival and a number of places we wanted to see being closed we probably didn't quite break even, but given that it encouraged us to use the public transport instead of taxi's it probably saved us money in the long run.

A word about the public transportation. We took buses almost everywhere (never ended up taking the subway probably becasue there wasn't a stop near our hotel). Other than sometimes having to wait a bit in the heat (isn't it a truism that your bus is always the last to arrive ) it worked quite well. lThe buses were clean and air conditioned and everyone was friendly. It was a little difficult occasionally knowing where to get off as the stops aren't well marked, but when we asked the drivers they did let us know.

Back to the Alfama. I don't know if it was the heat or the festival or that we got rather hopelessly lost and then when we did find things they were closed, but it wasn't my cup of tea. Too crowded, too much alcohol and cigarette smoke in most places.. The castle was lovely and interesting, but disappointing in not being well labelled so not a lot of info re what happened where. the museum of archeology next door was fascinating. And to be fair we were probably still tired from the flight and it was hot hot hot to be climbing those streets and not knowing where we are going (we are finding that maps don't help much in the little ancient maze like streets - gps is better for walking).

The next day we took the bus to Belem and loved it. The Monastary is gorgeous, my husband really liked the maritime museum, and the monument is great. Had a fun italiian lunch next to the water. Unfortunately once again things were closed due to St Anthony and that was disappointing..

Day four we followed my passion and went to the Azulejos museum, a bit off the beaten path but absolutely exquisite and worth the trip, and then took the bus back to the Chiado and ended up eating lunch at the museum of modern art there which was really pleasant, and the museum was a good education re Portuguese painters, in all different eras, that we had never heard of. It is small, but really worth the visit.

I will do a separate post on food and restaurants after the trip is over.

The next day we said a sad farewell to our hotel and then picked up our rental car and took off for the Alentejo.. After slight cconfusion getting out of the airport, the trip was easier than i could have imagined. As others have reported the roads were empty and beautifully maintained (and i usually hate highway driving), signs are easy to follow, plenty of rest stops (that sell fresh cherries!) the only difficult part was finding our hotel once we got to Evora - following the gps was a mistake as it lead us into a street that was for pedestrians only - it was quite an adventure, but we arrived safely at last.

More on the Alentejo and Bussaco in part II. Tchau

worldinabag

Thanks Laura. Taking notes - hope to be there next year

sandralist

I really enjoyed the Lapa neighborhood of Lisbon (and the museum there) and had a wonderful lunch in the elegant courtyard of the York House down the street from where you stayed. I actually didn't visit the Alfama, fearing I might have the experience you did. I live in Italy, so I while I don't enjoy seeing grafitti, I do tend to see past it (and the Portuguese have more reasons than most to vent about what has been imposed on their country). But I quite like every corner of Lisbon, in all its variety (I think Portugal overall has some the nicest modern architecture in Europe). It is too bad you didn't have an opportunity to use the subway because it is beautifully sleek and new, and it might have dislodged your impression that Lisbon is an overworked old mother. She's a hot number with a lot of zing under her skirts and plenty of bright and workable ideas of urbanism in her head.

lauramsgarden

good points Sandra - and in the Chiada we did see a bit of the hip younger Lisbon. and I didn't mention that we felt quite safe everywhere we went. We had dinner in the York house and didn't like it much - maybe they were having an off night. more later.

sandralist

I ate cod, eggs and potatoes at York House and enjoyed it immensely, having been warned off this dish by many travelers to Portugal. But I liked it quite a bit. I seem to recall one of us also had a duck breast -- maybe it was me, as an appetizer. In the mid-afternoon heat, we also appreciated the cool patio and the nice chilled rose. We also enjoyed many of Lisbon's neighborhood joints for octopus and mackerel, and one of our favorite meals was Bom Jardim, for roast chicken. On a price-quality ratio, York House doesn't necessarily make sense, since there are so many other much simpler, inexpensive places if you like the local cuisine. But I am glad I went a little bit high for the bacalhau, because I gather it can get kind of funky if not done well.

sandralist

Also, PS: I wasn't so much referring to the Chiado, which I think has been over gentrified for tourism and didn't care for very much. Just generally around Lisbon you can see a lot of very innovative urban projects, that are very smart and attractive, and that subway system is an award winner. Lisbon also has some incredibly pleasant urban gardens and vest-pocket parks. It's just got a lot of interesting design ideas -- not surprising for a culture with such a keen sense of color and light. I also appreciated the mix of communal music and public silence. I especially appreciated the absence of canned pop music in restaurants and cafes. I found almost everything about Lisbon an extremely easy going urban space (except for those slippery pavements and a few killer climbs in the hot sun -- but even there they have trams and cable cars).

Nikki

I'm following along with interest. Really enjoyed my stays in Lisbon and in the Alentejo.

yestravel

Great to see this! I can pretend I am still in Portugal thru your posts.

We started our trip in Lisbon in mid May and other than all the graffiti which is really a shame to see on some of the beautiful bldgs including the tile, the city seemed very clean. We travel a lot in Europe and elsewhere and the graffiti was overwhelming and actually not very good compared to some other cities such as Buenos Aires. We returned yesterday to Lisbon for the one day and evening (6/16) and remarked how much more trash there was on the street. So I wondered if it was leftover from the festival or just more tourists, but the difference was striking to us.

We wandered through the Alfama one afternoon and thought it okay. And we did get lost several times. It wasn't particularly crowded and certainly not as the OP described. maybe it was just less crowded overall in May. The small Fado museum there was interesting.

Loved the Tile Museum, both the building and the interior, probably my favorite site in Lisbon. It was empty when we were there. Also enjoyed the Museu do Chiado and took adventure of it being free on Sundays (I think only until 2 or so.) Art in general in Lisbon and Portugal was a delight.

We used all modes of transportation and agree that all were quite easy to use. The subway stops going out to the airport were really quite nice. Lots of nice art in the metro. And yes, watch out for the slippery stones on the steep hills esp during any wet weather.

Lucky you, you can use the pool at the Pousada in Evora -- it was freezing when we were there. No one even sat around it.

Looking forward to reading more.

lizziebridge

Thanks for sharing your experience. I also visited Lisbon few years ago, I need to go back there !

lobo_mau

I'm very happy to know you enjoyed my city. Alfama is the only part of the city which survived to the hearthquake of 1755 and seen by many as a glimpse of medieval Lisbon.

ekscrunchy

Just discovered this thread and am enjoying following along. I've spent exactly one night in Portugal, in the far north close to the border. Been thinking of returning for years but another place always wins out....reading this, will put it on my list once again!