4 Reasons to Visit Lisboa
A long weekend in Lisbon…
When someone asks my advice on where to travel or where I would like to go next, I usually advise them to go to Paris – adding that I would like to go (back) there next.
Paris, after a one-year stay and a few visits back, will always remain on my list of places to go back to next. Otherwise I have given the advice to travel elsewhere in France, to Italy, or Spain, and if I must pick a place I have never been to, I have chosen Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic or Vienna, Austria.
Lisbon was on my radar as we had met friends in London from Portugal. However, I hadn’t given the city much thought beyond that. When Ryanair opened a new direct flight from Brussels to Lisbon for the affordable price of under €100 round trip, my boyfriend and I thought it a perfect occasion to visit our friends and discover a new-to-us city. We had three days and four nights in Portugal and it proved itself worthy of a number one spot on anyone’s travel wish list.
It should first be highlighted that our hosts were wonderful; accommodating us in their central Lisbon flat, driving us to monuments, parks, and beaches we would have otherwise missed. Here are a few highlights and our reasons to love Lisbon:
The Food. What makes the food in Lisbon so fantastic is a combination of simply fresh, tasty, and different (for us) food; the welcoming and friendly restaurateurs who, when they learned that we were visiting, enthusiastically made suggestions to our friends of what dishes we should try; and, finally, its affordability.
The first evening we tried, Europa, located in Campo de Ourique – a friendly neighbourhood restaurant. We tried, as starters, queijo fresco (a fresh cheese) and different types of brown, black, and red sausage (farinheira, morcela, and chouriço) – which I could have eaten enough of to make for a main course. We then shared between the four of us different fish (including swordfish) and the unforgettable squid (complete with its black ink!) accompanied with “green wine” (the wine we are happy to have found in the Portuguese neighbourhood shop here in Brussels)!
Saturday night we were kindly invited to join along to a friend of our host’s birthday dinner. The restaurant where the party was held is called Trigo Latino and is located close to Praça do Comércio. On a cosy outdoor terrace, I enjoyed a generous serving of salmon (with sesame seed crust and pink pepper) with fresh sangria and a selection of wines. Dessert was a fantastic strawberry birthday cake to mark the occasion. The inside of the restaurant was just as cosy as the outdoor terrace and is a place to visit again upon return.
The Festivities. In Lisbon, June is the month of festivities to celebrate the birth of St. Anthony so this month is a wonderful time to visit. We went early June, and although the official party evening begins on the 12th of June, we were still able to enjoy the festival atmosphere during our dinner on Sunday, June 1st.
Our hosts took a chance on finding some early celebrations and took us to a neighbourhood with winding streets in search of what they described as a “community dinner”. We didn’t know what this meant but were happy and curious to follow along. Low and behold, we turned a corner of the winding streets to find ourselves in the middle of an outdoor street barbeque, blasting party music, lanterns, and street decorations. After enjoying yet another amazing meal of fish (this time sardines), meats, and (again) sangria – yum! – our hosts taught us Portuguese dancing and led us through the brightly decorated festival. Pretty great for a Sunday evening.
The social aspect. This one is personal to us – as it was our friends who took it upon themselves to show us a great time, however, in general, wherever we went, people in Lisbon were very friendly. Whether in restaurants, cafes for breakfast (another favourite), or flower shops, we felt at ease. Not to mention the friends of friends welcoming us into their private birthday celebration with open arms. This openness and social aspect was felt (yet again) through the experience of dining.
Our last night, we tried the market, Mercado da Ribeira, which Time Out has recently converted into a restaurant market. This means one venue with multiple restaurant kiosks and communal tables. This idea solves the issue of groups dinning together who have different tastes, as well as encourages the meeting of new friends. We circled the large market place in search of our meal of choice – ranging from steaks to sushi and beyond. After long deliberation, we tried the restaurants of chefs Alexandre Silva and Henrique Sá Pessoa, which were fantastic.
To share a meal between friends with not only different plates, but plates from multiple restaurants, was really very unique.
Beauty. Flying into Lisbon, the aircraft makes a swooping, unusual descend, right over and across the city. Coming at the city (quite low) through the clear blue sky, over the bright sparking water, the light pink and yellow buildings shine and the deep green trees stand out. This awe-inspiring experience was no less powerful with our two feet on the ground. Many buildings in Lisbon have colourful and intricate tile-work on their facades. The mingling of city and nature (with large parks and various palm trees) creates a feeling of the “best of both worlds” between urban and rural. And of course the sun constantly shinning helps the beauty of any city stand out.
A wonderful moment remains dipping my toes into the water of the Atlantic Ocean and thinking of my own Atlantic coast back home in New Brunswick, Canada.
This is just a short introduction to a personal experience of Lisbon. However, hopefully through sharing this joyful visit, Lisbon might make it to your top places to visit next list.
