Travelling to Lisbon, Portugal last weekend turned out to be one of the best long weekend trips I have taken in recent years. I didn’t have many expectations as I’m not the know-it-all before I reach my vacation place, kind of traveller. I like discovering places slowly, no rushing from one spot to the next and trying to take it all in at once. Lisbon turned out to be a complete surprise for me. Having travelled to several European cities, I had an idea what this city could look like. But its hilly terrain makes it a very unique city.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a Mumbai girl who grew up in a Catholic colony which was filled mostly with Goans. Indians from Goa are linked by the legacy of colonization to the Portuguese. Also, some part of my young adulthood was spent in Diu, which is another place which has a huge Portuguese influence even today. Diu lies to the south of Gujarat.
As you can guess by now, reaching Lisbon seemed liked stepping into a new yet vaguely familiar dimension. Even though I had already visited Porto, another city in Portugal in the past, I hadn’t felt this kind of resonance with the culture. Lisbon being a big city, offers a tourist a view into actual Portuguese culture and also snippets of fusion culture of the Portuguese and its vast colonies. Portugal was a very powerful nation and had territories all over the world. Its colonies were spread far and wide all over the globe. Some of the main colonies were Angola, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Principe, Mozambique, Goa – and Brazil amongst others. The Portuguese were present for several hundreds of years in Goa, Kochi, Daman and Diu.
That they were a rich nation back then, can be seen even today in the city’s planning with large avenues, beautiful buildings in the colonial style and several large squares with elaborate and decorative structures, statues and symbols. There is lot to be learnt if one looks up the events around the 1755 earthquake that destroyed nearly 2/3rd of Lisbon and the actions of the Prime minister, the Marquis of Pombal who went on to rebuild the city and the country literally and culturally.
You could look up the following links to understand the history a bit more.
https://www.algarvehistoryassociation.com/en/portuguese-history/portugal/126-the-marquis-of-pombal
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/pombal-and-inquisition-portugal
https://www.britannica.com/event/Lisbon-earthquake-of-1755
Modern day Lisbon is a result of these events and so, to understand the culture, history and its inhabitants, the historical details seem important to me.
I learnt all these and more details while doing a Free Walking Tour with our guide Beatriz. She is a young woman with such enthusiasm for her city’s history and love for her job as a tour guide. It was such beautiful energy to be around while discovering the beauty and history Lisbon has to offer. The tour lasted three hours where we walked all around the main spots of the city. I highly recommend a guide, when possible, to get deeper into the understanding of a city. These tours are easy for most levels of physical fitness, though I would say it’s better to be at least slightly active to enjoy the tour while following the group in this city. Do note that these kinds of tours while offered ‘free’ are more ‘give what you like or feel is fair’ after the tour.
Beatriz can be found on the Tours of my life, Lisbon site.
Hilly terrain and three hours of walking you say? “Why would anyone do that to themselves on a vacation?” you’d probably add. For me it’s the mantra to indulge in some guilt-free calories. Because the food in Portugal is amazing!
Getting around is very easy with bus and metro options too. Lisbon has a very large number of metro lines and it’s easiest to take a per use ticket. Usually once you reach a place, there is so much to see that you are probably not going to be spending your time traveling underground. So, unlike other cities, don’t opt for a day ticket in my opinion. Each voyage costs only 1.85Eur, which is a great deal!
Portuguese Food specialities:
The deserts and the puffed pastries and small salted cupcakes are really yummy.
Sitting eating the different kinds of snacks in the local café really reminded me of growing up in IC Colony and eating several kinds of patties and delicacies.
The most famous desert is the Pastel de nata, an egg custard tart that is optionally dusted with cinnamon. I ate it both cold and piping hot out from the oven and both the versions were excellent. Similarly, the Cod fish cake called ‘Pasteis de Bacalhau’ is the salted version in the country to take the prize. Since I was staying in the Saldanha area, we ate these at the Confetaria Victoria café which is a typical Portuguese café where we find mostly locals. It’s also open very late and very early in the morning.
The Indian Food places that I discovered and how I got there:
While we were in the centre, we got off at the Baixa- Chiado metro station which is close to the centre and to the water front of the Tegus River. You could take an hour-long ride in an old tram at the main square called Praça de Comércio. You will get an audio guide in several languages and the ticket is valid for 24 hours on all modes of transport. I didn’t opt for it because it was a sunny day and I still had a lot of strength in my legs in the beginning of the day. The ticket costs 25 euros per person which is really expensive for Portugal. It is best to avoid the waterfront café as everything around this area is a tourist trap.
We headed upwards towards the top of the city naturally following the roads from the waterfront near the metro stop ‘Terreiro de paço’. There are several very beautiful buildings on this route.
We ended up eating lunch at a new Indian restaurant called ‘Putpari’ at Calçado De Santo André 94, Lisbon. Some amazing chai, Chana masala and Gol Gappas convinced me to write about them on the blog.
They were very good value for money and the young person who seems in charge there is very friendly. It’s in a non-touristy and mostly immigrant area of the city. Don’t get fazed by some of the sidey looking people on the street, they are harmless.
Near Saldanha metro stop, there is a mall in which you can find a south Indian restaurant in the -1 level called ‘Indian Dosa’. You can get fresh dosas and rolls and some rice plates. I found the food good and fresh but on the expensive side for the quantity served.
Near Saldanha Metro, there is a restaurant run by a Kutchi man called ‘Zafraan’. We tried the Veg and Non-Veg Thali. The food was excellent. But unfortunately, we were charged for the papad and chutney that we didn’t order but was served to us nevertheless. He also charged us for the said chutney that he served us to spice up our food. That’s because we had indicated that our preference was for spicy food. Of course, he didn’t tell us in advance that we’d have to pay to get our meals made to suit the spice taste. So, all in all I’d say proceed with caution.
Saldanha became our hang out spot for our main evening meal and the best restaurant for Desi Indian and Nepali food is ‘Athithi’. This is a Nepali restaurant but they adapt the spice level to the Indian palette. The service, people and cleanliness were amazing.
https://atithi.pt/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic_gmb&utm_campaign=gmb
The other restaurants I visited and recommend are
Area Saldanha - (also in another area near the centre) Chiado
The Green affair- Vegan restaurant
I was pleasantly shocked at how much choice was available at this fancy restaurant. The food was great and the prices were very competitive. The crowd was the hip and young local crowd of Lisbon.
For the ambiance which is 80’s and 90’s, in the Centre near Baixu-Chiado, there is a simple café called ‘Paleio Café’. The menu is just enough for a small snack and break while climbing towards the Monastery to enjoy a great Sunset view. I loved the style of this café more than the menu.
In the famous Alfama area, we discovered a small quaint street side café where we ate the famous sardines that all Portuguese eat. We chose the Bruschetta with the sardines and tomatoes on it.
The cocktail with the local cherry liquor called ‘Ginja’ and sour lemon was really lovely.
Our stay:
Luster Hotel Saldanha
It’s a very nice and modern hotel with an indoor and outdoor pools, modern gym and excellent breakfasts. On the higher price range between 180-200 euros per night for two people (breakfast included), the double room is very spacious and the washroom and shower are very modern and well designed.
On the minus one level, they even have a sauna and steam room near the indoor pool and gym. If you’re like me, someone who likes to get value out of all the amenities in a hotel, this hotel has a lot to offer. The outdoor pool is however very exposed to all the neighbouring buildings and I didn’t find a moment when the sun was shining over the pool and so I was not tempted to get into the water.
We had to stay longer than we had planned in Lisbon, so, budget constraints meant that we moved to a hotel that was half the price of the first for two nights.
Hotel M’AR De AR Auria:
This was 500m away from the first hotel. They had a great outdoor seating area and superb coffee machines available 24h/ day. The gym was also well equipped. The downsides were that the room was very tiny and the bathroom was really too small for more than two nights stay.
Getting back to the Airport from this area was very easy as we could take the metro after a bit of walking. The metro starts at 6.30am and this is very convenient. This turned out to be one of the cheapest airport rides of my European travels.
We largely rambled around the city centre one day and really went into detail with the walking tour we took.
Here are a selection of photos from Lisbon. The city is full of amazing wall art, beautiful charming corners and majestic churches. The squares and train stations are worth photos and pitstops.
My next article will be on the cities of Belem and Sintra.
