hobbling about in Lisbon.
If you haven’t gone travelling on your own before then I hope that you get the chance to one day, and that you know at least one person who has. The thrill that you get is incomparable - from being responsible for e.v.e.r.y.thing (your dad won’t hold your passport for you), the discomfort you might find from being stuck with yourself for so long, to being prepared to shoulder all the finances (no splitting meals, or taking turns on rounds). If you can successfully come out of a solo trip without hating your own company, have only lost an item or two along the way then you’re basically qualified to be a vacation planner or producer.
sunday - My flight landed at night and I took a taxi from the airport to my hotel. Knowing my itinerary and 1.5 knees, I knew to pick a hotel that had 24/7 concierge and had an elevator. The Brown’s Boutique Hotel in the city centre has the above and iis on flat ground (yes!). Eager to get outside at 10pm to breathe Portuguese air, I walked over to Dama e Vagabundo for a pizza and beer to-go and went to enjoy my first meal in Dom Pedro IV square, while facetiming a friend halfway across the world. There is nothing quite like doing as you please, eating whatever you fancy, whenever and wherever.
monday - first up is coffee. Comoba is a hip and pleasantly aesthetic cafe serving brunch and a variety of caffeinated drinks. As the millennial that I am I ordered an orange juice and avocado toast which were perfect to get me going, and a latte for my walk to my next destination.
I took a long, convoluted walk over to the popular LX Factory on the west side of the city. It was on this expedition that discovered just how hilly Lisbon is and that most pavements are as wide as one person, at best, and as soon as you leave the city centre the streets on the map resemble one of those spider webs where the spider has taken a recreational drug. A former industrial complex, LX Factory is now home to dozens of creative businesses ranging from vintage clothing stores, local ceramics, art studios, bars and much more. The main attraction for me was a bookshop-cross-cafe-cross-event space stocked with literature (both new and second hand) in a number of languages. Ler Devagar has a significant history in Lisbon with it’s first location opening back in 1999 and after moving around is now living in a former lithograph printing building at the Factory - the original machines are still there!
It was unfortunately at this point that my knee exhausted itself and I was forced to pick up some ice packs at a nearby pharmacy and bus back to the hotel for a bit of a rest. (yay for travelling solo with a missing ACL!) Luckily though, this allowed me to make a game plan for dinner and quickly realise the schedule of the Lisbon restaurant scene. Many establishments are closed for 2-3 nights between Sunday and Tuesday, meaning that a lot of the places that I had on my list for the days that I was in town weren’t actually open. You could say that I was gutted.
Fortunately, Lisbon is not short of eateries or patios so I made my way over to Green Street, a popular alley for all the patio dining spots. A Obra’s intimate setting, friendly staff and swift and honest recommendations made for a pleasant evening, of course, with the help of a glass of wine and the octopus rice dish.
tuesday - Another day, another +10,000 steps (bless the Hoka Bondi 7 sneakers, mvp 🙌). After the knee fatigue of the day before I didn’t want to take any chances getting stuck somewhere remote or on top of a hill with only down as the way out, but wanting to feel like I did my due diligence as a tourist I set myself up for a day of random explorations on flat ground.
First up was Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. Lisbon has no shortage of religious structures and beautiful architecture - Torre de Belém, Carmo Convent, MAAT, National Tile Museum - and as a Tourist I needed to go see one. The Mosteiro, built in 1502, is a UNESCO Heritage Monument exemplifying gothic architecture particularly of the time of discovery and sea voyage. Visiting sites such as these you can’t help but compare with similar structures elsewhere, and how while they still hold historical and architectural significance they can also come across as a simply beautiful and magnificent structure (especially for someone like me who knows nothing about Portugal and Lisbon history). The Restelo and Belém neighbourhoods in the city’s west is home to a myriad of museums, cultural institutions and historical structures - if my knee would have allowed, I would have easily spent the two days to get around all of them.
Nearby is (arguably) one of the best spots in the city to obtain a local delicacy. Pasteis de Belém has been producing Portuguese pastries for nearly two centuries, and sees long lines daily for their pasteis. If someone recommends you somewhere else or argues for another bakery, why not just hit all of them and do a pasteis food tour and determine for yourself on who reigns.
Marquise is located near the Principe Real neighbourhood, a bus ride and a walk up a short hill away from where I currently was. The partner cafe to an interiors shop, Møbler, had been tagged on my map prior to my trip and it didn’t disappoint. Their small courtyard terrace at the back provides cute shade, with that komorebi making us all look twinkly while some of us catch up with a friend, read a book, or enjoy their cappuccino while scrolling on their phone. It’s one of those places that if I was living in Lisbon on the digital nomad visa, I could see myself spending a lot of my days here and “working”.
Now, I’ve already elaborated on the vertical topography of the city and for those with weak knees or aren’t used to a high step count may need to pause for a breather. Fortunately, along with the height in a city comes the views. There are miradouros everywhere - little parks and nooks providing panoramic views with maybe a busker here and a fountain there to add to the ambience. Along my route was miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara which gave me just that and an image worthy of a postcard. The photo barely does it justice and I don’t have the words to describe it, so here you have it and I highly recommend popping over to a miradouro when you’re in town.
For dinner I picked Palma - an instagram discovery with nice looking cocktails. It was a’ight and I got to discover a different part neighbourhood. I’d recommend for someone who’s looking for a grammable spot to have street patio drinks and nibbles when it’s still light out.
But I’m going to give myself credit for Graca da Vinho. The wine bar tucked away at the tippy top of a hill in what appeared to be a residential neighbourhood provides an extensive list of grape juices
wednesday - Spent the morning doing my laundry at a laundromat, figuring out the token machine when the lady working there shoos me away and does it for me. As much as protectively staring at my clothing swooshing and swirling around has its unique level of entertainment, fortunately there was a Copenhagen Coffee Lab just around the corner. While spending 2-hours on a mediocre chore that feels like a waste of your time as a tourist (and yet at the same time, the gateway characteristic of a ‘traveller’), spending your final hours in a new place where not all went according to plan, and every step you took was both beautiful and oftentimes precarious, one needs a bit of peace and caffeine to reflect and absorb all.
Obrigada to Lisbon and it’s kind people. I will be back, stronger and for longer, and hopefully we can rekindle what we started over a glass of wine and some more octopus.
I had vowed after my first (unsuccessful) night of trying to dine here, that I wouldn’t leave the city without eating at Agua Pela Barba. The restaurant was empty on this fine weekday lunch service, save for the friendly and just-chatty-enough waiter who was discussing a dinner event with a client. Mr Pleasant was kind enough to take a photo of me at my table and recommend their Polvo à Água pela Barba, their signature octopus dish, which ended up being the highlight meal of my trip. I can’t wait for the next time that I’ll be able to eat there with a group of friends and order everything on the menu. Sir, I’ll be back.
