7/14 Lisbon
Just beneath our Altis Belém Hotel Room (208) window is the Doca do Bom Sucesso Marina where tourists and locals alike leave the breakwater between the Belém Tower and the Padrao dos Descobrimentos for the swift waters of the Tagus River. The Altis sports starkly modern rooms (It is a member of Design Hotels marketed by Marriott) and with only 50 rooms is smaller by half than it needs to be. Slick metal shutters shelter our room.
Breakfast is included in our rate, a bit pricey but fair. The breakfast restaurant is perfectly placed with a marina view and sits to the west side of the hotel bar, below the hotel's rooftop pool. Across the marina a show is presented: a van driver has nearly put his vehicle in the drink and a tow truck fails to retrieve it...at least before we left for the day. For a glimpse, look very closely at the photo above. But, regarding the Altis, if you want something very modern and in the Belém neighborhood, the Altis is a great pick, particularly if you enjoy monogrammed sheets and pillowcases, a wood slat floor and complicated light switches.
Our first stop is the cavernous Time Out Market where I enjoy a Mantiegaria Pasteis and B4 shops for kitchen stuff. In the photo below, play "Where's Waldo" seeking out a gadget-rabid B4 shopping as she loves to do.
You can buy most any type of food you might like at this place, particularly if you hanker an Octopus Hot Dog. Yum; bet you can't eat just one--eight is enough. For those who do not know, octopus is B4's favorite meal. Really.
Cod is the national dish of Portugal and cod cakes can be had here along with whatever else you may want; sardines are a favorite.
We Uber to Rossio Square where the pavement steals the show. Many sidewalks in Lisbon are cobblestone mosaics of limestone; one walks on art.
B4 needs to get her shopping fix so I enjoy people watching outside of Paul.
A dance party breaks out while I wait for her and, later, I am, by a quite gracious street vendor, offered marijuana or hashish should I care for some. A bicycle marathon blocks our path for a while. There is a lot going on in Lisbon.
We pass the 1901 era Elevador de Santa Justa taking tourists to the viewing platform to feast upon the pastel buildings below. Going early or late is best as midday features long lines for the viewing platform which holds a mere 29 visitors at a time.
The hills and the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge make this city feel--and walk--a bit like San Francisco. If you care to, you’ll walk a lot. Streets surprise you with decorations or tile festooned facades followed by others with ornate carvings blocked from view by neighboring structures--a sad waste for the architectural eye.
Of late, Lisbon is for foodies. Seemingly, the most famous thing to eat in Portugal is pastel de nata—a Portuguese egg tart—best eaten hot with cinnamon and sugar on top. The Altis sent a pair to our room as a check-in welcome gift and as earlier noted, I enjoyed one at Time Out. B4 is sticking to her diet and abstaining. More for me.
For details on the food scene here, on Netflix, watch “Somebody Feed Phil,” Lisbon episode. He gets his pasteis at Manteigaria, Fabria de Pasteis de Nata at Rua do Loreta 2, 1200-242 Lisbon. It is a little shop—a counter really—at the edge of Barrio Alto in Bica, mere steps away from Largo do Camoes and open until midnight. The second location is ours at Time Out Market in the Mercado da Ribeira. It is recommended to have your pastel (singular), or pasteis (plural as in two or more) with a double macchiato (I didn't but you should).
In this town are more bakeries and more food and more restaurants than one can imagine. It is as if nobody has a kitchen in their flat. And, we repeatedly succumb as do others. We pause for an afternoon shared paella iberica of rice, chicken, chorizo, green beans, white beans, bell peppers and courgette and a nice glass of house red before Ubering to the Altis for a rest up before--yes, dinner. We finally got a rude Uber driver on the way back--our first. Until Francisco, Guellord, Antonio, Jose, Alberto and Mahmoud have been supremely customer focused and, remarkably, easy going what with street closures, round-about routing and occasional traffic. Google Translate tells me that the Portuguese phrase is for Hakuna Matata is "não vicioso."
Our final night in Lisbon is upon us all too soon and we are off for another Tagus riverside cafe for a fine piece of fish. We laugh as the younger set passes the time with a smart phone waiting for parents to finish that last cup of coffee.
