Lisbona Weekend!

Last weekend I went to Lisbon in Portugal for a quick weekend getaway. Just two nights, and I have to say Lisbon is a great weekend destination. However, in my opinion it would be better to have 3/4 days because then you would also be able to visit Sintra which is about 30 km's away from Lisbon centre. Sintra holds UNESCO World Heritage status and is a beautiful town oft described as a "Garden of Eden", overlooking the ocean. So we didn't manage to get to Sintra, however we did see many of the top tourist attractions in Lisbon. 


We stayed in a pensione in Bairro Alto called "Pensão Londres". The rate per night was €50 per room including breakfast. The room was fairly large, and staff all very friendly. It is probably a 2.5 - 3 star property with comfortable beds, typical European style continental breakfast, and bathroom included in each room. The location is great, at the top end of Bairro Alto, with a small park (only a three minute walk away) giving a view of the whole city looking towards the Castle. Bairro Alto is a centrally located suburb of Lisbon where you can find many bars, restaurants and also good shopping, and has been traditionally regarded as a Bohemian part of the city. 


On Friday night we went to a restaurant in Bairro Alto called, "Cervejaria Trinidade" (http://www.cervejariatrindade.pt). This restaurant is huge and housed in what was originally a Monastery and then became a Brewery in approximately 1834. The food was typical Portuguese fare and we tried Bacalhau which is made from dried cod, and in Portugal is made in hundreds of different ways. The prices were good too! The next morning, we meandered down through Bairro Alto and Chiado slowly going downhill, sipping a coffee at "Café a Brasileira" (open since 1905, and serves a v.nice coffee!), before catching the tram 28 up the hill into Alfama to firstly visit the Castle, "Castelo de Sao Jorge". The castle sits overlooking the city and has a great view of the river below spreading out to a massive view of the whole area. The castle dates back to the 6th Century, was fortified originally by the Romans and is spread over quite a fair sized area of land. We walked around taking lots of photos and looking on to the very beautiful gardens in the houses literally just below which were I have to say really pretty!! Seeing the Castle first up was I have to say a great way to get an early perspective of the city. Next was a visit to the "Sè de Lisboa Catedral" which is also in the Alfama area, and about a 10 minute walk down the hill (still on the same street where the 28 tram goes) from the Castle. The Cathedral dates back to 1147, and is a Roman Catholic denomination Church. It's definitely worth a visit, also to the Cloisters. 


We caught a taxi in the afternoon to Belem which is about 15 minutes from the centre. Taxi's are super cheap in Lisbon, and definitely easy to find throughout the city. We ended up catching up quite a few taxis, and with four of us it ended up being probably the most economic way of getting to a few of the different attractions. We headed straight for the "Mosteiro dos Jeronimos" which is just amazing. Anyone visiting Lisbon must go to see this incredible building. The Church is incredible, such height inside, and it also includes the tomb of Vasco da Gama. Construction on the building started in 1502. Originally constructed to commemorate Vasco da Gama's voyage and actually the site is the place where he and his crew spent their last night before heading for India. The cloisters directly behind the Church itself are stunning and took my breath away! The architecture of the cloisters is classified as Manueline, and the columns are in fact each differently carved with designs depicting sea exploration. It really is a site where you just want to sit and look around at every part of the building. It's possible to visit both the ground floor which also has access to the Refectory and then upstairs too. Just beautiful! Also in Belem, kind of across the road from the Monastery and where we headed next is the "Discoveries Monument", which sits almost over the river itself, and represents a ship and its men ready to depart. It is beautiful to look at especially with the sun shining, and lots of people relaxing and enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon. Not far again and about a 15 minute walk down the river is the "Torre Belem". We actually arrived later in the afternoon, and the tower had already closed but I have to say we enjoyed a beautiful sunset instead, and took lots of pictures of the sun slowly fading. Our last port of call in Belem, was a very sweet one..."Antiga Confeitaria de Belem", where we sampled their famous pasteis de belem (or Portuguese tarts) which were delicious and still warm! Each cost only €0.90. This pasticceria is a must!!! 


On Saturday night, we had booked the restaurant "Casa do Alentejo" (http://www.casadoalentejo.pt/flash.html), which is located in Baixa and this area is essentially considered to be the downtown area of Lisbon. The restaurant is housed in a building/palace dating from the 17th Century. When you first arrive into the reception area, the architecture is Moroccan in style, and is a definite reminder of arriving into a Moroccan Riad. The restaurant is upstairs, and although the building has had many reincarnations including being a Casino, it has been a restaurant since 1981. The restaurant has one room which is decorated in beautiful tiles (dating from the beginning of the 20th Century), which is an architectural style evident throughout the city, not just of inside homes, but also adorning the outside of houses and buildings, and I have to say a really nice feature to see. The food served, and is also very well priced, is from the Alentejo region of Portugal. The servings also were large, and we each sampled a different dish, both of seafood and meat, and all were delicious. We even finished off the meal with a glass of Port! A very nice evening and indeed day in Lisbon. It was a gorgeous warm winters day at about 18 degrees, and very sunny.


Sunday morning however was a completely different story, although still a decent temperature of approximately 14 degrees, it was pouring with rain. Therefore we needed to decide on what to do, but something that meant we wouldn't be soaked. So we decided to visit the Palace which has also referred to ask the "Little Versailles", called "Palácio Nacional de Queluz" which is in on the outskirts of Lisbon, half way between the city centre and Sintra. We caught a taxi to the Palace, and it took about 15 minutes and I think cost about €13-15. Because it was raining we unfortunately missed visiting the gardens of the Palace, which looked beautiful and a major feature of the Palace. The Palace building itself though is really beautiful, and it is possible to visit a large number of the rooms on the ground floor, and actually whilst we were wandering through there was a school group of young children also touring around and they were being entertained throughout. It was nice to see the kids so engaged and interested! We were not sure why but on the Sunday that we visited all tickets were free. 


As the weather still wasn't great when we left the Palace we then headed to "Calouste Gulbenkian Museum". The museum is just a little north of the main city centre. To say that this museum is outstanding, is an understatement. It is just incredible. I don't think I was quite prepared for how lovely the museum is, and once again on this particular Sunday that we visited all tickets to enter were free! You start by entering the museum and viewing pieces from BC, including Egyptian, Persian, and Asian pieces. I found this quote on the Go Lisbon site (http://www.golisbon.com/sight-seeing/gulbenkian.html) about the museum:
"This is one of the world's finest private art collections, amassed over a period of 40 years by oil magnate Calouste Gulbenkian, who was one of the 20th century's wealthiest men. In his later years he adopted Portugal as his home, and donated all of his stupendous art treasures to the country when he died in 1955 at the age of 86."
As you make your way through the various rooms it's possible to view ceramics, masks, rugs, bowls, paintings, furniture, and jewellery from BC to the 20th Century. To go from viewing ancient Egyptian pieces to Monet paintings and Rodin sculptures is amazing, and really a treat to be able to do. I could go on about this museum, as it is so beautiful, but I won't, other than to say "You must go"!!


The last thing that we did in Lisbon was to have some lunch, chicken with piri piri!! Then we made our way back to our Pensione via the "Elevador de Santa Justa", which is a turn of the century (20th Century that is!), elevator and has great views over the city looking towards the Castle and river.


Ahhh...a great weekend and definitely a city I recommend to visit!