Lisbon

One of the inspirations for our trip to Portugal was the recent resurgence of Lisbon. Despite being geographically located in Western Europe, Portugal had not experienced much of a cultural revolution over the past 20 years, like other capital cities. However, over the past five years there have been substantial changes to the city and it really has become an overlooked jewel.

Lisbon reminded Kristi and I of Buenos Aires, both in terms of the architecture, design and the friendliness and enthusiasm of the populace. Old neighbourhoods like Biarro Alto continue to gentrify and what used to be slums are now home to cool design boutiques, sneaker shops and bars serving mojito’s, caiperinha’s and the like.

We found a great little design hotel in the Baixa district, geographically downtown near the waterfront and close to many of the other sites and areas we wanted to visit (although pedestrian travel in Lisbon requires a lot of climbing stairs or walking uphill). Also, after relatively monotonous Portuguese food in the North, we were able to add some more international flavour to our diet, as well as experience some of Southern Portugal’s culinary charms, especially the simple but delicious char grilled fish.


One of the highlights of Lisbon was the Belem neighbourhood, a 15 minute tram ride west of downtown. Belem was the departing point for Vasco de Gama whose sailing exploits inspired a church, monastery and other monuments along the waterfront (pictured above).


As well, Belem is home to the waterside Tower of Belem(above) which was a strategic defense point for the city.


More recently, in 1960, a monument to Portugal’s explorers was built to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Henry the Navigator’s death (pictured above) and the Belem Culture Center was built in the past decade includes a modern art museum and several theatres.

Beyond its nautical history and contemporary art, Belem is home to the pantheon of Portuguese pastry, Pasteis de Belem, a bakery that was founded in 1837 and makes the best egg custard tarts in the world (pictured above). While there, Kristi and I not only were able to enjoy several of the tarts, but also watched busloads of Japanese tourists devour towering plates of these delicacies.

While this simple tart can be found in Portuguese bakeries around the world, the ovens at Pasteis de Belem reach super hot temperatures, resulting in extremely flaky and crispy pastry crusts, unlike those Kristi and have had ever sampled.


Along with exploring Lisbon, we took a day trip to Sintra (above), a 45-minute train ride westward and home to an incredible Moorish Palace and a well-restored hilltop castle.

Despite a rainy visit, we hiked about 4 km up steep and windy roads to reach the castle (above) and were able to enjoy great views of the surrounding area as well as the neighbouring Palace de Pena, a 19th century royal palace.

We were both thoroughly impressed with Lisbon’s renaissance and believe that it will continue to improve over the next decade, although along with the improvement, prices will increase and further gentrification may impact some of the city’s character. Additional Lisbon pictures can be found here. Our post-Lisbon travels include a tour of southern Portugal, ending in Seville, where we will put our feet up in a rented apartment and hopefully find time for some home cooking.

Jon & Kristi