In Love with Lisbon: Part I
This trip to Lisbon had been three years in the making. We had planned to visit Portugal in the summer of 2020, however, Covid put a halt to our travel plans. This trip was certainly worth the wait. Lisbon, with its charming tiled buildings, cobbled streets and low rise skyline, is one of Europe’s most beautiful, unspoilt capital cities.
We spent six days in Lisbon, exploring all its nooks and crannies, as well as taking trips out to Belém, Sintra, Queluz-Belas and Cascais. It was an itinerary full of sightseeing, galleries, museums, national palaces, cafés and much more. We covered so much ground that this blog will be in two parts.
We stayed at the base of Castelo de São Jorge, a perfect location to explore the whole city on foot. We may have once been seasoned professionals at hill walking when Julie lived in Bristol for her undergraduate degree but the steep inclines in 30°c heat was certainly a challenge. It was, however, one we gladly accepted in order to take in more of this charming capital city.
We left London on 21 June on an early flight that landed in Lisbon at 10:30am. This allowed us the afternoon to explore some of the fantastic miradouros (Santa Luzia and Portas do Sol) and the famous route of Tram 28. Tram 28 is a 4.5 mile route between Martim Moniz Square and Campo de Ourique. This famous sunshine coloured streetcar adds an extra charm to the already picturesque streets. On our first day we saw the trams at Rua das Escolas Gerais and Sé Cathedral. Other lovely details of the city included the hypnotic tiling of Rossio Square, a repetitive swirly pattern of white and black tiles; fresh produce stalls selling glossy cherries and ripe tomatoes and bushes of bougainvillea in full bloom. Their magenta petals framed the city’s iconic azulejo tiled walls beautifully.
Our first dinner in Lisbon involved hopping on the ferry from Cais do Sodré to Cacilhas and walking along the waterline to the famous Ponto Final restaurant that boasts incredible views of one of Lisbon’s most iconic landmarks, the Ponte 25 de Abril. The walk to the restaurant is certainly interesting. You pass a number of abandoned warehouses where a number of interesting characters were going about their day. Unless you knew about this place, you really would not know a restaurant was waiting for you at the end.
Our eventual dinner at Ponto Final ended up being a very happy accident. We had been unable to get a reservation, so joined the long line of people also hoping to get a seat when the restaurant opened at 7pm. We arrived just after 6pm to a rather long line. We were determined to wait it out (we are British after all and so born with an innate talent of queuing) and when the restaurant opened the line slowly shortened as guests were shown to the restaurant’s distinctive banana yellow seats. What were the chances that we were the first couple unable to be served in the first seating? It had gone 8pm by this point, but we were already committed to the queue and so put our name on the waitlist. It turns out this was the biggest stroke of luck. Told by the wonderful staff to grab a drink at the bar and take a seat overlooking the splendid suspension bridge, we ordered two mojitos and sat on the sea wall, taking in the view. The River Tagus sparkled in the last rays of the day’s sunshine and the sky was filled with amber and honey. There have been a number of moments in our life that could be described with the word magic and watching the setting sun over the Ponte 25 de Abril, mojito in hand, was one of those moments. We watched yachts and catamarans sail past, daydreaming about one day owning a boat to sail between European harbours.
As the evening went on the sky’s colour changed from warm, orange tones to pink and purple. We were now sat, with arguably the best table at the restaurant, enjoying a delicious meal of olives, grilled sardines, fresh seabass, and gurnard, all washed down with Portuguese vinho verde. It felt like the whole experience was meant to be, especially as this was our first night in Lisbon. Ponto Final set a beautiful tone for the rest of the holiday.
We began day two with a fantastic brunch at The Folks. We highly recommend their fresh berry pancakes, they were the perfect dessert to our avocado and smoked salmon tartines. Don’t forget to look up if you’re at their Baixa-Chiado location, insulation foil has been clustered and attached to the ceiling and it is quite the sight!
After lunch we took the train to Belém to see the Belém Tower, Jerónimos Monastery and the Centro Cultural de Belém.
Belém Tower and the Jerónimos Monastery are striking examples of the Portuguese Manueline style of architecture. Both are situated close to the bank of the River Tagus, an important player in both location’s histories. Belém Tower was built as a defence system and the Jerónimos Monastery was built near the launch point of the first journey of the famous Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama. You can see his tomb in the Monastery’s church.
Our final stop in Belém was the Centro Cultural de Belém. We were specifically interested in the Berardo Collection, a remarkable assembly of artworks. We spent a couple of hours walking through the three floors of the gallery’s extensive and impressive collections, taking in works by Anthony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Piet Mondrian, Fernand Léger, Salvador Dalí, Louise Bourgeois, Lucio Fontana, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, to name only a handful of the big names the gallery housed. We were two of only a handful of visitors at the end of the day, which made for a truly calming space to take in an impressive corpus of modernist work.
After the gallery we headed back to central Lisbon for dinner. Before our reservation we decided to watch the trams on Rua da Bica, the most photographed funicular in Lisbon. We then headed to Boavista Social Club for a fantastic meal of sharing plates and great wine. We had burrata, babaganoush, a platter of Portuguese cheeses and jams and a few glasses of red, white and rosé wines. The vibe was also superb, great music is provided by DJs spinning vinyl records. It had such a trendy ambiance, and the food was absolutely delicious, this needs to be added to your list of restaurants to visit in Lisbon.
Our Friday involved a very early start as we were visiting Sintra and had booked the earliest timeslot to see the famous Pena Palace. We boarded a direct train from Rossio station and arrived in Sintra just before 9am. Before heading to Pena we marvelled at the distinctive silhouette of the National Palace of Sintra with its two conical chimneys that were for the royal kitchen. We then headed into the hills for our 9:30am visit of the Pena Palace. Choosing the earliest entry meant that we could enjoy the Palace without crowds and queues of people. It was absolutely magnificent.
The Pena Palace is a Romanticist castle and is possibly Sintra’s most recognisable landmark. It has a very interesting history. The castle’s history dates back to the twelfth century when a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Pena sat on the site. Shortly afterwards, by mandate of King Manuel I, it began its life as a monastery. In the eighteenth century two tragedies hit the monastery, severe lightening and the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755, these events rendered it to ruins. However, in 1838 King consort Ferdinand II acquired the land and sought to transform the ruins into the castle you can visit today. The palace incorporates architectural references displaying Manueline and Moorish influences. The palace stayed as a residence of the Portuguese royal family until the early twentieth century when the country’s last queen consort – Queen Amelie – spent her last night before exile (after the Declaration of the Republic in October 1910) at Pena. Just as it once inspired the Portuguese ruling classes, today it really does look like a jewel in a crown sat proud atop Sintra’s undulating hills.
The grounds of the palace are also spectacular, you can easily get lost in the labyrinthic system of paths. Spread over 85 hectares of woodland, the park is full of cork trees, ferns, waterways, grottoes and follies. In the grounds is a beautiful chalet, which was lived in by the Countess of Edla, Ferdinand II’s second wife. The walls in the chalet were breathtaking, there was even a room with walls ornately embellished with cork.
From one Romantic palace to another, after Pena we headed to Monserrate, a real highlight from the whole ten day holiday. Monserrate looks like something from a fairytale, a completely fantastical, dreamlike place. This palatial villa is built in a neo-Gothic style with heavy influence from British Romanticism and Moorish Revival architecture. This was thanks to its nineteenth-century English owner, Francis Cook, who commissioned the renowned British architect, James Thomas Knowles, to build an eclectic home full of references to Romantic, Moorish, Indian and Oriental design.
Prior to Francis Cook, Monserrate had attracted British visitors from as early as 1789 when a British merchant, Gerard of Visme, ordered a neo-Gothic castle to be built. In 1793, William Beckford, a British novelist, moved into Monserrate and began further work to turn the house into a neo-Gothic palace. Whilst the house was left abandoned from 1799, it still attracted many visitors including the renowned British poet, Lord Byron, who expressed his love for Monserrate in the poem ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’. Even in a state of decline, Monserrate had a heady power over the leading lights of British Romanticism.
On sloping mounds, or in the vale beneath,
Are domes where whilom kings did make repair;
But now the wild flowers round them only breathe:
Yet ruined splendour still is lingering there.
And yonder towers the prince’s palace fair:
There thou, too, Vathek! England’s wealthiest son,
Once formed thy Paradise, as not aware
When wanton Wealth her mightiest deeds hath done,
Meek Peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun.
When the property was bought by Francis Cook in 1846, it was transformed into the place you can visit today. The interior is spectacular. In the central atrium a stained glass cupola overlooks a fountain, and the connecting corridors, which are actually a collection of continuous Moorish-inspired arches, are flanked by sculptures of Greek goddesses and motifs of the natural world. The wider estate is full of lakes, waterfalls and grottos framed by ferns, cork trees and palm trees. The café, situated in a quiet nook, is a beautiful place to cool down and enjoy a snack. Inside and out, it’s breathtaking.
We concluded our third day back in Lisbon, arriving just in time for golden hour. The evening light was beguiling, the colours of Lisbon’s rooftops glowed in the last of the day’s sun. It is the city of pastel shades, and these take on an even more magical quality in the setting sun.
We finished the evening with an excellent dinner at Sumaya, a Lebanese restaurant in the Príncipe Real district. We ordered falafel, hummus, taboule, fattoush and kibbeh and it everything was unbelievably tasty. Our cocktails – one Aperol spritz and one passionfruit mojito – were both beautiful to look at and delicious to drink.
Click here for Part II of the Lisbon blogpost.