What You’ll See Near Your Lisbon Hotel or a Short Ride Away

I’m just back from ten days in Lisbon, called by its residents Lisboa. I had very good luck in arranging a hotel near the San Roque church on the edge of the Bairro Alto. I stayed in the hotel ten days and would have enjoyed being there longer if I hadn’t made advance plans for leaving the city. I could equally well have stayed at a reasonable hotel on the flat near the central plaza called the Rossio.

The budget traveler will find Lisbon affordable. Of course, the person who wants to spend on luxurious accommodations can find them too. I met an American couple who were staying in an apartment with kitchen in an elegant part of town near the Gulbenkian Museum for the equivalent of $90 per night. I stayed in much more economical hotel, a five-storey row house, up a stepped lane from the fashionable Chiado shopping area. The hotel office was one flight up, my room, flooded with light each morning, up one flight more. Cost 18 euros a night for one person, with bathtub-shower-and toilet down the hall. Short of staying in a hostel dorm, that’s a low price nowadays in Europe.

At breakfast time, I walked up the street a minute or two to the Sao Roque Plaza, where I would put down 70 centavos for a galao, a small glass of hot milk and coffee, or even less for a bica, the little cup of coffee favored by the Portuguese.,Then I sat down at a table to watch the world go by. If I felt like eating inside I went down the street to a paderia (literally bakery) for the same but where I along with a pastry or roll besides. I didn’t go to any of Lisbon’s most elegant restaurants but I could have found one without any trouble a few meters farther down the block.

When I left my hotel, I usually went out walking although I could just as easiy have taken public transportation: ferry, bus, subway or tram. The sidewalks of downtown Lisbon are made of small squarish pieces of tan limestone laid to conform to the irregularities of the earth underneath, not a rectangular grid. The plazas, and Lisbon has many, are patterned of the same limestone and a dark grey granite. Never has walking on a hard surface been more pleasurable.

Lisbon is a feast for the eyes. Not only for the surfaces below my feet but for the tiled facades of many buildings, the winding views especially when I was walking downhill, and the broad expanse of the River Tejo, a sight that surprised me many times when I turned a corner. Incidentally, Lisbon has flat, sloping, and steeply sloping areas (like the famous old section, the Alfama). Because I live in a colonial city in Mexico, I enjoyed being in a city where almost every building was new, meaning built after the disastrous earthquake of 1755.

My hotel in Lisbon was just an ordinary painted rowhouse, but the Portuguese have been making and using tiles for a long time. It’s no wonder that many Lisbon buildings have facades covered by a multitude of tiles with one design. The theaters have painted designs looking like the decoration of a wedding cake that look and don’t look like real plaster ornament.

You don’t need to worry about finding your way from your hotel. I found that most Lisbon people give clear, businesslike directions when asked for them. The Portugues do not expect everyone to speak their language so most of them are patient with foreigners. Educated people speak French or English and understand Spanish and probably Italian. Whatever you’re using to communicate, you don’t need to feel self-conscious.

I spent much of my time in Lisbon walking but when I went to the Gulbenkian Museum (one of Europe’s finest) I took the bus. Lisbon also has an excellent subway system, with artwork at most of the stops. At Rossio, for example you’ll see giant rushing rabbits painted on the wall. I went by train for day trips I took to the beach at Cascais and the old royal palace at Sintra. And of course I rode the ferry across the Tejo and back. It’s a tribute to Lisbon (called Lisboa by the Portuguese) that I only “found time” for the ferry one of my ten days in the city.

At mealtime, I looked for small restaurants where the local office people and business people were eating. At noontime, there was usually a choice of the plate of the day. I ate reasonably and well, whether I ate that or chose a soup and dessert instead. By the way, the Portuguese introduced tea to Europe and to my mind you won’t taste better black tea anywhere, even when it is made with a Deltea teabag.

With all this, I almost forgot to mention one of Europe’s most famous tramrides, #28, which you can take as an introduction to the city or to reach a favorite overlook above the river. Just ask at your hotel where to catch it.