Bairro Alto

Bem vindo a Lisboa! This place is more than beautiful enough to make up for the slog of a trip it takes to get here, rewind so I can't winge a little...
Bux was all packed up with her bag at the door when I arrived home on Tuesday night, barely able to contain herself. What I remembered as a 9pm flight was actually a 4pm one, the perfect ingredient to push our least organised trip ever right up and over the edge into crazy house the morning of.
The flight to Dubai couldn't have been better, they bumped us into a 40% empty section, so we all got to lush it up a bit, but we still hit the airport hotel for our 7 hr layover. Showered and refreshed we were off to Lisbon the next morning, it couldn't arrive quick enough.
The departure taxi rank had well over a 200m queue, dejected we went looking for refreshment for it to die down and stumbled into the arrivals rank. Our driver was elated to take us to our hotel. No really, the only two english words he knew were "English" and "Australia" but that didn't hold him back, he ranted and gesticulated with such captivating fervour some of it had to stick. He told us our family role names (Pai, mãe, filho and filha), told us how bella Lisboa was for turismo, told me I had to try Sagres, but Super Bock was a much better cerveja. The only failing was us understanding why he was so excited by a particular monument, a gift from the people of Marrakesh, it features an important guy and lion on the top, he was particularly taken by the leão, he kept growling ferociously to ensure we grasped its power, but I'm afraid not it's significance :(
Gab the rock star has excelled, picking a beautiful apartment right on the edge of Chiado. We strolled down the picturesque lanes until we found our way to the wider streets. We found a local restaurant with a Fado show tonight just around the corner so we know where we'll end up. We wander into a pastelaria for a whole bunch of sweet pastries then onto a shopping precinct.
Everything is so close, and far away at the same time. It's just over there, but finding the right lane to get you there is impossible, with such a visual feast it hardly matters. TravelMan's guide to Lisbon is about as much research as we've done. It means I have the tie mirror and A Ginjinha as the only thing on a list for this part of the world, but buggered if I can see a path to Praça dom Pedro IV so give up. We wander in some shops mostly pulled along by the next perpetually cool looking place just down the road a bit. Eventually its refreshment time, on the hunt for a nice place to chill we set ourselves up in a square with a market, it's only a minute before Bux realises the Dolls Hospital "Hospital de Bonecas" also from the TravelMan episode is right in front of us! The 5th generation of the same family is still running the store, originally established in 1813. So far it's the perfect embodiment of this city, so quirky, artistic and with such rich historical legacy it is rightly so proud of. Somehow the stars have aligned and it turns out we've already been to Praça dom Pedro IV, but didn't realise. We head back to the square and find A Ginjina, the tiny walk up bar selling the famous sour cherry liquor, so delicious I have two! Emboldened I fancy myself in one of these summer Kangols, but the mirror doesn't match my minds eye andI have to pass. Into a T-Shirt shop full of smarmy quips Fid is in his element, He swoops up nearly a half dozen t-shirts and we head off to find the famous public tie mirror engraved with 'componha o nó da sua gravata’ (correct your tie’s knot) but alas 115 d Pedro square is a construction site.
We strolled down rue Augusta towards Praça do Comércio, and I mean strolled, interesting shops and bars all along meant plenty of pit stops. The Plaza itself has been made over with a massive screen erected for world cup games. WIth over a thousand people sat neatly in front of it I imagined those red jerseys I could see on the screen must have been Portugese, but no this very and exuberant crowd was assembled for the Belguim v England game. The afternoon sun was wonderful down here on the harbour, hard to believe it's 7:30 in the evening!
We get an Uber back to the Fado restaurant around the corner from our hotel and settle in the show. Such wonderful emotion, like our taxi driver, we have no idea what she's singing about, seems with this language the intensity is 80% of what is being communicated.
We're home, absolutley busted, jet lag finally has the upper hand against our Lisbon excitement, time for bed!Read more