Tosca Tavern, modern tapas bar
While some of Lisbon's seven hills are excavated, drilled or projected, there are things that do not change in its old paved and tiled shell. And that can be seen in the new western triangle formed by the neighborhoods of Santa Catarina, Santos, Lapa and Estrela. , where multi-ethnic neighborhoods merge with embassies, English-style mansions with old factories and tidy gardens. In all of them, the capacity of the people of Lisbon to reinvent the old without the need for reforms or star architects is surprising.
BICA
It is better to start the tour on the border between Santa Catarina and Barrio Alto, at nightfall. there has opened be me , which proudly calls itself modern peixaria and in its long bar dispatch oysters, seafood, sushi and a risotto with clams and shrimp worth repeating . Take a few steps and, without suffering from altitude sickness, look out over the vertiginous Rua da Bica Duarte Belo, where you ascend the creaking elevator that crosses the Bica neighborhood . On the stairs there are many interesting stops to have a vinho and a petisco (the Portuguese tapas) or, at dawn, a drink with charm and music.
A Bicaense is a classic tavern that, on the third Thursday of the month, becomes a milonga and tango club. Pop Out, for its part, proposes art exhibitions washed down with drinks and new rhythms. If you're still up (psychically and physically), go to the nearby Miradouro de Santa Catarina, but don't spend too much time looking at the Tagus. Behind it is the interesting Museu da Farmácia, brimming with objects and pharmacological devices used from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, which hides a great gastronomic and decorative surprise: Pharmacia, the beautiful dining room in the center, decorated like a vintage apothecary , where you can taste powerful anti-appetite medications.
Sea Me, a restaurant/fishmonger in Bica
CAIS DO SODRE
If you go back to Bica and go down to flat land, you will reach Rua de São Paulo and, between tool shops and industrial machinery, you will easily reach Rua Nova do Carvalho, a parallel one. Its last block keeps the "hottest" address in the city and flag of the recovery of Cais do Sodré, the jetty neighborhood on the banks of the river. The Love Thought It was an old brothel, and today it works as a pension, renting the rooms by the hour, day or month, to creative and irreverent entrepreneurs. Its stairs are covered in graffiti with tattooed sailors and provocative showgirls (former patrons of the brothel) drawn by Mário Belém.
On the first floor there is an erotic bookstore and a lingerie boutique . Further on, in front of a drinks area with velvet sofas, a bar with mirrors (from the old cabinets of the pension), a dance floor and an area with a bar for dancers. At the end, in the space that communicates with Rua do Alecrim, walls lined with red, glass chandeliers and a madame house look in a tea room that works as a bar and cevichería with Peruvian specialties. But the fun doesn't end there; the idea of its promoters, the same as those of LXFactory, is to celebrate debates, events and even striptease sessions.
Pensão Amor: always bustling
Downstairs, back in Rua Nova do Carvalho, the old store Sun and Fishing has shed its skin. The shelves that used to sell fishing gear are now occupied by the best preserves that the Atlantic has to offer, to eat them there, with Alentejo bread , or to take home. Smoked eels, anchovies in oil or swordfish are recommended. Also in ** Povo **, with the atmosphere of the old bars, you will find petiscos, conversation and popular music . The bar functions as a fado laboratory, inviting unknown talents to express their saudade every night. Bar da Velha Senhora It is the last address to arrive, with a burlesque atmosphere, drinks and snacks. The town hall has closed the street to traffic, so terraces are expected in spring and summer.
If it's getting late, you might fancy the last drink, a gin and tonic with an aged flavor in the british bar , talking with the parishioners, without looking at the time. If you return to these streets during the day, enjoy a good walk from Praça do Duque da Terceira, close to the aroma of freshly baked bread from Padaria Caneças, with a huge variety. Crossing the square you come to Porto de Abrigo, an unpretentious classic to enjoy salmon, octopus or squid with good value for money.
Povo, burlesque atmosphere, drinks and snacks
Cross the beautiful, and today fashionable, Praça de São Paulo – home of the excellent Taberna Tosca tapas bar – and come to Mercado da Ribeira to admire the color and aroma of the best Lisbon market under its metal arches. Post 26 dispatches everything you need to prepare African food , and in Rosanamar and Rotas Vivas you will see why many restaurants stock up on cod and other fish here. On Sunday mornings, collectors and antique dealers take over and display their jewelry. And in the afternoons, the square wakes up with fun popular dances.
Going up Rua da Boavista, those who feel affection for contemporary art will fall in love with revolver platform . Managed by a private association, it presents thematic exhibitions and installations on the three floors of an ancient building that shows all its past, wounds and patches included . It will trap you for at least an hour.
Revolver platform, Lisbon-style contemporary art
SAINTS
Santos, an old industrial area, is the next hot point if we head towards the mouth of the Tagus. It has been renamed the Santos Design District since, in December 2006 , designers and interior designers joined forces, stormed several blocks and established their base camp there. Just three examples: Paris-Sete , the furniture store that has been supplying the city with the latest design for 25 years; Donker by LTG , the kingdom of contemporary lamps; and Mood, a modern bazaar to stock up on cosmetics, fashion or art pieces.
Trendy restaurants and bars have been added, such as the exclusive Alma , from television chef Henrique Sá Pessoa, modern and creative but classic in flavors; either Liquid state , a Japanese fusion. Leaving aside the shopping, in a small getaway crossing the tracks towards Alcântara is the new Museum of the East , with fabulous architecture, to see treasures from Asia, the Portuguese colonial legacy and understand the delicate east-west balance.
Madragoa , just a few blocks north, It is a popular and working-class neighborhood , formerly occupied by Africans, which takes its name from the now defunct convent of the Mothers of Goa. It is a small Alfama, but with even more facades covered in tiles , perhaps not very interesting for the normal tourist and much for the traveler. Walking on a spring or summer afternoon is a delight. Its inhabitants live on the streets, and it is common to see children playing in narrow alleys where there is hardly room for cars. A visit is required Back of Bernardas with jewels of young talents of the country in thematic exhibitions.
Paris-Sete, designer furniture
And, day or night, drop by Taberna Ideal or Petiscaria Ideal. Both live up to their name and are owned by the same owners, Susana Felicidade and Tânia Pereira (also behind Pharmacia). Reservation is needed in the first, and both pamper the best bohemian atmosphere in Lisbon, between petiscos and perfect pairings . Whereas in Through you will enter into spiritual harmony with the old convent that houses it (behind the Museo da Marioneta) and with its acolytes, who come to taste its Belgian specialties and a system of appetizers with which you almost have dinner.
Residential backwater and beautiful gardens is what awaits further north , going up Rua de São Bento, which gives its name to the multi-ethnic neighborhood that surrounds it, full of colorful houses and that becomes more pleasant browsing through its antique dealers. Look for shelters on the way up, like the Sao Bento Coffee , anchored in the 80s. A juicy steak prevails, the best in the capital. Or if you want new experiences, Cantinho da Paz, spicy specialties, yes, from the gastronomy of Goa, a former Portuguese colony.
A Travessa restaurant, specialist in Belgian cuisine
Ascending without difficulty, you will reach star , where it should be immersed in the Star Garden , an elegant lung from the mid-nineteenth century. Trees, palm trees, lakes with water lilies, statues and peacocks serve as the Sunday background to the promenade of many Lisbon people, seasoned on weekends with craft markets, antiques and live music. to eat, XL , with its long menu of starters and its bacalhau no forno, which admits no mistake.
These streets and those of neighboring Lapa, more classic and elitist (and that was an African suburb), they are an open-air museum of historical architecture with “Portuguese-style” facades and mansions built, in the 19th century, by families of the English upper bourgeoisie with interests abroad. Today they are embassies and large hotels. To the south, the National Museum of Ancient Art (Rua das Janelas Verdes; tel. 213 912 800; www.mnarteantiga-ipmuseus.pt) is in the former private residence of the Marquis of Pombal, the city's architectural innovator. Its collection of Chinese and Portuguese porcelain offers a placid journey, as much as these neighborhoods of Lisbon.
*** You may also be interested in...**
- The nine sites that devastate Lisbon
- Have breakfast in Lisbon
- 48 hours in Lisbon
- Lisbon Guide
This report was published in Condé Nast Traveler's monograph number 68 on Portugal.