Cruising around Lisbon
Lisbon is a great city to get lost in. Just walking around the streets, and hills, there are lots of unadvertised spots that make the city unique. Aside from the major tourist sites, there are bars, parks, churches and some of the best tile mosaics in the world. Many of the local homes are decorated in typical ceramic tile rather than with paint or more Western styled finishes.
Inside Pavihao Chines bar and the shelves of hundreds of figurines
Snack before hitting the streets
Santa Justa lift, built 1902 to move people from Baixa neighborhood to Carmo Square
More figurines
Even an Adolph figurine, or two
Fitting end to Adolph with his buddy, Mussolini
Front door to Pavilhao Chines – not much advertising for the bar
Azulejos tile has long been a tradition in Portugal, dating back as far as the 13th century when the Moors invaded most of Spain and Portugal. Azulejo comes from the Arabic, ‘al zellige’ or ‘small polished stone’. Mostly consisting of blue and white patterns, these tiles were used to add a bit of color to large, painted areas of buildings and walls. This changed a bit somewhere between the 15th and 18th century when bright colors like green, yellow and gold were added to create more realistic scenes. Today these tiles can be found throughout Portugal in pretty much any city or town you visit.
Food is another frequent find in Portugal. Many of Lisbon’s markets are centered on food vendors with some markets consisting solely of food and drink shops. ‘Time Out’ is one of these markets that specializes in food and drink. Created in 2014 by the Time Out Portugal team, a group dedicated to promoting the finer experiences in Portugal, the market consists of 24 restaurants, 8 bars, 12 shops, a cooking school and a music venue. Inside they can seat 500 people with an additional 250 seats outside. According to Time Out Portugal, if it’s good they write it up in their magazine, if it’s great, they add it to the market. So it’s no wonder when we visited we went for the best traditional food we could find, hamburgers!
Time Out Market
Burger with traditional Portuguese Green wine
To burn off a few of those burger calories, it’s another quick visit to Castelo S. Jorge’s then home for a bit of relaxing before wandering around the Chiado area to take the street performers. Days seem to go by pretty fast.
Castle view
Garden
City view from castle
Blue & white peacock
Standard peacock
Justin & Nicole
Castle wall
