I am developing quite a love for this city. On the one hand, I love going to new places and figuring out the dos and don’ts. But, if I look honestly at my obsessive compulsive self, in fact I do the same thing over and over, return to the same town year after year. As I have said elsewhere, I first stayed in Lisbon as I was returning from Lagos to Boston in 2016. I had been so disappointed that the brits had not brought their good beer to Lagos that I researched good beer in Lisbon, found a great review and left Lagos a day early to take advantage of it. It is called Cerveteca Lisboa and it is still the center of my Lisbon, or as they say, Lisboa, experience.
Cerveteca Lisboa is located just outside the bar area that is called Bairro Alto. Over the years, I have stayed in 5 different Airbnb apartments. Not because I did not like any of them but they do not seem to reappear on the lists? I do pick two different ones each trip, just in case the first one is bad, I don’t want to be dreading returning to it. I am more willing to face the uncertainty of newness over the chance of having to repeat a mistake.
So this is Cerveteca Lisboa.
This is a outdoor setting in the park across the street. (or maybe I am confused? Nice seats anyway.)
Things were a little wild in here on Tuesday 3/20. They had a big tap takeover planned for that evening and were changing the taps and bottles and everything. My object is to get the bar tender to choose 12 beers and put them into a box that I can then put a strap on and carry on the train to Lagos. I have no idea how he did it in all the confusion. I think he ended up with 9 beers in the box and one large bottle that I was able to fit in the suitcase. I paid him for such and took off for more bars and dinner.
My first night in Bairro Alto, at the end of by 2016 trip, I just did Cerveteca Lisboa and made it to the airport by taxie in the morning. I did not explore the area. But, last year, 2017, my first night’s Lisboa Airbnb hostess made sure that I knew about Miradouro Sao Pedro de Alcantara. A little like the Boca do rio valley near Lagos, this is a touch stone for me, a place I will always come back to. I have a symbolic map of Lisboa that I share with people. In the Eastern part of the downtown area of Lisboa there is a castle that stands on a set of hills. I have never been there but I can see it. Then in the valley is the open plazza and the drug dealers. They even try to sell to me!
I met a wonderful young lady, 20? on the train this trip down to Lagos. She was in the car when I first boarded the train. I was struggling with my luggage and noted that she was so lucky to have a single seat right at the end of the car, near the luggage area, where she could keep her pack on the floor next to her. I even got caught up in her straps as I dragged my too much luggage to the numbered seats that each of us is assigned to. Turns out that was not her seat, she just took it! I got to talk to this young lady when we got off this train at Tours and on the next train, without assigned seats, from there to where she got off at Portimao. She was going to work on a farm for 6 weeks? I have actually forgotten her back story. Just a girl on a train. I gave her a card but she never wrote. You meet some people in life and you just click. The reason I tell about her here is that she got mugged down in the drug area the night before I met her. The man wanted her purse but she was able to say no, I have to keep my passport and just gave him the 45 euro she had. So, don’t go down there at night!
Anyway, back to the main point, There is the castle and the drug valley and then Miradouro Sao Pedro de Alcantara on the side opposite the castle. My simple mental map of Lisboa. I just stay up on the miradouro side.
If you look very hard you can see the castle in the green on the other side.
Tables to sit at.
And both days I have been at the park in 2018, there is some kind of bird operation. I think they want you to pay them to have your picture taken with the birds.
Dinner. Cerveteca Lisboa does not serve food, other than nuts. I always like a lot of walking between bars to use up some of the beer. Delirium Cafe does serve food as you can see in the Phone story. But for some reason I wondered around a lot over below the Miradouro area, It was too early for dinner but I was hungry so I went into a place that seemed to have people. Turned out they were all drinking and the kitchen was just about to open but at least I got a reasonable dinner.
After dinner I returned to Cerveteca Lisboa. The Tap Takeover was in full swing. I was able to sit at a table with two young women. I think one was in Lisboa and one just visiting from Brazil. I got my beer box and their packing tape and was able to fashion a handle from my binocular strap. It held up fine.
Below is my Airbnb for Tuesday night. Nice set up. Good wifi,
I was up bright and early next morning for a 10am train to Lagos. Here is the luggage operation. 5 items really: slicker with flease and windbreaker in the sleeves, umbrella, cardboard box of beer, backpack and rolling suitcase.
The last two years I have left from Orient Station but I was able to dope out that Entrecampos was closer to Bairro Alto. Luck brought me a cab very quickly outside my apartment and after a few tries I managed to say EntrecamPOS with the right accent so the cab driver and I agreed on where we were going. I also always ask for a general price. I think it was 10 Euro in this case and that is fine.
There was a little too much up and down on the elevators in the station to find the ticket window but once found things went smoothly. People who man such almost always speak strong English. I found a stand for breakfast and then planted myself on the platform. Train and Metro stations all over Europe are very good about telling you when the next train is coming and where it is going.
A selfie on the train and a view of the other passengers.
I came back to Lisboa by Bus on the Monday after Easter, 4/2. I spent the night in a new Airbnb and flew out at 10am Tuesday. Each time I arrive in the city, I get better at handling the problems. The Bus station is very difficult. One is on the bus for 4 hours with no food. Getting the luggage and getting to the bus station bathroom is always a challenge and then there is a long pull to the Metro and once again I bought the wrong type of card as the machine also sells train tickets. Finally on the Metro going the right way. The other passengers were very helpful. I did not feel in danger even though I have no one to watch what could happen to the pack on my back. A young lady with a name tag was very outgoing and I should have known she was LDS from the “Sister” on the tag. I was able to tell her that I had just been in Salt Lake.
Luckily I was getting off at the same Metro stop as at the start of the trip so I was able to find my way out of the Metro headed in the right direction. I was in familiar surroundings but the Airbnb hostess had not been replying. She was using the lost phone number but finally caught on as I pulled uphill on the NARROW COBBLED streets to her street. I did not have a house number but started up the street and she called out from the window.
Here is the Apartment:
After the long bus ride and really challenging trip to the airbnb, I had a nice lunch at Diterium. This Belgium brewery really is one of the best in the world.
Met a couple from Charlotte? NC. They had a 2 year old who was dancing and the wife is pregnant with the next. I did not get a picture but I told the man they did not look southern, the woman especially. He had moved to the south and started several franchise chiropractic offices. After too many years of asking the wife to put up with start-up hours and lack of money, this was his treat to her. They had been to a number of towns staying in hotels where he had points. I walked over to a brewery that I have been to before, Duque. They only have 3 of their own beers on but several from other breweries. Nice to sit outside and talk to two young ladies, one local and one visiting from Britten.
A couple pictures of “hen” pottery along the way.
A shot of the interesting Lisbon architecture.
Back to Diterium for dinner,
Next stop was back to Cerveteca Lisboa. I really do enjoy the walking around. The owner was in and I got to sit at the bar and bend his ear. My normal topic is that the US beer market moved from Bud to Wheat beers and now to IPA. I have been offering that instead of going to sours like Belgium did, the US might go to Cider. The owner thought that the IPA market still would have a long run as they are one of the few styles that you can drink a lot of without feeling you want something different. He was cleaning things etc and all at once I could hear water running on the floor next to me. Instead of reaching out and turning off the tap I just said “Danger Danger Ding Ding Ding Water”. The young lady who had been the daytime bar keep jumped up and put this to right. She had told me earlier about her travel bug. I think Cape Verde islands off the coast of Africa was next on her list. The airbnb hostess had left me a bottle of wine and I had brought it to this bar keep hoping she would take it home and she did. When I came out of my apartment earlier, there was a line for the tapas bar across the street, I talked to the people and they said it was the new trendy place and very good. I needed something sweet, so I walked down town to the sweet shops and bought a piece of pie. Then home to eat it but noticed the tapas bar had no line so I went in, got a seat and you can see what I had. The white box sitting on the table is the pie that I took home and ate.
No more pictures. I took a cab to the airport, again 10 Euro and spent a couple hours in the airport, but that is a story for another page.