Lisbon Style: Café life and literary types

A vida é o café ... Lisbon has a coffee culture that (thankfully) seems entirely unaffected by Starbucks' imperialism. When ordering you can forget about the soya or half-fat milk or the shots of vanilla or toffee - in a country this serious about coffee, it's all about the flavour and quality of coffee, not any distracting additions.

But it helps to learn the basics of a complicated lexicon: will your choice be a bica (rich, dark espresso in tiny cup) (or even a dupla-bica for those not faint of heart), carioca (weaker version) pingado (espresso with a few drops of milk), café cheio (espresso with a little extra hot water), garoto (half espresso grounds, half hot milk), galão (equal portions of coffee to milk, served in a glass), and would you prefer escuro or claro?

It's all in the hands: Lisboetas doing life in cafés

Ever since Portugal's colonies turned out to be some of the finest coffee-producing regions of the world, café (coffee) and café life have been ingrained in Portuguese culture. From the 18th century when downtown Lisbon was rebuilt after a devastating earthquake, cafés became meeting places for artists, intellectuals, politicians. It's impossible today to walk down a street without coming across a handful at least.

One of Lisbon's best known cafés is A Brasileira (above) in downtown Chiado, right here in the Largo do Chiado ...

The interior of A Brasileira is all old-style grandeur - oak-panelling, mirrored walls and chandeliers ...

... and out on the sidewalk poet Fernando Pessoa who used to hang out here with other literary types, now sits here for eternity, immortalized in this bronze statue, an empty chair thoughtfully next to him, so that anyone can join him for a chat ...

No surprise then to find that bookshops are also seemingly on every corner in this part of town ...

Livraria Bertrand, Rua Garrett, outdoor stalls

Livraria Camões, Rua da Misericórdia.


... while at one of my favourite shops around here, A Vida Portuguesa, it's all about retro chic - iconic Portuguese products to evoke nostalgia in a gorgeous converted stone warehouse ...

Rua Anchieta, Chiado

On summers' nights the area hums with life ...

I watched one night as people start dancing spontaneously in the street, unable to keep still  to the sounds of these musicians (from Angola, Cape Verde, São Tomé?) ...

Even Fernando P. seemed to be getting into the spirit of things ...

... and on another, I followed the sounds of a piano to this square where an open-air stage had been set up for a performance of dance and music ...

You've got to love a city where poetry speaks around unexpected corners ...

A wall in Alfama (above) with verse from Pablo Neruda (La Cancion Desesperada): 'Cemetery of kisses, there is still fire in your tombs, still the grapes burn, pecked at by birds.' Below, a bench in Calçada de São Francisco with inscription 'We are the place that we need'.

I have withdrawal pains as my time here draws to an end ... I'm leaving with too many

Lisbon Style: eating out

Eating out is one of the most fun ways of exploring a city or just getting to know it better. In Lisbon the only hard part is making a choice. If you have money to blow you can go traditional/palatial with Tavares (going since 1784) or über-trendy with Bica do Sapato (co-owned by John Malkovich and Catherine Deneuve). I haven't been to either of these, but I've had the best time lately investigating a variety of eateries with great food at reasonable prices ...

Amo.te Chiado, Calçada Nova de São Francisco

Some things I've noticed ... Although Lisbonites are hugely sociable, they also completely get the value of reading while you eat ...

Babel, Av. Antonio Augusto de Aguiar

... not to mention appreciating the necessity of good ice-cream to life. At Santini (the creation of an Italian immigrant to Portugal) in the Chiado, the queues snake out the door most days, but the gelato is absolutely worth the wait  ...

Santini, Rua do Carmo 

An eye for style is always evident, whether one is eating inside ...

Envy, Rua do Carmo

or out - perhaps with an ancient ruin thrown in for free ...

Outdoors at Amo.te Chiado (left) and Envy (right) with a view to the ruins of the Convento do Carmo

Pharmacia is located in the same lovely old building that houses a Pharmacy Museum, and takes inspiration from that, with an interior and decor inspired by classic old pharmacies ...

Sound gimmicky? I thought it might be until the thought perished as I tasted their food - modern Portuguese cuisine served in five small courses, including two surprise dishes, all of which were ruinously delicious.

Pharmacia, Rua Marechal Saldhanha.    Photo credits Isabella B. with thanks!

And altogether different again, at 'Lost In' you make yourself comfortable on a wide, sprawling terrace with incredible views over the city, on sofas and day-beds strewn with colourful, comfy cushions ...

You can spend all day reading here if you like ...

Lost in, Rua D. Pedro V, Principe Real


Lost in Lisbon is what I'm loving to be right now.

Lisbon Style: the Metro

You thought Lisbon was all about ancient history and ruins? You would be quite wrong there.

Take the metro for instance ...

(Yes, this is an underground station). It's the shiniest and cleanest I've ever seen - spacious, fast and blissfully uncrowded. See how it shines!

Who takes photos of the underground?

Me. Sorry, I live in London where it wouldn't occur to me to photograph my daily tube voyages unless I wanted to depress myself even more.

The stations here are all beautifully decorated, each one different. I've been getting strange looks from people - the mad blonde estrangeira who squeals with delight, snapping through closing carriage doors ...

Some say way too much money was invested under the ground when Portugal joined the EU ...

... I say - if only the London underground looked like this.

A walk in Alfama

Washing hanging out to dry against a building facade covered entirely with centuries-old intricate painted tiles. This sight could only be Lisbon.

I went walking this week in Alfama, Lisbon's oldest quarter, and these are some of my favourite images I took away. 

Alfama spreads up one of the city's seven hills from the castle at the top, down to the river Tagus. Though 'sprawls' is a better word for the steep, winding, narrow cobbled lanes and alley-ways, where you will almost certainly get lost.

Looking down ... 

and up ...

This is the original city of Lisbon, settled successively by the Romans, Visigoths, Moors (who gave it its Arabic name, from al-hamma, meaning fountains or baths), Christian crusaders, and was a refuge for Jews in the 1500s. Traces of all these occupants are here.

There is a strong sense of community here (though I took few photos of people, who must be thoroughly sick of being photographed by curious tourists), as many inhabitants have lived here all their lives. Traditionally a neighbourhood of some of the city's poorest inhabitants, their livelihood has been protected by rent-control, though this has also meant that repair of the oldest homes is neglected.

A set of bells (do they still work?) connects to successive floors of this apartment ...

and a pigeon nests in a hole in the rooftop ...

Pots of sweet basil on a window ledge are a reminder that the feast day of St Anthony, patron saint of Lisbon has recently passed. Giving and displaying basil is one of the traditions attached to this festa in mid-June.

Tiles are everywhere, telling their own stories - the word for them also given by the Moors (azulejos from Arabic azzelij, meaning small polished stone) ...

It's easy to understand why fado, Portugal's sad, soulful music, has its origins in all the lives that have been lived out in this quarter.

Towards midday, tables were being set at tiny restaurants, cloths laid out and menus displayed ...

Though finally, not all was millennia old here - I loved this sexy leg someone had attached outside a window (sending what message?) ...

and the bright plastic flowers decorating a tiny balcony with a view to the river ...