-
Dunes Make Perfect Peaks
Friends met us in the park, but the café was closed. “Why don’t we go out to the dunas?” they asked. Why not? Every season’s different on the Duna da Cresmina, just up the coast from the town of Cascais, in Portugal. We’d walked the boardwalk in February, August, November, watching as the paths covered…
-
Layover In Lisbon
Even in a hotel filled with Americans, you can spot the airline crew the second you walk into the bar. The jean shorts, the golf shirts, the neatly groomed hair…the clutch of folks who clearly know each other well but cannot possibly be related in the family sense–because everyone’s about the same age save for…
-
Flor de Lúpulo, Lisboa
So nice we stopped in twice…on the same night. Nothing encourages me to leave the comfort of my couch early for a meeting in the city like two things: beating the traffic snarl at 5 pm, and the chance to hit a new pub along the way. So we drive down to Lisboa an hour…
-
Cerveteca Lisboa, Principe Real
On the Praça das Flores, the evening descends and the lights come on all around the not-quite-square plaza. In the midst of Principe Real, in Lisbon, patrons turn to their favorite hangouts for a bite and a beer…it’s a fine Saturday in January so people are out and about, enjoying the last drops of sun.…
-
Mercearia do Campo de Ourique
We find excuses to explore the many bairros of Lisbon—the city, much like Paris, is more a collection of villages than one monochromatic town. Perched on a hill overlooking the lower quarters on the river, Campo de Ourique survived the earthquake of 1755 like a bear—it’s shaped like one, and for a while I thought…
-
Ouro, Incenso e Birra, Marvila
Last year, the cold of early January struck us hard, but we warmed our hearts (if not our hands) by heading down to Marvila and wrapping those hands around a succession of beers. The Festa dos Reis put on by the Lisbon Beer District, featured Cerveja Musa, Dois Corvos, and Ceveja Lince—and I guess they…
-
Ode To Adamastor
Lisbon’s both a reminder to me of so many cities in Europe, but also like no other place I’ve known. It’s the first Paris of my memories, the Budapest of my dreams. Some liken it to Rome, for its supposed seven hills. Way, way more hills than that in Lisbon. And all paved with calçadas…
-
Ground Burger, Saldanha
We attack shopping at El Corte Inglês like it’s a major international expedition, which it is: We’re strangers in a strange land. It’s going into foreign territory to leave our quiet town and subject ourselves to the Mall. It takes planning, fortitude—and surely a reward at the end. For me, that’s twice now we’ve landed…
-
Down To The Duque
Lisbon’s jam-packed with tourists, so they say, but I’ve made it to September, and have found that when you stay clear of the places people say “you should see,” and focus on the neighborhoods—“what you want to see,” the crowds fall away. On a calm Saturday afternoon, in the sleepy time between lunch and happy…