Outfit Details
Midi dress - comfiest thing ever and under £30
Sandals (LK Bennett, new season here)
Necklace (bought in Portugal, similar here)
Jute shopper c/o
Watch c/o
Silk hair ties c/o (life changing)
I wasn't sure what to expect of Lisbon before we went.
I've heard people singing it's praises, who holiday there every year. I've equally heard it described as everything from 'faded glory', to 'cruddy' to 'a hole'.
I'll cut straight to the point, because maybe for the first time in my travelling life - I've found a city, that overall, I don't like and would not recommend. But that's not to say we didn't enjoy pockets of it, and we did still manage to get some photos that I'm happy with, so I'll share all the positives first.
Cafe Janis, Rua Moeda 1A
Such a sweet, friendly little cafe. It's located on the corner of an intersection, basked in sun, and just has a really lovely feel about it. All of the plants intertwined into the ceiling are real, so that's nice too. Our waitress was lovely, just the sweetest, and whilst the food seems a bit 'generic brunch you could get anywhere in the world', it was really fresh, well prepared and tasty. Oh and v generous portions. I wouldn't bother with the croissants though. In fact that'd be my recommendation for anywhere in Portugal..
H10 Duque de Loule, Av. Duque de Loulé 81-83
We were so pleased with our time here. The decor is, I think what I and any self-respecting blue and white lover would want in their home. Staff were lovely, service great. Rooms lovely. We spent a very casual evening up at the rooftop bar too. It's not very big so I'd advise getting a spot a little earlier - lovely views.
Alfama
Definitely the nicest district we visited (would not recommend Chiado/Baixa). We were still warned by the waiters at the restaurant we had lunch about pickpockets though.
Pastelaria Santo Antonio, Rua Milagre de Santo António 10
Best custard tarts we had in Portgual. Slightly warm, bit more cinnamon than other stores - both in their favour in my eyes. The store is in the Alfama area, which I think is considerably nicer than Chiado/Baixa.
Grenache, Pátio de Dom Fradique 12
French-style food using Portuguese produce (resident Francophile here - I couldn't not). Everything was so tasty and well cooked. I had tortellini with tomato water which was divine. Also it's hotel, Palacio Belmonte I've heard is stunning, we just didn't have time to visit unfortunately.
Miradouro de Santa Luzia
Supposedly the best view point in Lisbon - I must admit I was a bit underwhelmed! The tiles are worth a look as they were maybe my favourite in Lisbon but it was pretty grubby, with swathes of people queuing up to take selfies with the view. Which incidentally I didn't find very impressive. There's a lot of graffiti and litter, which dampened the experience a bit too. There's a huge bourgainvillea here though, which I can only imagine looks majestic in summer!
Ceramica Portuguesa, Rua Condes de Monsanto
We stumbled across this little ceramic store - I don't even think it's listed on Google Maps - and I picked up a little memento. Lovely blue and white pieces.
So onto why we ultimately didn't like the city.
I hate to be old Grumbly Greta over here but I think I'm most annoyed because I feel Lisbon has so much potential, but that is absolutely marred in my opinion - to the point I wouldn't return.
Everything's seemingly fallen into disrepair and I'm sorry to say that it just felt really unclean. We saw human excrement in the street on several occasions. There was litter everywhere. And the graffiti..
It's not much of an exaggeration to say that every square inch of the place seemed covered in crudely scrawled graffiti - swear words, scribbles, nothing artistic or skillful. We did get some beautiful photos but it was bloody hard work doing so, and that took the joy out of the experience for me. Most of the photos of tiles for example were taken inside (probably private) lobbies etc, out of reach of the graffiti.
And here's where I've annoyed myself as I've perhaps done you a disservice because I think I have rather ashamedly fallen into the 'post it for the aesthetic' trap whilst we were there..
I became so frustrated with trying to get the kinds of shots that I'm accustomed to (as if in somewhere pristine and easy to photograph like a lot of Provence/Paris) that I spent all my time trying to frame my photos to avoid all the crap, and incidentally, Lisbon now looks a lot nicer than it was.. IG what have I allowed you to do to me?! We're all used to searching for 'that perfect shot' that now I've largely portrayed a misrepresentation of our experience.
Food for thought eh?
But anyway, in short I suppose, Lisbon may still be for you. It just definitely wasn't for us.
Fortunately, we liked Porto more and although I haven't been great at posting, I promise to still share it with you!
xx
Social Icons