Lisbon... Someone described it as “la ville blanche” and he wasn’t wrong at all. This is the first thing that comes to my mind each time I set my foot there, the light is so different from here in Italy. Maybe it is due to the fact that the buildings are covered in “azulejos” (tiles), maybe because the pavements and even some of the narrowest streets are paved with cubes of a pale stone, almost white, that reflect the light. Lisbon is a city on the border between sea and river and maybe it also for that reason that I find it so charming, the Tagus river is so wide there that it pretends to be sea, but it is not. I have been there for the first time in 1997, during a “grand tour” of Spain and Portugal, and it wasn’t a good choice, since the work for the Expo ’98 were in full swing. And maybe it was a good choice because it gave me the measure of the changes that the city itself and, indeed the whole nation underwent. Only twenty years had passed from the end of dictatorship, a condition that maybe it is hard for me to understand, not having experienced it myself.
I went back in 1999, and really the change in the city and the people was almost unbelievable! I stayed there for a week to savour with ease everything the city had to offer, and it is really much: there’s an Azulejo Museum, that is really worth seeing, as it is located in an ancient convent, so the building is as interesting as the contents, if I may say so. It contains something that I dare define as unique: a 30 mt long view of Lisbon (in tiles, of course), that show the city before the earthquake that destroyed it in XVIII century. The Museu de Arte Antiga offers real treats for the art lover, in the outskirts (Belém) you can find the actual masterpieces of “stone embroidery” that are the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and the Belém Tower, you cannot miss the Cathedral (Sé), nor Castelo de São Jorge, but I don’t want to bore you with all the details you can easily find in every guide book... What I really enjoyed was walking around with no purpose and “meeting” all the different famous tourist attractions, Pessoa on his chair in the Chiado, the Elevador de Santa Justa, walking in the Alfama, getting lost at the Feira da Ladra, etc. etc.
Of course, it hasn’t been only a cultural visit. I found a lot of nice small restaurants and fast foods (no McDonalds or Burger King) where eating well and spending little was the law. By the way, if you are not starving and the menu offers a “meia dose” (half serving), order that, it will be enough! I remember going to a restaurant with two friends and ordering 3 meias doses of Bacalhau à Moçambicana: well, we didn’t manage to finish it!
At least one night, you have to visit the Bairro Alto, the nocturnal heart of the city. There are whole streets full of bars and cafés that leave the doors open so that the people can “(b)ooze” out onto the street and the atmosphere is fantastic.
If you love modern architecture (and, indeed, also if you don’t), you shouldn’t miss a visit to the Parque das Nações, where the Expo ’98 took place; the work done here is really wonderful, considering the fact that it was abandoned deposit and unused warehouses before! Now it is full of life, for the bars and restaurants, the shopping centre (could there be none?) and the nice walk on the Tagus banks.

Well, of course, Portugal is not only Lisbon. My tour in 1997 went on to Porto and Lagos, in the Algarve. Porto is wonderful, especially if you visit it on foot (you must have understood by now that I like walking around), in fact I went back in ’99; if you happen to get here don’t miss the local “vinho verde”, a special kind of white wine made with unripe grapes, that tastes fresh and is easy to drink. Lagos is really touristy, even if can boast a Moorish fortress and a spectacular coastline. It is not far from Sagres, another of Europe’s limits, for the one interested in such things.
In ’99 I discovered northern Portugal. As I said I went back to Porto and I went on to Braga, the religious capital of the country, that stands well up to its name: I have never seen so many shops for religion related items! A trip to Barcelos for the market (I think it is on Thursdays) where you can buy anything, from (live) chickens and rabbits to embroideries (quite good value) and pottery. A day trip to Guimarães was “compulsory” and the city was a very good reward: from the Duke’s Palace to the town centre itself that is so nice it seems a reconstruction.
I went on to the Serra da Estrela, a mountain park in the centre of the country, where I visited both Belmonte, birthplace of Pedro Álvares Cabral, Brazil’s discoverer (I got there by chance, but it’s a nice village you can visit in one hour), and Manteigas that was my base for day trekking in the mountains around.
I stayed one day in Guarda, but the only thing worth seeing was the Cathedral, which was, obviously, closed...
And then Coimbra. Well, Coimbra, together with Lisbon and Porto, is Portugal! Making a walk in the upper city, visiting the University (do not miss the Library, there is always a bit of queue, but it is worth waiting), in short: go there!
And then Leiria, a nice small town that was my base for the visits to Alcobaça and Batalha (you can reach them from Lisbon, too, and if you have time, by all means go there), real unknown jewels of Portuguese art: I was breathless in admiration!
And then (could I miss it?) Fátima. Actually I am not much of a church- or sanctuary-goer, so I went there with all my prejudices, that at first sight, were all confirmed: the whole city is a big market that lives on the sanctuary, I saw hallucinating (and really funny) things like Hotel Verbo Divino, or shoe shops that sold religious items, or little dolls dressed like sisters and so on. But then when you enter the precinct everything changes, you can see Faith there in the thousands of people that gather for the Mass or in the ones that do the walk on their knees to ask for miracles.
This year I went back to Lisbon and I visited Évora in the Alentejo. The whole town centre is protected by UNESCO and anyone that has seen it can tell you why. The centre is enclosed by Medieval walls and inside the houses and buildings are whitewashed with yellow edges, that contrast sharply against the incredibly blue sky. The main square (praça do Giraldo) is very welcoming and full of cafés with open air tables. If you walk on you can easily reach the Cathedral that I actually loved (I have an insane passion for Gothic and Romanesque and this church lies in-between). Just a few steps away you can see the ruins of a Roman temple, and then the university and São Bento...
Well, I don’t want to make you yawn. What is left from my visits in Portugal is the picture of welcoming and kind people that want to enjoy their lives. It is true, sometimes the transports are less than perfect (that’s why I ended up in Belmonte), I even saw some people using a donkey driven cart. This is a country where I would go back even tomorrow, anyway.
I want to make my compliments to the ones that managed to reach the end of my opinion. I have to apologize for being so prolix, but I couldn’t really make it shorter than this. I hope I could make you see Portugal through my eyes, at least a bit. Have a nice trip!