Lisbon: A Cautionary Tale

Well hello, readers.

I recently returned from a 5-night stay in Lisbon - a trip that started off well, but soon descended into an experience I'd rather forget.

View from one of the turrets of the Castelo de São Jorge 

I've always avoided travelling to 'poorer' countries because, frankly, I just don't want to have to face all that White Privilege guilt. I'm not comfortable feeling luckier / wealthier than others - though lord knows nobody need envy me my vast wealth. The fact that I hail from a safe, rich country is, however, thrown into stark relief in such places. But also it's my experience that poorer places generally treat their animals badly - or at least they don't tend to have protective laws for animals - and I just cannot be dealing with that. I have a hard enough time coping with farming practices in affluent countries, including my own.

Nonetheless, I had some annual leave to use by the end of March, and when Portugal won Eurovision a couple of years ago I was very impressed with the 'postcards' shown by the host nation during the televised final. It looked to have some very interesting history and architecture, and some beautiful scenery. It didn't appear to be really poor so I thought perhaps I would risk it. 

A quick check of low season air fares from London to Lisbon confirmed that this should be a relatively low-cost trip at this time of year, even if I stayed in a really nice Air BnB in the most historic part of town.

So, Lisbon it was.

Lisbon city has the most beautiful tiled buildings

I have no idea what this building was, but it was only a few minutes' walk from my apartment.
It had the most incredible bougainvillea in flower on that roof terrace

Now, I'm the first to admit that before travelling there, I knew practically nothing about Portugal aside from the fact it produces port wine, sherry, sardines and bacalao (salted cod). And of course I was already familiar with the Portuguese custard tart, which doesn't appeal to me because *dairy* but I forced myself to sample one, all the same. I also had some vague idea that Portugal had a strong seafaring history, and a language that, from my university days, I knew to be a fascinating mix of latin-based words that often sound like Russian or Dutch when spoken. 

That really was the extent of my knowledge, and I was looking forward to finding out more.

Unfortunately, my plans to really absorb myself in Lisbon's history were not to be realised.

Above and below:
A few examples of the tiles covering some of the buildings in Lisbon

The trip was off to a relatively positive start with the public transport system easy to use and of a good standard, although in looking back I realise I didn't take a single trip on train, tram or bus without coming across a beggar asking for money. 

On arrival at Lisbon airport I had purchased a 'Lisboa Card' which gives you access to all public transport and free or discounted entry to museums, galleries and activities. I chose the 72-hour pass and my plan was to really, solidly, get my money's worth by zipping all over the city and beyond in my first few days.

The train journey to the locality where I was to stay took about 45 minutes (it involved changing trains once), and then I had to walk from the Metro station to my Air BnB apartment which was located in the historic Alfama area. This is a charming place comprising steep and narrow lanes, peppered with cafés and fado restaurants, tiny little grocery stores and tourist gift shops. The apartment itself was fantastic - located in a small square with its own beautiful church immediately opposite, and surrounded on all sides by restaurants and cafés. Every lane also seemed to have a small table set up on the street, offering home-made cherry liqueur for sale.

My apartment in the Alfama area

Sunrise over the church opposite my apartment - the Igreja de São Miguel
(this photo taken from my bedroom window)

My Air BnB hosts left me a bottle of the famed Vinho Verde ('green wine'),
which is so called as it's only aged 3-6 months after harvest.
It's light, crisp and slightly spritzy - usually a white wine, but you can get rosé and even red versions

My bedroom in the apartment - high ceilings, shutters.
That's a small chocolate in front of the pink cushion - not a bug crawling across the bed!

Just behind 'my' church - the path leading up the hill to the castle

The other side of my apartment (the kitchen side) backed on to this lane

Just after arriving at the apartment I set out to buy a few groceries - a packet of pasta, a jar of pesto, bread, jam, strawberries, a bottle of wine. And then I started exploring the local area, including a brief afternoon stop in a square to enjoy a glass of local rosé.

Portuguese wine is GREAT VALUE.
I paid only €6 for this red wine in a grocery store and it was absolutely superb
(I applied my usual purchasing strategy - pick the prettiest label! This method is yet to fail me)

Just around the corner from my apartment - yet another charming square.
There are orange trees all over Lisbon, and the smell of their blossom is incredible

Evening sun over the Miradouro de Santa Luzia, a 10-minute uphill slog from my apartment

Lion's head water fountain near my apartment in Alfama

Banksy-style street art in Alfama

Rustic house near my apartment in Alfama

After trudging around for several hours I returned to the apartment for dinner, and then ventured out to see what Alfama looked like after dark. I was struck by the heady scent of orange blossom on the night air - absolutely intoxicating. Also the sounds of fado drifting up from all directions. Fado is a traditional form of Portuguese music that originated in the 1820's. Essentially it's fairly melancholic and expressive singing. It was my plan to attend one of these restaurants at some point.

It's a good thing I did this nocturnal exploring on my first night, because after what happened the following day, I would not be venturing out after dark again.

Alfama has dozens of bars and cafés

'Jesus Arch' street sign

Alfama is famous for its fado clubs and there were plenty near my apartment

Literally 3 minutes' walk from my apartment, Lisbon Cathedral is the oldest church in the city.
It dates from the twelfth century and is predominantly Romanesque in style

This shop sells nothing but Portuguese sardines. Really.
(and it's not the only sardine-specific shop in the city!)

Early on my second day I set out in earnest to explore my immediate environs and the main city centre area. 

This included a ride in the Elevator de Santa Justa, built by Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard (a student of Gustav Eiffel) in 1901. Lisbon has very steep hills and this elevator is one of several in the city that make moving around easier. It allows pedestrians to go from the lower Baixa district to the elevated Bairro Alto district.

Colonnade at the Praca do Comercio

The Rua Augusta - a pedestrianised street running between two squares
with the Augusta Arch in the distance

Yes, even in Lisbon I managed to find an art nouveau building!

The neo-gothic Elevator de Santa Justa

The view from the top of the Elevator de Santa Justa - with the ruins of the Convent of Our Lady of Mount Carmel behind me 
(which was all but destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake)

View over the city from the top of the elevator, 
with the moorish São Jorge Castle in the background

The Confeitaria Nacional is a pastry institution in Lisbon. It was founded in 1829

Great double espresso, and I assume the pastel de nata is of superior quality.
I don't usually indulge in custard, so I wouldn't know

I had planned to get a bus to one of Lisbon's museums (making use of that Lisboa Card), but decided I could leave that for another day, and instead I headed up to the Castelo de São Jorge which towers above the Alfama district and is only about a 10-15 minute walk from the apartment, depending on how energetic you are feeling - it's a steep climb uphill.

I spent about 90 minutes wandering around the castle, enjoying the views and the gardens.

Entry to the São Jorge Castle

Fabulous views in all directions from the castle, one of the highest points in the city

The castle has a resident population of beautiful peacocks

It was a really nice day, and having already clocked up about 11 kilometres of walking I thought I'd finish up by visiting a small museum on the way back to my apartment, but first I stopped for a late lunch in a café just a short stroll away from the castle, following which I walked the few minutes down the hill to the museum.

On arrival at the museum I was horrified to discover the zip on my backpack was wide open. I never, ever leave zips or fasteners open on my bags - I'm really fastidious about that kind of thing. I hang onto my bag tightly when in crowded places particularly. If I sense there is somebody walking close behind me, I step off to the side and wait for them to pass. I like to think I'm an experienced and savvy traveller.

After a couple of minutes of frantic searching of every pocket and section of my bag, I realised with horror that I was the latest victim of Lisbon's scourge: the pickpocket.

I had not felt a thing.

There followed a frantic few hours of contacting my UK bank to cancel debit and credit cards, racing to the police station to lodge a formal report, then screaming to the Australian Embassy to lodge an application for an emergency passport, before they closed for the day. Fortunately, I had a couple of euros in coins which allowed me to take one metro trip as the Embassy was at least a 30-minute fast trot by foot.

This was on a Thursday afternoon, and meanwhile Kevin had transferred some funds via Western Union - the only problem being that I had absolutely no ID to be able to identify myself to the Western Union people. Thankfully the Australian Embassy made a call and it was agreed that as long as I brought along a photocopy of my stolen passport (which DFAT had digitally), the police report and an official letter from the Embassy, Western Union would release the money to me.

They wouldn't.

Actual photo of me, following my attempt to get the money from Western Union
[Photo courtesy Nerdy Creator]

I stood there outside the little glass box, arguing (politely) with the Western Union employee for over an hour, while he made several phone calls to his 'supervisor' and scanned and sent off all my documents. All to no avail.

By the time I gave up and tried to phone the Embassy for their further assistance, they had closed for the day.

Imagine travelling solo in a foreign country, and suddenly having no money, and no ID. Fortunately I had enough food from my grocery shopping the day before, to give me dinner that night and breakfast the following morning. There was nothing to do but hope my emergency passport would be ready the following morning, so I could collect it first thing, then race back to the Western Union office to get my money, and then join the all-day tour I had booked for Friday - a day trip to Sintra.

I was feeling pretty fragile by this stage, and anticipating the worst, I messaged my Air BnB hosts to tell them what had happened, and to ask whether - if I was still unable to collect my WU cash the next day - they would permit Kevin to transfer some money to them, and they could give me the cash. At least that should see me through the weekend.

I also messaged my tour guide for the following day, letting him know the situation and that he could no longer collect me from the apartment at 9:30am as I would be at the Embassy / Western Union at that time. I suggested I could get the train to Sintra (about a 40-minute trip) and meet the tour there.

I have to say I was overwhelmed by the kindness of both parties. My tour guide expressed his dismay at what had happened, confirmed that it would be fine to text him once I was on the train, and he would meet me at Sintra station to join the other people on the tour (a Californian couple), and told me he would be in the city that same evening and would be happy to drop off some cash to me, just to allow me to move around and feed myself! He also offered to fully refund my tour if I wanted to cancel. My Air BnB hosts were also incredible. Within an hour of sending my message, Pedro was knocking on the door with €200 in his hand - very trusting.

Bear in mind these are people I'd never met, and I was due to be leaving the country in a few days. Their kindness and generosity went quite some way to outweighing the callousness of the thieves who took my cash, cards and documents.

The place where, no doubt, the thieves who stole all my stuff like to dine

Sadly, the next morning it was clear the universe was conspiring against me. I was at the Australian Embassy at 09:00 on the dot, only to be told that the IT system of every single Australian embassy and consulate around the world was 'down' - and as such, they were unable to print my emergency passport.

There was nothing to do but use the cash lent to me by my Air BnB hosts to buy my train ticket to Sintra, and wait for the phone call from the Embassy - hopefully advising that the system was once more functional and I could collect my passport. It would possibly mean leaving the day-tour early and taking the train back to Lisbon, but never mind.

The spectacularly vibrant Pena Palace - the stuff of fairytales!

Pena Palace's moorish influences are very evident, though the whole castle is an
intentionally eclectic mix of Neo-Gothic, Neo-Manueline, Neo-Islamic and Neo-Renaissance styles

Incredible views over the Sintra region and Portugal's west coast, from one of the Pena Palace battlements

Araucaria (Monkey Puzzle) tree in the gardens at Pena Palace

Foliage-covered fountain in the gardens at Pena Castle

The Sintra region tour was absolutely incredible, and I highly recommend it if you are going to Lisbon. We visited a couple of castles and were fortunate in our guide as he had grown up in the area - he was a great source of history and anecdotes, and his pride in this beautiful region was evident... though he is also very aware that Portugal has economic and other problems. 

There were only the four of us - our guide Guilherme, the Californian couple Betsy and Reid, and myself. We established a distinct sympatico very early in the day, and Betsy and Reid insisted on paying for my lunch when we stopped at a local café on the coast - extremely kind, given they had only met me a couple of hours before. 

The history of the Sintra region is fascinating and it is indeed beautiful, set in the Sintra-Cascais National Park. After we were all castled-out, our route back to Lisbon took in the west (Atlantic) coast of this part of Portugal, including the westernmost point of continental Europe - Cape Roca. Weirdly, the whole area is peppered with Australian native trees - mainly eucalypts but also wattles. As in parts of California (I recall San Francisco, particularly), these Australian trees are now considered an invasive problem. 

Sorry about that, Portugal!

Quinta da Regaleira Castle - not as old as it looks! (only completed in 1910)

The famous Initiation Well at the Quinta da Regaleira castle. 
It conceals a passage that drops down 27 meters and then opens up to a series of underground tunnels.
The well is divided into nine platforms, reminiscent of the Divine Comedy by Dante and the nine circles of Hell

Quinta da Regaleira castle

Mosaic fountain at the Quinta da Regaleira castle

The parterre garden at the Sintra Castle Hotel

A sea of succulents at the Cabo da Roca (Cape Roca), west of Sintra.
This is the westernmost point of continental Europe

The little town of Azenhas Do Mar, on Portugal's Atlantic south-western coast.
It was interesting to see that this place had a sea-pool, like we have at many of Sydney's beaches

The resort town of Cascais, only about a 40 minute drive west of Lisbon

A candy-striped building in the fishing town / resort town of Cascais on Portugal's
south-west Atlantic coast

The only downside to the day was that at about 2pm I received a call from the Australian Embassy, giving me the bad news that their systems were still down, and I would likely have to wait until Monday (the day I was due to fly back to London) for my passport. It was only during this conversation that I realised the Embassy had no idea I hadn't been able to get the money from Western Union - I had emailed them the night before, but naturally with their IT system down, they had not received it.

I will forever be grateful to the staff at the Embassy - including the Consul - who immediately flew into action when they realised I was facing the weekend with very little cash at my disposal. A phone call was made to the Head of Compliance at Western Union, and one of the consular staff actually walked to the WU office to make sure they would give me my money as promised. I only returned to Lisbon in the evening, but thankfully was able to finally retrieve the cash early the next morning.


Now flush with funds on Saturday morning after two days of penny-pinching and uncertainty, I had the day at my disposal. I decided to take a day-trip to Belém, because I'd read a travel blog post saying it was well worth the 40-minute tram ride. It's a town to the west of Lisbon, situated along the Tejo Estuary.

The sight that interested me most was the Torre de Belém (Belém Tower), a structure from the early 16th century which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the significant role it played in the Portuguese maritime discoveries of the era of the Age of Discoveries. 

I confess to some trepidation for this little jaunt, as many of the websites I'd looked at warned of pickpockets on the tram and in crowded areas. Indeed, the tram was absolutely jammed and I held onto my bag with a vice-like grip, keeping half my cash in my front jeans pocket, with my hand actually inside the pocket most of the time. So really, I wasn't in a very positive frame of my for the excursion. And in fact, having arrived and walked for about 30 minutes from the tram stop past buildings and monuments, dodging ill-behaved children on bicycles and clueless adults on Segways, at some point I looked up to see that the Belém Tower was at least another 10-minute slog along the promenade and thought 'Sod this'. Instead I stopped at an Italian restaurant and had my first bought meal for several days (FYI - I lived on that one packet of spaghetti for dinners the entire trip)... and then I trudged back to the tram stop to return to Lisbon.

Yes, the architecture and monuments were impressive. But the town was also crammed full of family day-trippers - probably because it was a Saturday. In hindsight, had I known that this was a recreational destination, I would have picked a weekday to visit.

At 52 metres high, Belém's Monument to the Discoveries really is impressive.
It was built in 1960 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator

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The five-star Altis Belém Hotel & Spa, adjacent to the Bom Sucesso Dock and the Belém Cultural Centre. 
Fabulous modern architecture

I'm pleased to report that - finally - on Monday morning, I was issued with my emergency passport and travelled straight on to the airport when I left the Australian Embassy.

So, would I recommend Lisbon as a travel destination?

Since returning to England I've done some internet research to find out what other travellers think of the place. I have found there are quite a lot of blogs and travellers' forums where people absolutely, categorically hated the place. 

Yet another museum I didn't get to visit after my Lisboa Card was stolen -
Museum of Nobel prize author Jose Saramago's life & work,
set in a restored 16th-century townhouse

See, England? Yet another country where every single double espresso served is perfect.
It's really not that hard

Portugal is famed for its ceramics. Some of them are not exactly to my taste,
but I'm appreciative of the tradition and skill

A rosy sunset reflected in the windows of this tiled building, on the steep
street which leads up to the castle

The renowned Time Out market - a complete waste of time for me.
40 retailers of food and drink, and nary a vegetarian option!
(yep, you guessed it - a salad with the usual offending goat's cheese was my only choice)

The Rua Nova do Carvalho, which is painted pink. I have no idea why

Top travellers' peeve about Lisbon appears to be the dour / unfriendly attitude of the locals - and there was indeed a worrying amount of aggressive, anti-tourist graffiti in some areas. I myself was subject to quite a few gruff exchanges with people, some of whom were actually employed in the tourist industry! I guess this fits with the culture - the fado tradition celebrates heartbreak, loneliness and the essential crappiness of the human existence, and the music is generally mournful. I don't need people to be all smiley and cheery all the time, so this didn't particularly bother me, but if you're the sort of person that wants everybody to greet you with a smile and you take offence easily, it's not the place for you.

Another complaint is about those picturesque cobbles. I concur with this.  After my disappointing brush with Portuguese crime, I was becoming less tolerant of the 'charms' of this city, and following that particularly tiring day racing all over the city between the apartment, the Embassy and the Western Union office, my enthusiasm for Lisbon's cobbles was definitely waning by the second afternoon. Wheeling your luggage across those suckers is absolutely bone-jarring.

I found myself cursing under my breath 'Haven't these people ever heard of CONCRETE?!'

For me, food is also an issue. I did come across a couple of vegan restaurants but at that time I had no money to spend, and frankly I couldn't be bothered trying to find my way back to them once I again became solvent. Restaurants and other eateries abound, but they are all offering meat and seafood. Vegetarian options are extremely limited.

Those offending cobbles. I was appreciative when I first arrived. 
After five days of trudging around on them, my enthusiasm had waned

In summary, Yes - you should visit Lisbon if:

• you like to eat meat and fish all day long
• you are going with a companion or group
• you can afford to do lots of tours with a local as your guide
• you speak Portuguese. 

Conversely, I do not recommend you visit Lisbon if you are travelling alone (and especially if you are female), if you are planning to do your own thing, and if you don't speak Portuguese. 

Quite a lot of the travel blogs noted that people with Spanish language skills were often rebuffed when they tried to communicate in what they innocently assumed was a reasonably close language, and better than speaking English. 'Is not Spanish!' appears to have been a fairly common, intolerant response from the natives.

It was really only after my pickpocketing incident that I started to notice there were very few single tourists - everybody was in couples or groups, and the only people I saw walking around on their own were men. I realise now that I was probably considered an easy target, even in broad daylight.

After this unhappy experience I certainly didn't feel confident walking around by myself at night, so I never did get to experience one of those fado nightclubs.

Yet another beautifully tiled building - this one just down the road from the castle

Portuguese chocolate truffles, and a bottle of red.
Purchased solely for the pretty bottle!
(I have every confidence it will also be delicious)

Sunset over the Tagus - picture taken from the Miradouro de Santa Luzia,
about a 10-minute hike uphill from my apartment

Meanwhile, I'm incredibly grateful to my husband Kevin and good friends in various locations around the world who, although they were not able to practically assist with money (because I had no way of accessing it), provided crucial emotional support during an upsetting and worrying time.

I think in future I'll limit my solo travel to places less plagued by petty theft. 

Perhaps I'll return to Lisbon one day, particularly as Kevin is keen to see it.

... but perhaps I won't.

Until next time,
- Maree  xo