WANTED: SINGLE, WHITE PORTUGUESE TART
After experiencing complications, confusions and misunderstandings for our flights to Brazil, we decided to skip the whole lot of it and visit another time rather than wait for another week for the consulate in Buenos Aires to get it sorted. We jumped on the Google Maps and basically tossed a coin on where in the world we would go next. And settled on Portugal. We’d heard good things and were now famished for some more sunshine so booked the next flight out on the spot. 21 hours later (including 3 hours transit in Frankfurt, Germany), we were basking in the balmy sun in Lisbon. Excited for some tapas and sangria, we marched to Bairro Alto – a trendy little hub with lots of alleyway bars, restaurants and boutiques. Found a cliched tapas bar wedged between two apartment blocks with table and chairs spewing out onto the street. There lots of other patrons there which is usually what we look for when hunting for food. This time, our little food radar was on the blink and we had a massive fail. Ordered tapas of duck rolls, prawn risotto and chicken meatballs in a tomato sauce. Yuck, yuck and double yuck. The 2 miniature duck rolls were more like deep fried duck chicko rolls, the spoonful of prawn risotto was watery and the 4 chicken meatballs were floating in tinned tomato juice. We were handed a small basket of bread with a few varying spreads which they didn’t bother to tell us that you had to pay $7 for! This sh*t comes standard and is free in Argentina! Then came the bill and I’ve never been so glad to be in another continent as my dad like now. $80AUD – and if you’re thinking that it surely must include tons of drinks, you’d be wrong. 2 beers and one glass of red. My three biggest gripes in life are static on the radio, mandarin, and being ripped off. Eventually got over it and checked into a more central location in the hub of Centro. Once settled, we got our nerd on and fanged around town on the “hop on / hop off” double decker – seeing a plethora of museums, palaces and of course churches; this is Europe, after all! Stumbled across a small coffee rotunda on the side of a hill overlooking the glistening river and smattering of red roofed houses. Hark, is that a latte calling out to us? Think so. One of those magical take-your-breath-away moments for the ever-growing highlight list.
WIN:
Catching some Vitamin D after ray-deficient Argentina.
FAIL:
Tapas Bar 28: You’re goin’ down to Chinatown.
NOTABLE NOTES:
EAT: Tapas, they’re a fantastic bit o’ everything option rather than just one meal. Just make sure it’s not Tapas Bar 28 in Bairro Alto. Oh, and DEF sink your teeth into a Portuguese tart at Café Pastéis de Belém – WORLD famous for a reason.
DRINK: Sangria, a local red-type wine similar to Moscato except more fruity. Served chilled, goes down a treat on a hot day. Overlooking the water. In Europe. €14 for a karaff is about standard.
SLEEP: Our second digs was in Old Centro called LAmazing Hostels, near the plaza and a stones throw to the Metro (very handy for our next destination). Offer free walking tours of the city and good breakky. €40/nt for private room and share bathroom.
TIPS ‘N HINTS: The Hop On / Hop Off double deckers are fantastic and go everywhere you’ll need to go (within the city limits). $25pp for all routes/lines for 48hrs with English audio tour.
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