With rain in the forecast in the upcoming days, we plan a day of wandering around in Lisbon. We want to start in the Alfama, the old neighborhood. It's Saturday, so we can check out the Feira da Ladra, the thieves market. We first have to go up into the old town, and then down to the Campo da Santa Clara, near the monastery of Sao Vicente de Fora.
We arrive just after noon time, and the market has filled the Campo, and spilled into all the adjoining streets. So much junk – how did they manage to get it all in here? It's the collective attic of the entire city on display, neatly arranged on blankets. It's shockingly big and crowded. And it's wonderful to just see it all: books, matchboxes, buttons, forks and spoons, clocks, lamps, new clothes and old clothes, trinkets, toys, and just about anything else you could imagine.
As we pass through the Campo, and down the streets toward the river, the market thins. We take a car to the Gulbenkian Museum to see another kind of attic on display, the Founders Collection. Fascinating and beautiful, the collection has bit of everything, from Egyptian reliefs and Roman coins, to early impressionist paintings. It includes an enormous collection of decorative arts as well (photos are not allowed; these images are from the Gulbenkian web site). There are cases full of place settings, but instead of being laid out in blankets, these are in glass cases.
We have dinner at 1300 Taverna, were we had lunch last summer. I have an outstanding meal: a grilled octopus salad, and a (quite large) steak with fries. The decor of the restaurant is a fitting coda to our theme today – it looks like the designers might have gathered most of the trinkets and chairs from the flea market.
We finish the night with a festive walk back from the Praca do Comercio, with holiday lights twinkling.
1 comment:
Being a brand new tourist in Lisbon this summer, I joined a walking tour of the Alfama neighborhood. It was really good, one of the highlights of my trip.
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