Semana de Lisboa Número Um

Our first week in Lisbon ends on a sleepy, hot Friday, doing laundry and catching up on rest. It's been a great week, but not without its low-lights, too. Most of our week has been spent with our realtor, apartment hunting. What a way to learn about the neighborhoods of Lisbon, right at ground level. Our realtor is Marta; she is a superhero. She's been patient, generous with her time, and a good listener. We have Marta thanks to Liz, from Lisbon Diaries (they were on House Hunters International – thanks Liz!). You can check out their tour of Alvalade – also embedded below.

Our first stop was, in fact in Alvalade, where we saw a cozy two-bedroom (T2) right along the park (Campo Grande). The area was impressive, with lots of local flavor, thin tourist traffic, and an easy walk to the Universidade de Lisboa, where we plan to take language classes. The big downside was that the area is right along the flight path to the airport; big jets are flying pretty low by the time they pass Campo Grande, and it's brain-shakingly loud. Away from the flight path, things calmed down quickly, and we were able to enjoy Alvalade's shops and cafe's. It was really "local" and Portuguese, and easy to imagine making a wonderful home-base here.

 

The next stop on our tour was to the south, in Saldanha. This was a really gorgeous neighborhood, with lots of local activity; beautiful wide streets lined by old buildings, filled with food and the smells of food (Liz and Marta also toured this area – also embedded below). The apartment we saw was in an older structure, very charming, cramped, and four flights up with no elevator. Though the flat was a bit of a disappointment, our tour of the avenues of Saldanha and our vegetarian lunch at The Green Affair were amazing – the restaurant reminded us of our our recent "going away" lunch at Greens in San Francisco, but for just a third the price. Saldanha seemed a near-perfect mix of old and new, and conveniently, the transfer point for the Metro's Linha Amarela (yellow line) and Linha Vermelha (red line).

 

The next day, the fun paused while organized, demanding, jet-lagged Americans run strait into Portugal's bureaucracy: three and a half hours sitting in the Serviço de Finanças to apply for our tax ID. After, we saw another apartment, which was nice but in an isolated area next to the airport (Quinta das Conchas). No need to going into details on those.

We ended the day seeing a beautiful apartment in Telheiras, which is at the end of the Linha Verde (green line). It was a tonic: a peaceful, park-fulled community, which was evidently settled by doctors from the Universidade, given all the professor titles in the street names. The apartment was on the ninth floor, had great views to the north and east. It was larger, newer, and generally more comfortable than all the previous places, with excellent finishes and furnishing. So we ended a rough day on a high; it's quite possible the bad start made the apartment and the area seem that much better.

 

On Wednesday we returned to Alvalade with Donna's cousin, José Miguel. As we toured the streets with José Miguel, he stopped to say hello to various people in shops and on the street. We heard the Portuguese were friendly but some other-level stuff was happening. Turns out José Miguel lived in Alvalade for nearly two decades, and only recently moved out of the city, so he knew everyone, and made the perfect guide. He took us to a restaurant called Pau de Canela, a neighborhood-y lunch place and coffee shop, where we enjoyed a few wonderful Portuguese dishes. After lunch we went to the local market hall, which was basically shut down for the day, but seemed to be an amazing local resource; one could easily imagine shopping in the enormous hall.

 

After our tour, we made our way to an area called Picoas, which is next to Saldanha where we took a look at another small unit in an old building. We could not find it; the numbered addresses on the street end before the number we need. We stopped into a snack bar to figure things out and sit in the air-conditioning; we found a seat at the back with a view of an alley. Turns out the apartment was in the building, in the alley. Though well finished, it was not really our idea of Lisbon living, though it felt like a place a young student would enjoy.

The next day we returned to Telheiras. where we met our friend Jennifer from our Portuguese language classes in Sausalito. She was already taking advanced language classes at the Universidade, and renting rooms in Telheiras. We walked to the local supermercado, which was basically an enormous mall, with adjoining stores on different levels. Near the Metro, however, the park-like feel of the neighborhood was most apparent; it was holiday, so it was not real busy, but there were bakeries, cafes, and a popular burger place all connected by a trellis covered in grape vines. It was a refuge from the crush of the city, and seemed an ideal area to set up shop.

 

By now, after checking a few more apartments on Thursday, it's clear unless we come across a real stunner, we are moving to Telheiras. So we have to cross some t's and dot some i's today, and get the funds lined up. Thank goodness for Marta.

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for convenient viewing, here are Liz and Marta taking on Lisbon: