Baixa, Chiado, and Bairro-Alto are just a few fun areas to visit in Lisbon, and you can read all about them on another blog! We primarily stayed in Alfalma and Principe Real. Time for a map.
Alfalma
Our first week, we stayed in a neighborhood called Alfalma. This is the oldest part of Lisbon, and feels like a little village separate from the rest of town. If you are coming to Lisbon you should see it.
The neighborhood survived the 1755 earthquake so it looks and feels different from the rest of the city, which was destroyed and rebuilt. It is very hilly, cars can’t access all of it, and there are little restaurants and shops tucked in unexpected places. The narrow streets wind around, and are often connected by stairs (imagine a Shoots and Ladders game board). It’s a big maze, and fun to explore. We didn’t love staying here because there aren’t grocery stores or markets (just very small convenience stores), its touristy, and it feels isolated from the city center. But go and wander for a day. It’s interesting and there are great views. Here’s a little Alfalma flavor.
Our building is on the right, behind Dan. 
Green building is where we stayed. 
Orange tree! 
Side note: I learned something new yesterday. Those blue and white tiles I like so much have a name, and its “azulejo”. There’s more azulejo to come, but here is a very pretty lookout at the top of Alfalma, called Miradouro de Santa Luzia, with some azulejo in the background. And the lovely Alice modeling the view and azulejo from the same spot.
Principe Real
Our week plus here really isn’t long enough to fully get to know the neighborhood, but I can safely say, it is great. The neighborhood sits on top of a hill, so depending where you are, there are fabulous views of either the city center or the Tagus River.
The main drag is Rua da Escola Politecnica, which is lined with restaurants, parks, and concept stores. (I don’t really get a concept store. They are supposed to be a curated selection of nice things, but are basically one-off Anthropologies. They are popular here, and, again, I don’t get it.) There is a “shopping gallery” (large concept store) called Embaixada in an old palace that is beautiful inside. The views from Escola Politecnica facing south are nice too, and you can get glimpses of their Golden Gate Bridge, Ponte 25 de Abril. Pretty good for one street. Might be time for another map.
Concept store in palace. 
View. 
Palace. 
Palace. 
Delicious Italian food at Zero Zero.
The parks and gardens are, of course, my favorite part. Along Rua da Escola Politecnica there are three — Jardim do Principe Real, Lisbon’s botanical garden, and Jardim Sao Pedro de Alcantara, a lookout over the city center.
Jardim do Principe Real is the best. It has a little kiosk for coffee, and a cafe with seating inside an all-glass structure. It feels like you are inside a greenhouse.
I once drafted a blog post here. Just noting it for posterity. 
And the park has one of the most beautiful and interesting trees I have ever seen. It’s a huge prickly juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus). The juniper drapes its weight over a large metal frame, which has trained the juniper’s branches off the ground. You can walk underneath and around it, or sit on the benches the tree shades. I couldn’t find a lot of information about the juniper, but one estimate is that it was planted around 1740! The whole park is actually full of interesting trees, but this one is special. Dan and Alice had a lot of fun watching me admire the tree for 15 minutes.
Alice thinks it’s special too. 
That’s a 279 year old tree!
Below are some photos from the botanical garden. Three euros to get in. A really pretty and interesting garden, but you don’t need to do it if you do not have a plant obsession.
As I’m looking through all our photos from around the neighborhood, it occurs to me that I may like Principe Real so much because there are so many parks and green spaces in or around the neighborhood (though still a shortage of grocery stores). Here are a few more:
Parca da Alegria 
Jardim Fialho de Almeida 
Av. da Liberdade 
Jardim da Estrela
Dan and Alice like Principe Real too. Alice likes to stroll through the tree-covered Avenue da Liberdade, with its dappled light and wide pedestrian walkways where she free roams (above). Dan likes being close to this cool co-working space:
Unemployed and Traveling 
What kinda of bullshit work is father doing? He’s reading your blog. And ESPN.
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