Lisbon, Portugal – Piazza And Park

Our first day consisted mostly of getting to know Lisbon a bit and visiting the main piazza, walking the main avenue and visiting the park. The weather could not have been better and we enjoyed blue skies and mild temperatures for our outing.

The City

Since our hotel was located in Chiado, the Avenue of Ribeira das Naus was not far away. First we visited a few monuments along the riverfront and some artwork, then we headed for the Piazza of Commerce.

Park Of Europe

The city is actually pretty nice and very clean, the city appears to make a concerted effort to maintain the streets and cleaning activities can be seen all around. A few blocks below our hotel was the Avenue of Ribeira das Naus, a gorgeous waterfront walk that takes you to the piazza. On a clear day, it is crowded by tourists and weekenders walking leisurely toward their unknown destinations.

Piazza of Commerce

The first really large attraction to see in the city is the piazza, which proudly displays the Gate of Rua Augusta as one of its entry points.

This is a very large open space that is surrounded by cafes and restaurants. In the center is the Equestrian Statue of King José I which towers over onlookers. On a bright sunny day it may seem vaguely reminiscent of Venice’s San Marco’s square near the water.

Avenue of Liberation

To get there we walked the Avenue of Liberation, a long and beautiful walk covered by sampietrini (small cobblestone) and dotted by fountains. It is flanked by high-end stores and dealerships and a shoppers paradise no doubt.

Park Of Eduardo VII

It is a rather large park that rises up out of the bowl that is Lisbon is the Park of Eduardo VII, named after a king of the United Kingdom.

Throughout the city you will find many different modes of transportation. The most ubiquitous form would be the Tuk-Tuk trucks that are all over the main tourist spots. When you venture further out, you will have to look for more mundane forms, like the streetcar or tram, which we have in Turin and find eminently fitted for the job. There are also numerous cable cars sprinkled throughout the city, where the hills dictate a hardy form of transport.

Restaurants

Though we have sampled the Portuguese cuisine, we found that there is only so much of it one can eat; so we quickly revert back to the food we love.

La Trattoria

La Trattoria is an Italian restaurant in the San Antonio district of central Lisbon. It is not easy to find and we found ourselves to be practically the only tourists there, the rest were business people who come to enjoy the buffet. It is a contemporary Italian restaurant that offers many staple Italian dishes, as well as the buffet for a fixed price. The food is very good and priced a little higher than you will find in other areas.