Victoria's Voyage

After a slow start, we headed out mid-morning on Wednesday to wander the bustling streets of Lisbon. We took a bus first up to the castle, with a plan to work our way back down gradually into town. The narrow, winding streets of the Old Town area are, as expected, beautiful, lined with picturesque apartments and small cafés and boutiques. Honking horns and growling engines disrupted the flow somewhat as vehicles attempted to navigate the narrow, bending streets whilst also avoiding pedestrians. But in a strange way, this only added to the charm of life in Lisbon in general.

One particular shop that caught our eyes sold three rooms worth of gorgeous, handmade ceramic tile products, where I simply couldn’t resist making a purchase of my own…

We ended up in Praça do Comércio, a sprawling square by the riverside surrounded by a particularly impressive building. And it was still only around midday. Plenty of time to stop off for a drink and a cheeky Belgian waffle before venturing down the riverfront and back up into the old streets for another round. The waffle tasted amazing, by the way.

Late afternoon, we entered the shopping district of Chiado in search of this relatively unassuming bookshop. The appeal? Livraria Bertrand is actually the oldest bookshop in the whole world that’s still in operation, endorsed by a Guinness World Record. This place is also massive, boasting room after room after room in one long row, filled to the brim with books in a variety of languages. In short, a bibliophile’s dream.

Last on the day’s agenda – aside from dinner – was a traditional Portugese Fado show in a stunning underground room built around exposed brick columns and archways that make for excellent acoustics. And honestly, this was probably my highlight. The term Fado comes from the Latin for ‘Destiny’, and has been practiced in Portugal for many years. Barbara and Miguel, the two singers, did an excellent job of explaining the history and mechanics of the art form between pieces, the most amazing fact being that they all collaborate with different musicians all the time, and so nothing is fully rehearsed. Instead, the various songs and poems are written to match one of a few particular melodies, of which the instrumentalists are very well versed. The entire performance was absolutely beautiful, the performers’ passion for their work effortlessly shining through. I would recommend this to anyone with even a slight inclination for music in its purest form.

Spirits high, we enjoyed dinner and some drinks in a lovely street restaurant, before retiring to prepare for another busy Lisbon day ahead…