A shop full of sardines at Conserveira de Lisboa - in Lisbon

We came upon the Conserveira de Lisboa purely by chance, on a rainy day in Lisbon when we were making our way up the hill to the Castelo de Sao Jorge. Seeing a brightly coloured window we took shelter under it’s blind for a while and then got drawn in to the shop out of curiosity to see what it was selling.

It seemed a little unlikely to find a shop that only sold cans of sardines, but if it was to be found anywhere in the world, it had to be in Lisbon where the smell of grilled sardines invites you in to many a cafe in summer, especially by the seaside. In fact we found that it wasn’t just sardines, but also anchovies, tuna and other kinds of tinned fish.

Now, I can’t say I’m a great sardine lover, but I must say that I was seduced by the slightly kitch, retro paper packaging around each tin and the way that they were stacked up invitingly on the shelves. In the corner was a lady, deftly wrapping all the tins up in their decorative paper. These people had certainly made sardines into an art form!

They’d obviously sussed out what random passers by like us might purchase and we soon had a couple of little taster packs of four different kinds of tinned fish in our bags - ready perhaps to make some fishy apperitifs. You can guess what some of our nearest and dearest got for their Christmas presents.

So if you’re passing that way, or if sardines on toast are your favourite meal, or if you’re looking for an unusual souvenir of Lisbon, then pop into this quirky little place and check out a shop full of sardines at the Conserveira de Lisboa.

Conserveira de Lisboa, Rua dos Bacalhoeiros 34, 1100 Lisboa, Portugal

This is posted as part of Wanderfood Wednesday - head over for chilli and buritos and other foodie delights

Other Lisbon food to enjoy

Having my Pastéis and eating it in Lisbon
Seafood and beer at Cervejaria Trinidade in Lisbon
An authentic Portuguese meal at Casa do Alentejo in Lisbon

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Getting around in Lisbon

This is going to be one of those useful posts for those of you heading to Lisbon on how to get around the city. Like many European cities these days, I found the integrated transport system in Lisbon both easy to use and cheap to get around most of the major tourist sites.

First of all you’ll probably arrive at Lisbon’s Portela airpost and many of the articles I’ve read talk about the cost of taxis and how to get the best deal and avoid being ripped off. Some recommend that you walk to the taxi rank on the departures side, to be less likely of getting a taxi driver who will take advantage of your tourist status. Personally, if you’re staying reasonably centrally, I wouldn’t bother and just take the aerobus service from right outside the Arrivals terminal. You walk through Exit 3 and see the bus stop with the Aerobus sign. The buses go every 20 minutes from here into the city and there’s a map on the bus stop showing the route and the stops. At this point it’s a good idea to know roughly where you are going and which will be the nearest stop for you, so consult your tourist map. Once you get the lie of the land it’s straightforward as the aerobus route goes through the main artery of the downtown area via Avenida de Liberdade and ends up near the river. Even if your hotel’s not along this route, you can identify a metro stop that is along the route such as Restauradores and alight there then pick up the Metro. The aerobus cost us €3.50 and you pay on the bus. It’s worth keeping the ticket as it also gives you a discount off the sightseeing bus.

Metro in Lisbon

Metro map of Lisbon

The next thing that you need to know about is the metro which again is clean, cheap and easy to use, once you’ve bought your travel card. The one you want is the 7 Colinas card which is a travel card you get for either a day or several days and covers you for travel on the metro, trams and elevadors. We bought one for our main sightseeing day for around €7 at one of the automatic machines in every station that take both cash and credit cards. Although there were instructions in English, it wasn’t that easy to follow which card you wanted, but fortunately there was a helpful lady at the ticket office who came to show us. Once you have your 7 Colinas card, you’re away! I love the freedom of these day cards that enable you to jump on and off local transport without thinking twice - it’s one less thing to worry about when you’re on holiday. The metro system is pretty self explanatory and not huge - there are only 4 lines and they are coded with colours and symbols.

One thing I also enjoyed about the Lisbon metro was that there were tiled murals in many of the stations which made it a pleasant environment - check out these rabbits from Alice in Wonderland, or perhaps it’s some other fairy story.

One of the peculiarities of Lisbon that I might mention at this point are the Elevadores or small tram cars that climb the steep hills of Lisbon. When you see the routes on the map it seems rather peculiar until you get there and see that there’s a central flat area with steep hills on both sides and Elevadors to take you up those hills. If you don’t get the Elevador it’s not the end of the world as you can still walk, but it’s a steep climb you might not want to do more than once a day. There was an Elevador behind our hotel and we could see it trundling up and down. In fact there are two carriages and as once goes down the other goes up, with the weight counterbalancing each other. You can use the same 7 Colinas card or single tickets for the Elevadors that you use for the metro and trams.

Lastly, there are the trams, some of which are pretty old and quite a tourist attraction in their own right. The one that’s best known is the No 28, which goes from the hill on one side of the city, down into the downtown area and then up the hill on the other side to the Castelo Sao Jorge. It’s definitely the one to take to save you legs up to the Castelo but is worth taking the trip just as a sightseeing ride, although pretty busy in high season, when you should watch out for pickpockets.

The other main tram route that we took was the one from Cais de Sodre station out to Belem to see the Monastery of Jeronimus - I think it was the 15A. The tram is the main public transport out to Belem as the metro doesn’t go there. Of course there must be loads of other tram routes although we didn’t take any others, but it’s a fun way to get a feel for the city as you watch it pass by your window.

Those were the main ways we used to get around in Lisbon. If you’ve visited the city yourself and have any useful tips, do add them in the comments.

Other Lisbon articles to enjoy

An autumn weekend in Lisbon - Podcast Episode 5
The Monastery of Jerónimos in Lisbon
View of the rooftops of Lisbon

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My travelling year in 2009

2010 is well and truly here, and with snow on the ground in Bristol, I’ve been reliving the memories of some of the sunnier places I visited last year - here’s the round up the places I travelled and enjoyed in 2009.

By the way, if you enjoy my blog, please do nominate me for best travel blog at the Bloggies before 12 January 2010.

Berlin for a girly break in April

April saw me on a 4 day break to Berlin in Germany with my teenage daughter and her friends. We were blessed with sunny spring weather and loved our stay at the fabulous budget boutique Circus Hotel, where the girls had their own apartment and the Mums were banished to their room at the other side of the courtyard. We saw the sights on foot, bus, s-bahn and rickshaw and generally soaked up the arty and trendy vibe of Berlin, an ideal city to please the most picky teenager. For more Berlin stories read;
Checkpint Charlie and other Berlin Wall stories
Blue Glass reflections at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
Our 36 Hours in Berlin

Val Cenis, France for a family ski-break in April

Hardly had we returned from Berlin when we were off again to join the boys on a family ski-ing break in Val Cenis in France, not too far from the Italian border. This was a last minute bargain break at the end of the ski season, in which we squeezed ourselves into a modest self-catering apartment. My kids are mad-keen snowboarders, while I’m a rather more sedate skier who likes to break up a few easy runs with long chocolat chaud stops in between. Meanwhile my children whizz past me showing no fear, only pausing to blague the price of an expensive plate of pommes frites or a crepe. For tales from Val Cenis read;
The Good Friday service in the ski resort of Val Cenis in France
Keeping my ski helmet on in Val Cenis, France
Savoyard food specialities to enjoy from the French Alps

Lebanon for a girl’s road trip

My week in Lebanon, touring the country with a friend who works there was a real highlight. I didn’t know what to expect of Lebanon but was blown away by the variety and accessibility of what was on offer for those who want a taste of the Arab World at it’s most cosmopolitan and sophisticated. We didn’t spend too long in the glitzy building site that is Beirut, but got out of the capital to walk the mountain trails, eat mezze in the souks of Sidon, see some amazing archaeological and historic sites and taste our way through some world class wines. For stories from Lebanon read;
St Anthony’s Monastery of Qozhaya in Lebanon - video
The Cedars of Lebanon - Tannourine Cedars Reserve - Video
Mezze Memories in Lebanon

Zakynthos in July for our family beach holiday

July took us back to the Greek island of Zakynthos, where my sister lives with her Greek husband Denis and juggles family life with running two hotels. Although we’ve been going for the last 20 years, there are always surprises when you get away from the main resorts and we enjoyed meeting some locals, like Yannis Vardakastanis who founded the Earth Sea and Sky Wildlife centre at the beautiful Gerakas Turtle beach, Timotheos and Christina-Maria the stylish wine-makers at Oenpoli winery, and our photographer friend and bar owner, Rob Wallace and his wife Ritsa at Freddie’s Beach Bar at Tsilivi. I hope I’ve convinced you that there’s more to this island than its package holiday image might suggest. For tales from Zakynthos read;
How to make delicious Greek stuffed tomatoes
How to find a real Greek Taverna on Zakynthos
My top three beaches on Zakynthos

Istria, Croatia for a family resort break

In August I took a 4 day break with my family as a guest of the Istrian Tourism board, who invited a number of bloggers to this beautiful province of northern Croatia. The kids were smitten with our modern resort hotel Laguna Molindrio with it’s two pools and view of the sea and we swam and cycled through the pine woods that fringe the shore. There was plenty to interest the culture lover in me in the old Venetian ports of Porec and Rovinj nearby as well as fresh seafood, local truffles and the picturesque hill towns that reminded me of Tuscany. For more Istrian travel stories read;
Visiting the hill towns of Grozjnan and Motovan in Istria
My Istria Travel diary - podcast and slide show
Cycling by the sea in Istria

Brittany in August to go fishing for crabs

Another short break took me with my daughter to visit an old friend in Vannes in Brittany, in an effort to improve both our language skills. My friend lives in a beautiful spot overlooking the marina at Conleau on the Gulf of Morhiban and we took a day trip to the island of Houat where we swam, sunbathed and had fun fishing for crabs. Unfortunately our catch was rather insignificant, so we had to pay a visit to the fishmonger on the way home to get some more respectable specimens to eat for dinner. For a few fishing tales from Brittany read;
How to prepare a crab a la Francaise in Brittany - video
Gone fishing for crabs on Ile de Houat in Brittany
A postcard from Conleau near Vannes in Brittany

Lisbon in November for a romantic weekend a deux

At the end of November, I visited Lisbon for a 3 day weekend break with my husband, leaving the kids behind. We loved our welcoming boutique hotel which was ideally placed for sightseeing and wandering the back streets. We visited the Monastery of Jeronimus and the Castelo de Sao Jorge, getting around on the modern metro, old fashioned trams and elevador funiculars that climb hills of the city, saving the legs of the weary traveller. We ate our way through as many local specialities as we could including the port, salt cod and seafood and the custard tarts Pasteis de Nata that are the sweet symbol of Lisbon. For more Lisbon stories read;
An autumn weekend in Lisbon - Podcast
An authentic Portuguese meal at Casa do Alentejo in Lisbon
A rainy day at the monastery of Jeronimus

Munich in December with my parents to see the Christmas markets

To round off the year I took a 3 day weekend break with my parents to visit the Christmas markets and get into the holiday spirit. I loved the feeling of Christmas in the air, especially in the atmospheric market we found in the courtyard of the Residenz with local choirs and Alpine horns playing, the smell of gingerbread, sizzling sausages and mulled wine and the dusting of snow on the rooftops. I loved the cosy feel of sitting in a condotorei, having our kafee and kuchen, but I did feel the cold when the temperature dropped below freezing. For more Munich stories read;
Visiting the Munich Christmas Markets - podcast
Empty splendour at the Resindenz in Munich
Bavarian pork knuckle at Haxnbauer in Munich

So that was 2009 and where will 2010 take me? The only thing booked is a visit to the Passion play at Oberammergau in July, which happens only every 10 years, so it’s really a once in a lifetime thing. Other than that the plans are fluid for the spring - I’m waiting to see where the cheap flights, friends around the world and any other offers may tempt me. What are your travel plans for 2010 - I’d love to hear them. And if they bring you to Bristol in 2010, I’d love to show you my city.

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