When Portuguese writer Jose Saramago won the Nobel Prize, his name became known around the world and his works were translated into several languages. Then Hollywood came calling for adaptations of his novels for the big screen, but Saramago always refused to provide the rights for that. However, someone must have made a good argument to convince him to turn his best-selling “Blindness” into a major feature film, and after opening the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, it will now premiere worldwide in October. It will start with a limited release in the United States on October 3rd, telling the story of a society in an unnamed country and city suddenly struck by an epidemic of blindness. It stars Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo, who bring to life a tale about the collapse of society due to the shocking fragility of our social institutions, or of humankind in general. For the trailer and complete information about the film, see its official website: www.blindness-themovie.com

Lisbon will also have a new Saramago attraction soon with the opening of the Saramago Foundation inside the landmark Casa dos Bicos. That 16th century palace will be home to the author’s library and serve as host of a number of literary events, which GoLisbon.com will obviously tell you about when they happen. In the meantime, if you’ll be in Lisbon before the opening, you can still check out the curious façade of the building, with its hundreds of spikes.

Lisbon’s design biennial Experimenta Design will be back in 2009 (now also taking place in Amsterdam), but there are already some related events this year. The official launch is this month with the first world exhibition about Swiss architect Peter Zumthor.  It’s called “Peter Zumthor – Buildings and Projects 1986-2007” and focuses on the architect’s creative process, showing 29 of his projects through mock-ups and sketches.  Six of the large-scale mock-ups stand out for their physical impact, while two video installations reveal other aspects of the architect’s vision.  This exhibition is found in the Alcântara district on Rua Rodrigues Faria, 103.

Architecture and design buffs will also want to check out the temporary exhibitions of the Design & Fashion Museum, showing a few pieces from its outstanding collection in a small temporary space in Alfama as the museum prepares to be reopened in its new home.

In between these visits, continue with design in mind, and have your meals in stylish cafes and restaurants. Stop by Café Royale in Chiado for a light lunch surrounded by the contemporary Scandinavian décor of the space, and dine in style at Yasmin, a restaurant where the food is just as attractive as its furnishings and interior design.

All of that after checking out the boutiques of Lisbon’s most prominent designers Fatima Lopes and Ana Salazar, but also taking a look at the bold new talent in the city, in Storytailors’s fantastic space in Chiado. If you continue to be in the shopping mood, head on to Santos, the city’s designated “Design District,” home to Lisbon’s top interior design shops.  Stay in the area for a drink or the increasingly popular sushi at Estado Liquido.

At the end of the day, relax at your design hotel, Fontana Park uptown, or Jeronimos 8 right next to the city’s main architectural landmarks in Belem.

It took some time after the Great Earthquake of 1755 for Lisbon to have a reconstruction plan for its downtown area. After all, the city was left almost completely destroyed and its renaissance had to be carefully thought out. The final plan was completed in 1758, and it took decades to come to life.

For this year’s 250th anniversary of the project, the Lisbon City Hall has presented an exhibition explaining the evolution of downtown Lisbon as seen today, through official documents, photographs, and videos. The highlight is the huge model of the city as it was before the earthquake that was temporarily moved here from its permanent home in the City Museum.

The exhibition takes place in a gallery underneath the arches of Comercio Square, and can be seen until November 1st, the anniversary of the devastating earthquake. In addition to explaining what was Europe’s first neoclassical town planning using a grid of streets lined with uniform buildings, the exhibition also opens the debate of what should be done in the future in this historical district and presents the projects already in the works.

The city center is in urgent need of rejuvenation, with many of the buildings being given a new life. New residents that are seen as catalysts for a renewed Baixa district is the upcoming Design and Fashion Museum, as well as the conversion of many buildings into hotels. The hope is that with a lively, cleaned up Baixa, the area will be recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site for its singular architectural plan. After you see the “Lisboa 1758, The Baixa Plan Today” exhibition you’ll agree that it is a surely deserved distinction.

This year’s annual survey conducted by the Lisbon Tourism Board showed that 92% of foreign tourists who visited the city say they’d like to return.

Their experience in Lisbon was better than they thought it would be for 28% of them, 40% said the city was just as they imagined it, while 32% claimed their expectations were more than met. Diversity of attractions, public transport system, climate, and value for money were seen as the city’s positives, which is why 92% said they’ll likely return and 99% said they’ll recommend the city to others, with the words “pretty”, “historic”, “friendly”, “calm” and “cultural” as the most used to describe Lisbon.

A surprising 75% of visitors had been to Lisbon before and decided to return. Of those, 20% had visited once before, 25% had been twice, and for 8% this was their fourth visit.

The average time spent in Lisbon was 6.3 nights, with 90% choosing to stay in a hotel. The most visited sights were those linked to the city’s “Golden Age of Discovery” in the Belem district, and the Castle of St. George, with 80% of them choosing walking as their preferred way to get around. 75% visited museums, 71% did some shopping, 70% went out for dinner, and 56% headed to the beach.

In fact, many chose to see Lisbon’s surroundings, with 99% of those surveyed saying that Sintra, Cascais, Estoril, and Obidos exceeded their expectations.

This will be a magical week in Lisbon. From now until Sunday the city’s main streets and squares will be filled with almost two dozen masters of illusion from several countries including Portugal, England, Sweden, USA, Spain, Australia, and Argentina. They’ll be making a total of 173 scheduled performances of magic tricks to stimulate the minds and imagination of both locals and tourists passing by.

It’s the third annual edition of the Lisboa Magica – Street Magic World Festival, which last year stopped 30,000 unsuspecting people in Camões Square, Rua Augusta, Figueira Square, Restauradores, Rossio, and Comercio Square.

Don’t expect to see a landmark disappear a la David Copperfield, but be prepared to be surprised by the tricks these magicians have up their sleeves. If you’re in town, be sure to be on the streets of Baixa and Chiado starting at noon on weekdays, and between 10AM and 10PM during the weekend and get ready for some “how they do that?” moments with the colors of Lisbon as the backdrop.

Listen to a Lisbon resident talk about his city and you’ll likely hear him list all that is wrong with it. He’ll complain about traffic, lack of parking space, too much urban decay, and city hall’s seemingly lackluster efforts to better the city. But if that same person spends some time elsewhere, especially at another major European city, you’ll find him singing a different tune upon his return. He’ll still point out what needs to be improved in his city, but he’ll also recognize that most of Lisbon’s problems are no different or any worse than in other cities, and that it’s in fact a great place in which to live.That conclusion was backed up by two Mercer group surveys recently which measured personal safety and quality of life around the world. It found that of the hundreds of cities in the world, Lisbon ranked 44th in quality of life. The Portuguese capital went up from 47th in the previous survey, and is along with Milan one of the cities that most bettered its standing. 

Of the world’s 10 best cities to live, 7 are in Europe, with the remaining 3 found in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. Topping the list was Zurich, followed by Vienna, Geneva, Vancouver, Auckland, Dusseldorf, Munich, Frankfurt, Bern, and Sydney.

In Europe, other cities ranking better than Lisbon include Paris (at number 32), London (38), and Madrid just one spot above the Portuguese capital at number 43. Lisbon ranked higher than other cities such as Rome and Prague. It also did better than several American cities including New York and tied with Chicago which also ranked 44.
Unsurprisingly, at the very bottom of the list is Baghdad, and the remaining of the bottom 10 are all cities in Africa.

One factor that does not seem to have been part of the study is climate. Let’s not underestimate the fact that living without thermometers reaching the freezing point or not having to worry about snow storms, and with the Mediterranean summer heat cooled off by the breeze of the Atlantic, make Lisbon one of the world’s most valuable real estate. Live in Lisbon after living elsewhere and you’ll want to place the city somewhere in the top 5 in the world.

It was 20 years ago today. The Chiado district, the very center and cultural heart of Lisbon went down in flames. It started with a small fire in a department store at 4:30 in the morning of August 25th 1988, and thirty minutes later the entire building and those surrounding it were burning down.In total 18 buildings in three of the neighborhood’s main streets were destroyed, and it took 300 fire trucks and 1,680 firemen to prevent any further destruction. Two people died, 73 were injured, and about 2000 were left unemployed. The Armazéns do Chiado department store (now reopened as a shopping mall) only had its façade left standing, and gone forever were the Grandella department store (today housing a H&M branch) and the legendary Café Ferrari (the historical Café A Brasileira remained unaffected).

A Brasileira is one of the few establishments to have survived and is still going strong today, as is the landmark Bertrand bookshop, in existence on this spot since 1732. After the reconstruction of the neighborhood by renowned architect Alvaro Siza Vieira, international names such as Cartier, Hermés, Hugo Boss, Nespresso, Moooi, and Kiehl’s have moved in, but older residents will tell you shopping here was much nicer during the pre-inferno days. It had unique specialty shops and was still free of some retailers that you’ll find here today but that you’ll also see at a shopping mall near you (Foot Locker, Zara, Levi’s, etc.). Despite criticisms and nostalgia, not one can argue that this reborn Chiado is also a much more cosmopolitan and democratic space today. Nowhere else in the city will you find a higher concentration (or higher quality) of shops, cafes, and theaters making it a mandatory stop in the city.

Two decades later and after much renovation, the rebirth (and a great deal of gentrification) is still underway. Two major boutique hotels opened in the last few years, contemporary-design cafes and restaurants attract crowds hungry for something new, and major international brands are on waiting lists for retail space. Siza Vieira’s plans are still only 99% complete, and much rehabilitation will go on for years to come (extending to the adjacent Baixa district).

One thing the fire could not destroy was Chiado’s cultural, literary, and historical soul, and no matter how many changes and facelifts it is given, the statues of its poets, the café tables on the cobbled pavements, and the shopping bags in the hands of people of all ages and styles will always make this the beloved heart of Lisbon.

They don’t rhyme but they could very well be misspellings of each other. “Lisbon” and “Lesbian” are not etymologically related either, but you will start seeing those two words used in the same sentence more frequently from now on. That’s because Lisbon is discretely becoming a lesbian-friendly city. It’s not exactly a liberal place like Amsterdam, it’s not a hot lesbian destination like the island of Lesbos, and it’s still rather homophobic when compared to other big capitals.

But it’s homophobic in a strangely tolerant way.Portugal’s attitude towards same-sex couples can be described in an oxymoronic way –- homophobically tolerant as in “don’t ask, don’t tell.” That is, they seem to accept the existence of homosexual couples (there have never been anti-gay marches or major anti-gay movements in the country), as long as they are not confronted with them. Because when confronted, they’ll just have to comply with their good-old Catholic upbringing and manifest their disapproval.  

So if you’re a lesbian couple coming to Lisbon, you won’t see many women holding hands. You will end up thinking all Portuguese girls who like other girls just get married and live unhappily ever after. While that’s true to a great extent, it seems it won’t be so for much longer. A young television host recently came out as a lesbian in the country’s most respected newspaper, and the reaction was no reaction. Portugal’s “homophobic tolerance” allowed her to proceed with work and life as usual. No one said “good for you,” no one reacted with a “so what?,” but no one responded negatively either. It was like it never happened.

The country only reacted a couple of years ago when it was directly confronted with the issue. A lesbian couple challenged the courts to allow them to get married. The current legislation doesn’t allow it, so they were denied their wish. But the country was forced to talk about it and polls showed the majority of Portuguese oppose such unions.

But as Portugal faces the issue less directly maybe minds and tolerance levels will be expanded. Take the Lesboa parties as an example. They take place two or three times a year, and this October there will be another edition with female DJs providing the dance music to accompany a night of drinking and fun socializing for people of all ages and sexual orientations. It will be the 2nd anniversary celebration and includes major sponsorship from myspace.com and one of the country’s major radio stations.

If you want to be in Lisbon for that, stay at one of the gay or gay-friendly hotels in the city. You’ll mostly find men there, but if you want to avoid stares during a public display of affection at the reception or breakfast room, those are the places to book. The GoLisbon gay & lesbian page lists the accommodation you should consider.

For an all-girls night out, do as everyone else does, and go to Bairro Alto. Your first stop should be Primas (”female cousins”). The name brings to mind those closet days when two inseparable girls, who perhaps even lived together, identified themselves as “cousins” to the more close-minded members of society. At this bar however, the closet has no door to be closed, and girls freely display their devotion to other girls as they choose a tune on the jukebox, play pool, or grab a drink.

Then it’s time to move to Purex not far away. The house drink is the Cosmopolitan, and although the space is not very big, the area with no seats is used for spontaneous dancing. It has a number of straight and gay male clients, but this is where the lesbian locals gather.

Then move on to Chueca. No, not the gayborhood in Madrid. You’re staying in Bairro Alto. Chueca is a lesbian-owned bar with a stylish contemporary décor where you can sit with a drink or stand by the door along with everyone else.

It’s now time to go clubbing. You can go to the all-sexual-orientations-friendly Fragil or to the lesbian club Maria Lisboa. It’s pretty spacious with a hot décor, and a variety of sounds that range from 80s pop to house.

When you wake up mid-morning or even in the afternoon on the following day, have a meal at Les Mauvais Garçons, a small romantic gay café in Bairro Alto. It serves light meals in a space decorated with old tables and couches, and with black and white photos of Paris on the walls.

End your Lisbon visit with a night at a Fado restaurant. It’s your way of experiencing a little of the local culture, while also sensing that these fado divas are no ordinary women –- in between their melancholic laments, there is a certain strong masculine side that, well, makes it look like Lisbon does blend the traits of all genders and sexual orientations. It makes you think that Lisbon could very well have a very strong lesbian side. And it’s not just in the name.

 

As you walk around Lisbon you’ll come across plenty of eye-catching graffiti, but none will grab your attention as instantly as the colorful cakes and ice creams painted on many of the city’s most decayed buildings.That’s the work of one artist, and her name is Maria Imaginário. Yes, it’s a female artist (not so common in the world of street art), and she brings some joy and life to otherwise sad and dead walls. 

One of her “delicious” ice creams is seen in one of GoLisbon’s photo galleries, but for a collection of her work visit her page on Flickr.

Imaginário has taken her imagination outside Portugal, and was recently responsible for a mural in Bethlehem depicting a bulldozer destroying a heart.  It symbolizes the destruction of houses by the Israeli army in Palestinian territories, and no matter on which side of that Bethlehem wall your politics stand on, you can’t help but stop to process that message in your mind.

What made Imaginário do it? She’s in that divided region collaborating with the ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions), helping to rebuild demolished homes.

But you don’t have to travel that far to see Imaginário’s imaginative statements –- just keep your eyes open as you walk around Lisbon.

Ireland may have said NO to Lisbon the European Union treaty, but it’s saying yes to Lisbon the city. There was a time not too long ago when there were no direct flights between Dublin and Lisbon, but now Aer Lingus connects the two cities daily. Naturally, the number of Irish tourists to the Portuguese capital has increased dramatically as a result.

The question is, what took so long? After all, Lisbon is the closest European capital to Dublin after London, and being in the same time zone, that means no jet lag and a quick weekend getaway to a sunnier city.

Those who need their Guinness daily will find two Irish pubs in the Portuguese capital just for that. They’re located in Cais do Sodré, by one of the city’s main transportation hubs.

At Hennessy’s Irish Pub you can sit outside (see picture on the right) or at the dark wooden tables inside, in a lively atmosphere that often includes live Irish music.

Down the street is O’Gillins Irish Bar, also with live music on weekends, and serving light meals for those wanting to fill their stomach with more than just black beer.

In the end though, you may not even need to step into these pubs –- a good Portuguese ginginha, a Sagres, or a caipirinha in Bairro Alto will do just fine.

The proximity, the inexpensiveness, the friendly welcome, and the same time zone make Lisbon a possible home away from home for Irishmen who’ve come to say YES to Lisbon.