The weather forecast for the next few days may not show it, but springtime is just a few days away and with it comes Easter and the spring break holidays. Those looking to travel at this time of the year will either look for the warm waters of the Caribbean and Latin America, or choose a destination in Europe. The best choice in Europe is obviously Lisbon. It’s just a couple of hours away from the other major European cities, and it’s the closest European capital to the United States. It’s also the warmest, and the only one so close to the sea. While it may not exactly be beach weather yet, few other destinations offer such a variety of activities. In Lisbon you experience the atmosphere and culture of an historical European capital, and can combine that with a visit to a fairytale town (Sintra or Obidos), or with a walk by the beach, open-air dining, and all-night partying (bar-hopping or in Europe’s largest casino). And perhaps the best-selling point right now: it’s the best-value capital in Western Europe, with the most reasonably-priced accommodation and restaurants. Take a break to discover Lisbon, and you’ll agree that it’s the best spring break destination. Not to mention the destination for a city break in summer, winter, and autumn…

There have been several tourist DVD about Lisbon released by the city’s tourism office over the years, but although they all feature beautiful images of the Portuguese capital, they always seemed to lack something in the narration, adding no more than what a Flickr gallery or GoLisbon’s own photo album could offer. But a recently-released DVD has changed that, offering beautiful shots of the city (from aerial views to close-up details of landmarks) together with an insightful guide to Lisbon by one of Portugal’s biggest cultural icons. That is Fernando Pessoa who’s also widely considered to be one of Europe’s greatest poets of the 20th century, who left behind an English-language tourist guide to Lisbon when he died. It was only found and published much after his death, and although it dates from the early 20th century, it’s interesting to note just how current it remains. That’s because his description of the view of Lisbon from the river Tagus is timeless, and because a large part of the city’s attractions are its centuries-old landmarks and the emotions they can all create together.
But this DVD also starts out by showing contemporary Lisbon and goes on to present the tour suggested by Pessoa, with a narration that includes some of his poems and the text from his “What the Tourist Should See” book. That narration is available in several languages — English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German, as well as two Portuguese versions — one for Portuguese viewers, and another by a Brazilian narrator for those Brazilians who may have difficulty in understanding the accent from Portugal.
At the end of the film there is a number of extras, all interviews with some of the narrators (the Portuguese, Brazilian, Spanish, and American), plus the director and a literary advisor who’s compiled much of Pessoa’s work. They all talk about their involvement in the process of creating the film and share their personal relationships with Lisbon, as well as how Fernando Pessoa has helped them better understand the city and even themselves. Especially evocative of the Lisbon magic and the mark it can leave on visitors is the interview of the Brazilian narrator which is subtitled for those who don’t understand Portuguese.
This is therefore a film that no one from Lisbon will want to miss, and one that tourists will want to acquire as a reminder of their visit to the city.  It’s also a great way to share the city with others who haven’t yet visited.
Look for it wherever DVD are sold in the city, with the most popular and perhaps most convenient being the FNAC store in Chiado. The price is 20 euros and you can get more details here.

An article published in the travel section of the American Pittsburgh Post-Gazette goes through Lisbon’s museums and finds that together with the city’s “romantic views, grand public squares, and tiled walkways,” the Portuguese capital “is the most gracefully decorated city on Earth.”
The writer starts at the city’s most famous art collection, that of the Gulbenkian Museum, and also explores the Orient Museum and the Tile Museum which “speak to the city’s soul.” Then it’s time to go to the district of Belém for a visit to the Electricity Museum, and of course the irresistible pastries which the author found that “like the city’s charming museums, they left a taste of Lisbon’s grace and warmth.”
You can read the entire article here: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Travel

A new Lisbon tourist survey has found that the main reason travelers choose to visit Lisbon is because the city is so inexpensive. That’s a reflection of the global economic crises where cost speaks louder than anything else. This survey was conducted throughout 2009 and found that another factor weighed when choosing Lisbon as a travel destination is the city’s “beauty and history,” which had been the top reason to visit in previous surveys.
This study also showed that people are planning to travel less, with only two thirds of those questioned saying that they’re likely to return to Lisbon, when about 90% of those asked in previous surveys had said they foresaw a second visit. It seems that everyone’s being much more selective in their travel choices, choosing new, affordable places as opposed to returning to destinations they’ve enjoyed. This may also explain why Lisbon’s tourists in 2009 were mostly first-time visitors, which seems to be a travel trend around the world.
The average age of a Lisbon tourist was found to be between 25 and 34, with senior traveler numbers dropping significantly.

After the J. Crew catalogue, now it’s the annual swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated magazine to feature Lisbon in a major photo shoot. It hit the newsstands yesterday, with the usual beautiful women (one of them is model Jessica Gomes of Portuguese heritage), but this time also with beautiful views of Lisbon as the backdrop. Lisbon is referred to as one of Europe’s most exciting cities, and in addition to the city center, the shoot also took place in the Estoril and Cascais coast (Lisbon’s most famous beach area) and the magnificent Portinho da Arrábida beach south of the city.
You can see those photos on the Sports Illustrated website or you can pick up an issue of the magazine now.

J. Crew’s latest catalogue showing its newest collection has been shot in Lisbon and the company is sharing its “behind the scenes” experience on its website. It starts with a “love letter to Lisbon” where it remembers the city’s “understated beauty” and “easygoing elegance,” and goes on to describe the five days spent in it. Crew’s crew worked on the catalogue’s cover shot under the triumphal arch of Comércio Square, on the Rua Augusta side by the Design and Fashion Museum, then moved on to the charming Principe Real neighborhood where almost every building is covered in colorful tiles and flower-filled balconies. They then left the city and moved up north, to about one hour away, to the medieval village of Obidos and finished their project at the beach of Adraga by Sintra for their swimwear shoot.
On the website the J.Crew team also shares some of the Portuguese words they learned, such as “bica” (Lisbon’s famous strong coffee), “calçada portuguesa” (the trademark cobblestone designs), and “miradouro” (the unmissable viewpoints of the city).
The report concludes with the word “obrigado” (meaning “thank you”), because they “had a lot to be thankful for in a country with such exceptional charm, good food, and gracious people.”
Check out the entire report on the J. Crew website throughout this month: J. Crew website

The New York Times’ T Magazine (devoted to style and culture) has just published an article highlighting the new gastronomic excitement in Lisbon. If you’ve been following GoLisbon’s posts, you may have noticed that renowned chefs have been opening new restaurants to great acclaim in the past couple of years. That local excitement has now crossed the Lisbon and Portugal borders, with the top international publications taking notice. The just-published New York Times article highlights the just-Michelin-starred Tavares for its young “big-time talent” chef, and goes on to recommend the other “hottest new tables” in town, such as Henrique Sa Pessoa’s Alma and Luis Baena’s Manifesto. As always expected from the New York Times, this is a very well researched and well-written report, which concludes with a hotel recommendation which has also been highlighted here at GoLisbon, Palacete Chafariz D’El Rei.
The article also does an excellent job in its overall description of “luminous” Lisbon, calling it “one of the rare Old World capitals to have escaped the soul-sloughing ugliness of postwar American urbanism” and that it “even still smells like a traditional European city.” You can read all about it here.

“Sun-splashed streets, vintage trams, boho bars – Portugal’s playful capital is captivating by day, seductive by night.” That’s how Lisbon is introduced in the January 2010 issue of the British magazine “The Sunday Times Travel” which presents a 5-page guide to the city. It starts with an introduction that says that Lisbon, “Europe’s most soulful and seductive capital is an eye-opener any time of the day or night,” and that you’ll “love it round the clock.” It then offers a guide divided into two sections titled “Soulful” and “Playful,” suggesting sights to see and places to go. For those with a larger budget it recommends Pestana Palace and Bairro Alto Hotel as the places to stay, for average prices there’s York House, and for those preferring a hostel there’s Living Lounge Hostel with its individually-designed rooms that led the New York Times to proclaim it “Europe’s best hostel.”
Among the restaurant recommendations there is A Travessa, while at night it of course suggests the biggest club in the city, Lux. For those who want to do some shopping there’s the inevitable A Vida Portuguesa and the hip boutiques of Bairro Alto.
While the article picks some interesting good choices and presents some attractive photos, there are a couple of errors. One is saying that the English Cemetery is where tram 28 starts its journey, when that is actually the Prazeres Cemetery (although the tram does pass through Estrela which is the neighborhood where you’ll find that English Cemetery, the resting place of the author of “Tom Jones,” Henry Fielding). The other error is saying that the dome of Graça Church took 285 years to finish, when that is actually the dome of the National Pantheon. It also provides an outdated information about the mostly-abandoned theater district Parque Mayer, saying there’s a planned Frank Gehry redevelopment for the site, when that has been cancelled some time ago.
Despite those lapses, the article is quite informative, including some interesting trivia such as the origin of the Lisbon “bica” (its espresso-like coffee) and of the local expression “para Inglês ver” (“for the English to see”.)

2009 was a great year for Lisbon and a great year for GoLisbon.com. We were recommended in Lonely Planet, New York magazine, and London’s The Times, and currently have quite a large number of followers who use this site as their primary source for Lisbon (and Portugal)-related news. According to Google, GoLisbon ranks higher than even the official Lisbon tourism site, so as the most visited and complete tool for Lisbon and Portugal information, we hope to remain a relevant and trusted source throughout 2010.
Below is a list of the 25 biggest news, or the most visited or Twittered posts of GoLisbon Blog throughout 2009, in case you missed any of it:

1. Lisbon’s Twin City
2. The First Dog and the First Photographer
3. The Eyeful Tower
4. A Long Luxurious Weekend
5. The Portuguese Bombshell
6. The 10 Newest Shops in Bairro Alto
7. A Lisbon-style Las Vegas
8. Lisbon’s “haven for the artsy set”
9. “One of the coolest cities in Europe”
10. Lisbon’s Most Graphic Photos: From a Peep Show to a Public Urinal
11. The 7 Portuguese Wonders of the World
12. Hollywood moving to Portugal
13. Old is the New New in Lisbon
14. 5 Alternatives to Lisbon’s Beaches
15. Lisbon is the Setting of Upcoming Brad Pitt and Al Pacino Movie
16. A Trip to the Azores
17. Portugal’s Most Famous Product You’ve Never Heard Of
18. Lisbon Wins Europe’s Best Destination in the World Travel Awards
19. Lisbon’s 5 Best Brunches
20. The Portuguese Diamond: The World’s Most Valuable Gem and Other Portuguese Treasures
21. The Chef of the Year and a new Michelin star
22. Lisbon in New York – Part II
23. Lisbon (and GoLisbon) in “New York” Magazine
24. Lisbon 2000-2009: The Decade in Review
25. A Lisbon shopping list: 10 Shops for your Gifts

A New Praça do Comércio
As you can see in the photo above and can read in a previous post, Lisbon’s biggest square is being renovated. It will have a new pavement, will remove traffic from two of its sides, and plans to attract new businesses to the buildings under its arches. Originally the deadline for completion of the works was October of 2010 but City Hall has anticipated that for April or May, in time for one of the city’s biggest events of the year:

The Pope Visit
The Pope will be in Portugal from May 11th to 14th. He’ll of course be in Fatima, but will also celebrate mass in Porto and Lisbon. In Lisbon it will take place in Comércio Square.

Rock in Rio-Lisboa Returns
The self-titled biggest music event in the world that first started in Rio but that has moved to Lisbon will return to the Portuguese capital in 2010. It takes place every two years in Lisbon, and this year you can expect another series of concerts by many other the world’s chart-topping artists, bands, and world-famous DJs. So far only Muse has been confirmed, but expect the lineup to be revealed throughout the first months of the year. Rock in Rio-Lisboa in 2010 happens on May 21st, 22nd, 27, 28, and 29.

100 Years of the Portuguese Republic
When the last Portuguese king was assassinated in 1908, it was the beginning of the end of the Portuguese monarchy, giving rise to a new Portuguese republic in 1910. One hundred years later Lisbon will be celebrating the event throughout the city in October, with special events taking place downtown by Municipal Square, Comercio Square, and Belém.

The New Popular Art Museum
It closed a few years ago for its building to be transformed into a museum devoted to the Portuguese language and culture similar to the one in São Paulo (Brazil), but after a petition to bring the old museum back, the minister of culture has recently announced that the Museu de Arte Popular will be back in 2010. This is a museum dedicated to the traditional arts and crafts of Portugal, originally displayed by region. Its old home in a building between the Discoveries Monument and Belem Tower will be renovated to once again welcome the collection.

Parque Mayer Gains New Life
Parque Mayer is a sort of small Lisbon-style Broadway from the 20th century. It’s a group of old theaters around the corner from Avenida da Liberdade that have had a slow death over the years but that have also had rehabilitation plans for quite some time. Some of those plans were quite ambitious, including one by architect Frank Gehry for which he was paid 2.2 million euros. But the project has been rethought and it will now be less monumental, although perhaps a little more tasteful. It will include a connection to the Botanical Garden nearby and with works throughout 2010, it is hoped to be complete by 2011 and bring new life and theater magic to the center of the city.

Casa dos Bicos Reopens as the José Saramago Foundation
One of Lisbon’s most curious buildings due to its spiked façade will now have a new function. Casa dos Bicos in Alfama has recently been cleaned up and will soon reopen to serve as the José Saramago Foundation, which will reportedly include a library of the Nobel Prize-winning author.