Michael Powell's Blog, page 20

The Museu Nacional dos Coches

Located in a riding hall adjacent to the Belém Palace, the National Coach Museum displays carriages from the days of the Portuguese royalty. The museum is actually spread across a couple buildings in Belém, but we decided to limit ourselves to the more historic of the two.

The Museu Nacional dos Coches was commissioned in 1905 by Queen Amélia, who recognized the historic worth of the carriages in the possession of the royal family. Just three years after the establishment of the museum, revo...

Lisbon’s Secret Coping Mechanism: Alcohol

Lisbon is known as a melancholy city, and this is especially true in winter. It rains all the time, apartments are cold and damp, the tram never works, and that wind! But Lisboans have figured out the best way to combat depression: by getting good and drunk. (What’s that you say? Alcohol actually just depresses you more? And the best cure for depression is physical exercise? Interesting. Now shut up and pour me another shot.)

We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the quality of wine in Portugal...

The Teatro Nacional São Carlos: Lisbon’s Opera House

The Teatro Nacional São Carlos has been staging operas, ballets and concerts since it was built in 1793. It’s survived the centuries in remarkable shape, managing to evade the disasters which ravaged the rest of the city, and looks almost the same as it did on opening day.

We came very close to booking tickets to the opera, just so that we could see the inside of the theater. But then, we reasoned, we wouldn’t be able to take any pictures! Or at least, we’d have to take them surreptitiously...

The Chinese Pavilion (and Its Siblings)

One of the most distinctive bars we’ve seen in all our years of travel is Lisbon’s Pavilhão Chinês, or Chinese Pavilion. With its billiards tables and plush old sofas, along with the hundreds of antique toys encased in the walls, this instantly became one of our favorite places in the city. We visited it, as well as a couple other bars owned by the same proprietor.

Pavilhão Chinês

Luis Pinto Coelho purchased this property in 1986 with the intention of displaying his collection of curiosities...

The Money Museum

Considering the extent to which it rules our lives, how much do any of us really understand the concept of “money”? We spend the majority of our time in pursuit of it, and it can inspire us to deeds both brilliant and contemptible… but what is it? We’re not exactly bartering arrowheads for pelts, anymore. To help us get a better grasp on an increasingly abstract concept, we visited the Bank of Portugal’s fantastic Museu do Dinheiro, or Money Museum.

It was during our tenure in Lisbon that cr...

The Cemitério dos Prazeres

Found next to Campo de Ourique at the western terminus of the #28 tram line, the hillside Cemitério dos Prazeres (Cemetery of the Pleasures) just about lives up to its suggestive name. As far as corpse-parks go, this is about as pleasurable as it gets.

We were visiting on one of those perfect cemetery days, with overcast skies and mild temperatures. Dark enough to complement the somber mood, but warm enough to make being outside enjoyable. We’ve seen gorgeous cemeteries in Buenos Aires, Sava...

Graça: Lisbon from on High

During our first month in Lisbon, we lived in Mouraria. The ascent to our apartment required the lungs of a deep sea diver and the legs of a cyborg, and although the trek always destroyed us, we had to concede that it could be worse. High above us, the residents of another neighborhood sneered at our exhaustion. While gasping for oxygen, we’d shake our fists at them. “Maybe not yet, Graça! But we’ll be ready for you soon!”

A month later, it was time. By now, we were hill-conquering machines,...

The Lisbon Oceanarium on the Holidays

One of the biggest aquariums in Europe is the Oceanário de Lisboa, which opened as part of the 1998 World Expo. We visited during the holidays, and were amazed to be the only people there! Not a single screaming child, pushy mother or frazzled father; nope, just us, gloriously alone with the animals. (If you’re not picking up on the sarcasm, it’s time to readjust your irony detector.)

No, we were not alone in the Oceanarium, quite the contrary. This was a drizzly day between Christmas and Ne...

The Marionette Museum

Hosted in the former Convent of Bernardas in downtown Lisbon, the Museu da Marioneta features a collection of puppets from around the world, with a special focus on Portuguese dolls. This is an excellent excursion if you’re entertaining a kid, but even adults will find plenty to love.

Walking up to the convent, we were intimidated, because the 17th-century building looks massive enough to contain every puppet ever made. But the collection inside is rather small. With around a dozen rooms, ea...

Lisbon’s Market Halls

We love visiting markets at our various homes around the world, and were excited to learn that Lisbon has historic halls spread all across the city. However, once we started visiting them, we weren’t always too impressed. The shopping culture in Lisbon seems to have been completely taken over by supermarkets, and the old-time markets which still exist are mere shadows of their former selves… or have become different creatures entirely.

Mercado da Ribeira (or the Timeout Market)

Let’s start w...