The Hills of Alfama

Lisbon is the oldest city in Western Europe, and the oldest district of this very old city is Alfama. Planted just beneath the Castelo de São Jorge, Alfama was the seed from which the rest of Lisbon sprung.

Alfama has become the gate through which many tourists enter Lisbon, because it’s here that the cruise ships disembark. For this reason, we had come to associate the neighborhood with slow-moving swarms of umbrella-following zombies, and had been immune to its considerable charms. It’s ha...