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Lisbon is in the middle of a renaissance. Europe's latest capital of affordable rentals, great nightlife and beautiful streets, winding up the hills from the River Tagus, has seen younger travelers arrive in droves in recent years, enjoying extended stays thanks to specific visas for “digital nomads”.
As a result, the city has taken on a youthful, multicultural and international atmosphere, helping to attract tourists from all over the world in the process.
However, it is not just those looking to live and work here who are driving this change.
Walk the streets of Portugal's bustling capital and it's impossible to escape the sense of confidence that reigns throughout the place.
Locals have really started to embrace their Portuguese identity, shamelessly showcasing the best of traditional food and culture, from delicious cream cake pastry shop in the Belem district to the sound of fado pain in Alfama.
All of this forms what Lisbon residents call “soul”, something absolutely exclusive to this wonderful place.
Visitors can see this on special nights such as the Feast of Saint Anthony on June 13, perhaps the most important night on the Lisbon calendar, when locals celebrate their patron saint with long processions that last late into the night, preceded for epic meals of sardines and local wine on the streets.
But “soul” goes beyond a single night.
Come here any time of year and you will have the feeling that life is lived in public. It could be in the bohemian streets of the Bairro Alto neighborhood, where restaurants spread along narrow streets. Or at ultra-trendy spots like Park, a bar atop a multi-story parking lot that has become synonymous with hipster style, not to mention incredible views. Everyone is welcome and the atmosphere remains vibrant well into the early hours of the morning.
Discovering another side of Portuguese fado
However, “Alma” is not just about hanging out with friends or enjoying languid meals outdoors. It is also found in traditional music, especially fado.
Combining poetry and singing and born in the streets of the beautiful neighborhoods of Alfama and Mouraria in Lisbon, it is more than a simple expression of sadness and melancholy. Rather, explains fado singer Gisela João, it is an expression of Portuguese intensity and tradition.
“I think fado is the truest thing… since we can express the personality of [the] Portuguese country, Portuguese people,” he says as he walks through the streets of Alfama.
João is not the archetype of the fado singer of yesteryear. He does not wear a black dress and is also younger than most stereotypical fado singers.
“Why should I dress like a girl who grew up in the 40s and 50s?” she asks. “It's not who I am.”
However, it is very immersed in the history of music.
“I moved here because I came to sing at a fado restaurant,” he says. “On this street, for example, I remember that you were walking down the street and you heard: Fado coming out of the windows like here, one singing here, another here… It was as if you were in the middle of Fado. ”
He also wants to discredit the idea that sadness is what defines Fado.
“For me, [Fado] is about poetry and the poem for me, a really beautiful poem, it is a poem that can talk about [the] everyone's life… when I sing is when I feel like I can express myself.”
This is evident in João's beautiful voice, which resonates throughout the neighborhood. It is an essentially Portuguese sound.
“We are very intense people,” he says, laughing. “We care a lot. You come to Portugal and it is very normal that you meet someone and that person immediately invites you to come home, to dinner, to be with friends and family and organize a big party just to welcome you… We are dramatic! !”
Exploring Lisbon's connection to the sea
Lisbon can feel like it's half on land and half at sea, with the wide expanse of the Tagus River flowing into the vast Atlantic. After all, this is a country that remains very proud of its 500 years of maritime history.
Lisbon's famous Padrão dos Descobrimentos, the Monument of Discoveries, located in the Belem neighborhood on the banks of the Tagus, pays tribute to the country's great explorers.
Henry the Navigator is represented alongside historical figures such as Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan, a tribute to Lisbon's place at the heart of maritime discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Ricardo Diniz, an intrepid solo sailor turned corporate trainer, continues this long tradition, bringing the past into the present.
“We are very proud of our past. We accomplished something incredible over 500 years ago and we are reminded of that every day,” he says, pointing from the deck of his boat across the water.
“We are in the ocean. “We have this incredible river.” When he returns after long sea voyages, he says his pride increases when Lisbon comes into view.
Diniz says that while water is key to Lisbon's traditions, as well as its present and future as a modern city, changes in recent years have been driven by outsiders talking about how wonderful this place is. .
“Especially in the last five years, many people who come to Lisbon from abroad are surprised by what they find,” he says. “I think they are the true ambassadors of our city and our country, people from abroad who speak wonderfully about Portugal.”
The chef who defended good Portuguese food
Talk to the locals here and it won't be long before they remind you of the great explorers and the Age of Discovery some 500 years ago. However, there wasn't always much to say about its more modern past. However, much of that has changed in the last 20 years, as that sense of confidence has been felt throughout the city with the resurgence of Lisbon as a tourist destination and place to work and play.
This is particularly clear in Lisbon's food scene.
Acclaimed chef José Avillez has championed fine Portuguese dining for years. Fifteen years ago he began introducing the humblest of local dishes, the sardine, into his high-end restaurant.
They are, he says, “…very, very special, because it is something that we only have three, four months, a year, maximum.
“When the Portuguese [people] You arrive at a contemporary Portuguese restaurant… you expect to have modern food, but to have the soul of Portuguese food. That's why we have a lot of respect for sardines.”
You can't help but return to that sense of soul when you are in Lisbon. It is about, explains Avillez, respecting tradition and bringing the dishes closer to the future.
“I would say that Portuguese cuisine that is passed down from grandmothers to granddaughters, from mothers to daughters, is the art of bringing flavors with simplicity, with love. [That] is what we try to do, even if you do it very creatively and with a lot of creativity: if it's good food, it's a Michelin star with two, whatever, what you need to bring to your guests is something delicious. And I will say 90% of the time, pretty simple.”
This is certainly true of Avillez's cooking, from his simple sardine recipes to his delicious steak.
And, of course, no meal in Lisbon would be complete without the famous pastel de nata, the custard tart from Belem. These little delights have gone global in recent years, but they taste best here in this brilliant city.
Lisbon's rebirth is something to behold, especially with something so delicious on hand. A place that has changed in many ways in the 21st century, but has managed to stay true to its roots, its past and its fascinating history.
