Postcards from... Booklet 2022

S ome cities have managed to remain below the radar with Lisbon being a superb example. Here is a historic capital city with a deep sense of national identity peppered with colourful low-rise buildings with bright terracotta tiled roofs that cascade off its many hills towards the Atlantic Ocean emphasising the country’s ocean-faring past. With its back to the rest of the continent get ready for a quaint yet cosmopolitan city break that promises a warm Mediterranean style climate from early spring to late autumn and mild winters thanks to the Gulf Stream, a burgeoning restaurant and bar culture, and is just minutes from some of Europe’s best beaches. The city has very distinct neighbourhoods. The medieval quarter Alfama, is a labyrinth of narrow cobbled streets and steep crooked alleyways and the place to eat in local cafés, wander amongst the antique and bric-a-brac emporia and lose yourself in the twice-weekly flea market. Parque das Nacoes is the regenerated industrial zone now home to the striking Vasco da Gama bridge and the city’s impressive aquarium, Oceanario de Lisboa. The Tower of Belem, Jeronimos Monastery, the Planetarium and the unmissable Ajuda Palace lies in Belem, the city’s cultural heart and museum district. The