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THE BUZZ
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SHABBY CHIC
26
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TRAVELLER
LISBON
Five years ago, paying a visit to Lisbon’s
Cais do Sodré district wasn’t something
one would do – or, at least, admit to
in polite company. For the majority of
Lisboetas, it wasn’t a place to be seen.
Indeed, the middle-aged women who
loitered by the graffiti sprayed walls
of these backstreets were, more often
than not, practising the world’s oldest
profession. It was a hard-bitten area with
a reputation, where sailors drank and
sought company.
In those days, despite being located
only a kilometre away from the grand
Praça do Comércio and just around the
corner from the Cais do Sodré railway
station, some properties here had
stood empty for years. But, over the
last fewmonths, everything’s changed.
Pedestrianisation of the Rua Nova do
Carvalho, just a couple of blocks back
from the Tagus waterfront, has helped
to turn empty buildings into buzzing
back nightly to reveal a relaxed, alternative
bar where patrons drink into the early
hours.The bar’s décor remains true to its
roots, withmounted fishing tackle on the
walls and fishy titbits for bar snacks.
Bar da Velha Senhora (
40 Rua Nova
do Carvalho
) is another nearby example
of this renaissance, attracting people
for
petiscos
(Portuguese tapas) and live
entertainment. Its guests often spill out
onto the street andmingle with visitors to
Bar do Cais (number 47) on the opposite
Getting the
Green Light
Once a no-go area, the streets around Lisbon’s Cais
do Sodré station are now home to the hippest,
hottest, must-head-for nightspots in the city
The area has the same happy,
street vibe as the Bairro Alto
WORDS STUART FORSTER | PHOTOS © JOSÉ SENA GOULÃ/LUSA, ANTONIO DEL JUNCO
bars. And, although it still bears the
‘alternative’ tag in Lisbon’s city guides,
the area is starting to lure discerning
revellers down from the cobbled alleys of
BairroAlto, a 10-minute walk away.
One of the top destinations here
is Sol e Pesca (
14 Rua Nova do Carvalho
),
owned by HenriqueVaz Pato and Gonçalo
Carvalho, who converted it froman old
fishing-equipment shop in 2010. Before
they bought it, the shutters had remained
closed for 20 years, but now they fold
side of the road, where DJs stay on the
decks until at least 4ammost nights.
That new life has been breathed
into the area now, just as the effects of
austerity measures begin to be felt, may
seem strange, yet a tipping point has
been reached.
“It was kind of spontaneous…new bars
have opened and, at the same time, Bairro
Alto is getting crowded,”says Bernado
Vilhena, a cultural projectsmanager.
“Both these things attract a lot of people