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hushed appreciationof ahundred tourists,
but back here you are alone, bathed in a
yellowish light, a solitary pigeonflu ering
among the ruins. You stand for a while,
staring at these fragments of forgotten
lives, beforege ing spookedandretreating.
You dine tonight at the Four Seasons’
Varanda (
6
)
, ordering lobster with seafood
emulsion, shrimp on basmati rice and
beef tenderloin. The shrimp are shipped
in fromMozambique, where they are said
to be particularly pure, and this fact sums
up what’s special about the restaurant:
an apparent effortlessness that masks
extreme effort. A erward, in bed, in that
narcotic stretchbetweenwakefulness and
sleep, youmove through gloomy passages,
watched by ghosts and centaurs, which is
more pleasant than it sounds.
DAYTWO
| Today you’ll be tackling Bairro
Alto, one of Lisbon’s hilltopneighborhoods.
You’ve opted to fuel up at
Deli Delux (
1
)
, a
fashionable riverside café that, in contrast
to yesterday’s avalanche of calories, offers
a healthy brunch: juice, a bread basket and
yogurt with muesli, which you consume
whilewatching hulking cargo ships roll by.
Then you head to the second hotel of
your stay, the
Altis Avenida (
2
)
, a beauti-
fully restored 1940s commercial building
downtown. This boutique property tends
towardhigh style—its interior features lots
of black lacquer and art deco designs—
while its location near busy Rossio Square
caters to those who prefer to be in the
thick of things.
Afive-minute hike and you’re inChiado,
a district filled with cafés and street per-
formers. Hereyoufind the
Elevador deSanta
Justa (
3
)
, a 147-foot elevator enclosed in an
Eiffel-like iron-lattice tower. At the top,
you pause to take in the view of the city
before crossing the skyway to the Carmo
Archaeological Museum, a semi-ruined
14th-century convent that today houses a
jumble of Roman cornices, Jewish grave-
stones and Peruvian mummies.
You stroll into BairroAlto, a labyrinth of
narrow streets containing a mishmash of
butcher shops, gi shops and bars. Mostly
bars. You arrive at a small square, once a
burial ground for plague victims and now
home to one of the weirdest churches
you’ll ever see: the
Igreja de São Roque (
4
)
.
While the façade of this 16th-century
Jesuit church is drab, its interior makes
94
MAY 2012
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HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
SOCIAL STATION
Clockwise from top, bustling
Rossio Square’s train hub; cocktails at Pavilhão
Chinês; Lisbon Cathedral