Our Lisbon Travel Diary Day Two: Graça, Alfama, and Even More Rain

If you’ve read our Lisbon Travel Diary Day One, then you’ll know we had to make some hasty adjustments to our plans. The wind and rain had made it difficult to remain outside for any length of time, although we did have a relatively dry evening.

The weather forecast for Day Two didn’t look much better. The rain was forecast to arrive a little later in the day, and we wondered whether our street art tour of Graça and Alfama had been cancelled prematurely. Unperturbed, armed with an umbrella and raincoats, we headed out on our “slightly” amended Lisbon Day Two itinerary.

Want more facts and less chatter? Check out my guide to 13 Of The Best Things To See and Do In Lisbon

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Searching for street art in Graça

Despite the cancellation of our tour, we decide to head to the area that would have been our meeting point. Maybe we can spot some of the the area’s famous street art on our own?

With plenty of time still left on our 24 hour travel ticket we join the queues at R. Conceição to board one of Lisbon’s vintage trams. We’re not taking our own advice of not travelling at peak times. The previous evening’s journey had been much more comfortable. We do manage to grab a seat once the tram passes the key tourist hotspots.

We jump off at Graça, and walk 5 minutes to Miradouro da Graça, one of Lisbon’s most magical viewpoints. There are spectacular views of Castelo de São Jorge, the Tagus River and 25 de Abril bridge in the distance. The skies may be grey but there’s definitely some sunshine trying to break through the clouds.

Eager to start spotting street art, I find Caracol da Graça, a steep staircase famously adorned with murals and tags. We start the descent and quickly realise something is amiss. The walls are blindingly white. We can smell the fresh paint. Traces of bright colour peek out in a thin sliver at the bottom of the wall. Caracol da Graça has recently been whitewashed. I hope this is to allow a new gallery of street art to be created, but for now, we are met with a blank canvas.

We do spot the Mafalda M G/Diego Dgoh collaboration at the bottom as we consider the climb back up the stairway of disappointment. Luckily for us, there’s a brand new funicular (free admission at the time of our visit!) which whisks up back up to Miradouro da Graça.

Alfama: Lisbon’s oldest district

With the rain still keeping away, we set to weaving our way around the historic Alfama district. It’s a maze of winding streets from São Jorge Castle down to the Tagus River. Miradouros look across to Bairro Alto, and to the viewpoints we were standing on – getting ever wetter – the previous day. Alfama has crumbling pastel-coloured houses, narrow cobbled streets, steep stairways, charming cafes and quaint shops showcasing art and handicraft. Laundry flutters in the breeze over a tangle of alleyways and enchanting squares. It really feels like we’re exploring authentic Lisbon.

We spend a while watching the vintage trams pass (yep, can’t get enough of those tram photos) before heading into Monastery of Sao Vincente de Fora. It’s the white building that we spotted the day before from Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara. It has a magnificent collection of azulejos, the blue and white tiles synonymous with Portuguese art. There are plenty of religious artefacts if you’re interested in that sort of thing, and there’s also some snazzy priest costumes to snigger at. We brave the breezy rooftop for panoramic views of Lisbon and the dome of the National Pantheon – our next stop.

The Panteão Nacional is the serene final resting place of singers, writers, football players, explorers and former presidents. It’s just a 10 minute stroll from the monastery. As we queue to enter, there’s a rumbling in the skies above. Luckily we’re under shelter as the heavens open and the rain bounces down. The people behind us in the queue aren’t as lucky; we all try and shuffle a little closer together to create a little more room undercover.

You could miss the monastery but the Pantheon is truly impressive. Floor to ceiling marble stretches up to the domed ceiling. We take the stairs so we can view the inside of the monument from above. Unsurprisingly, the rooftop terrace is closed because of the rain. We descend down to ground level; I try to put off the inevitable exit into the rain by feigning particular interest in the tombs. Exit we do eventually, although only as far as the minimalistic Hello Kristof coffee house opposite.

The rain eases to a mere drizzle so we head back out for a little more tram-spotting, Escolais Gerais is a perfect place for vintage tram pics – Google location here. We weave our way through the Alfama streets – often backtracking when we find ourselves going up when we should be going down, or vice versa. The rain is back. And this time it seems set to stay. Miradouros das Portas do Sol and Santa Luzia should be perfect places to linger over an al fresco drink, instead we quickly shuffle past the picturesque viewpoints in search of shelter.

We duck into Lisbon’s Cathedral – Sé de Lisbon. It’s not the most impressive cathedral we’ve seen, but it’s dry. They have recently introduced an admission fee of €5pp, but were having a few teething problems with the turnstiles when we arrived. Maybe they weren’t expecting an influx of visitors, seeking sanctuary from the storm.

It’s half two, and I’m getting hungry. It’s exhausting work, trying to stay enthusiastic when you’re soaked through all the way to the skin. Knowing that I love an elegant, historic cafe, Mr Fletche suggests we head over to A Brasileira. We use our new favourite shortcut. cutting through Baixa-Chiado metro station. We emerge in Chiado to, well, a new level of rain. And a queue of people outside A Brasiliera. We join the queue for approximately 30 seconds, when I decide I’ve had enough. I’ve had enough of queuing, I’ve had enough of rain, and I’ve had enough of Lisbon.

Mr Fletche gently coaxes me out of my tantrum by asking where else there is to eat and drink on my extensive list. I’m too cold and wet to consult the list on my phone. In fact, my phone isn’t even working anymore. It’s waterlogged. I do remember however that there’s a Delirium nearby. We’d spent a pleasant beery afternoon in the original Delirium Cafe in Brussels – maybe we could do the same in Lisbon.

By the time I have an 8.5% Delirium Nocturnum in hand, swiftly followed by a second and some chicken wings, I’m feeling a little happier. I’m certainly drier. Even my phone is making an effort to return to life. For the second afternoon in a row in Lisbon, we abandon all further plans.

In fact, I check my camera roll to see what else we got up to on our final evening in Lisbon. There are just two. One is a reminder that on our way back to the hotel we stopped at Manteigaria for a rather excellent pastél de nata. If we can’t make it to Pastéis de Belém on this occasion, we’ll have to suffer the second best version in the city.

The second is a very blurry shot of a pint at Duque Brewpub. We’d made an attempt at heading out to enjoy the Lisbon nightlife but this time the rain was relentless. Yet again, we found ourselves sheltering in a Lisbon pub, this time with a pleasant Duque Amarguinho in hand. Finally defeated by the weather, we head back to the Be Poet Hotel to pack all our damp clothes ready for our departure the following morning.

Leaving Lisbon…. For Now

In a perfect example of Sod’s Law, the sun shines on our final morning. The rain has stopped. The skies are blue. At least we don’t have to drag our carry-on suitcases through deep puddles. We take the Metro to the airport, catching the Vd Green Line to Alameda, and switching to the Vm Red Line to Aeroporto. The journey takes about half an hour. It takes us just as long to locate the shuttle bus to get us from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2, where Ryanair flights depart from.

When we get home, Mr Fletche and I reflect on our trip. Despite the weather, and despite my weather-related tantrums, we loved Lisbon. And we felt we had unfinished business. So we did something that we’ve never done before. Looking for a perfect gap in our schedule – handily my September birthday – we checked flights and hotels, and booked a trip straight back to Lisbon. We’re looking at it as Days 3 & 4 of our Lisbon trip – and hopefully this time the sun will shine! We’re already planning a daytrip to Sintra, strolls along the Tagus River in Belém, traditional meals in some of those carefully researched restaurants, an overpriced cocktail at a rooftop bar – any maybe we’ll even make it all the way to the National Tile Museum… watch this space for updates!