Travel Insights 100

Greetings, city-lovers! Today Maureen Moore fills us in on her adopted city, Lisbon.

Want to see your city on IT? Copy and paste our list of fill-in-the-blank questions into an e-mail, fill in your answers, and send your responses to IntelligentTravel@ngs.org. And if you're still waiting for us to feature yours, fear not! We're going to keep posting as long as we keep getting them (please include photos and links!).

Lisbon, Portugal Is My City

The first place I take a visitor from out of town is to the hilly Graça neighborhood for its amazing views of the city.

When I crave greenery and nature I always go to the Jardim da Estrela.

To escape city noise I head to the river-walk near Belém.

If I want to get lost I wander the narrow, labyrinth streets of Alfama.

For complete quiet, I can hide away at the peaceful Parque das Necessidades in Alcântara.

If you come to my city, try to get your picture taken with the "waving man" who appears at Saldanha plaza nightly.

If you have to order one thing off the menu from the Cantinho de Bem Estar it has to be ameijoas de bulhão pato (clams swimming in hot olive oil, garlic, and cilantro).

Amatudo and A Vida Portuguesa are my one-stop shops for non-kitschy, cool, Portuguese design and original products.

Locals know to skip fado restaurants in Bairro Alto and check out the local spots in Graça and Mouraria instead.

When I'm feeling cash-strapped I go to the park on Sundays in the summer for free jazz concerts.

For a huge splurge I go to a Napoleão wine shop and buy some mid-priced Portuguese wine that you can't get in the average restaurant.