LISBON - Portugal - page 44

drips with laundry and the smell of clams. Get lost. Poke aimlessly, peek through win-
dows, buy a fish. Locals hang plastic water bags from windows to try to keep away the
flies. Favorite saints decorate doors to protect families. St. Peter, protector of fishermen,
is big in the Alfama. Churches are generally closed, since they share a priest. As children
have very little usable land for a good soccer game, goalposts are painted onto the stairs.
If you see carpets hanging out to dry, it means a laundry is nearby. Because few homes
have their own, every neighborhood has a public laundry and bathroom. (There's actu-
ally a public bath and laundry on the uphill side of Largo de São Miguel). Until recently,
in the early morning hours, the streets were busy with residents in pajamas, heading for
these public baths. Today, young people are choosing to live elsewhere, lured by modern
conveniences unavailable here, and the old flats are congested with immigrant laborers
(mostly Ukrainian and Brazilian) who came during the construction boom a decade ago.
In just a couple of generations, the demographics have changed—from fishermen's fam-
ilies to immigrants and young bohemians.
Traditionally the neighborhood here was tightly knit, with families routinely sitting
down to communal dinners in the streets. Feuds, friendships, and gossip were all intense.
Historically, when a woman's husband died, she wore black for the rest of her life—a tra-
dition that's just about gone.
The Alfama hosts Lisbon's most popular outdoor party on St. Anthony's Day (June
13). Imagine tables set up everywhere, bands playing, bright plastic flowers strung across
the squares, and all the grilled sardines (sardinhas grelhadas) you can eat. The strings and
wires overhead await future festival dates when the neighborhood will again be festooned
with colorful streamers.
While there are plenty of traditional festivals here, the most action on the Alfama cal-
endar is the insane, annual mountain-bike street race from the castle to the sea (which you
can see hurtle by in under two minutes on YouTube; search “Lisboa downtown race”).
• Continue exploring downhill from here. You'll see a trendy little restaurant (the recom-
mended Restaurante Santo Antonio de Alfama) and the recommended amateur fado res-
taurant (A Baiuca). Then, a few steps below the square, you'll hit Rua São Pedro. This
darkest of the Alfama's streets, in nearly perpetual shade, was the logical choice for the
neighborhood's fish market. Modern hygiene requirements (which forbid outdoor stalls)
killed the market, but it's still a characteristic lane to explore. Turn left and follow Rua
São Pedro out of the Alfama to the square called Largo do Chafariz de Dentro and the...
Fado Museum: This museum, rated ▲ , tells the story of fado in English—with
a great chance to hear these wailing fisher-women's blues. Three levels of wall murals
show three generations of local fado stars, and the audioguide lets you hear the Billie
Holidays of Portugal (€5, includes audioguide, Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, closed Mon, last