Pickpockets and Narrow Passages

Carteirista is the Portugeuese word for pickpocket. Our Portugeuse phrasebook lists this as one of the top fifteen words you must learn in order to get along in Lisbon. Ben and I thought this was pretty funny at first, but then we were warned (in a matter-of-fact sort of way) by 1. the guy at the information desk to watch out for pickpockets if we decided to ride the trolley, 2. a random store owner that came out of his shop that directed us to the trolley stop, 3. by the signs posted on the trolley and 4. by three different front desk people at our hostel. Naturally, this put us a little on our guard when considering our options for exploring the city later that evening since we were starving and it was getting dark. But everyone swore up and down that the pickpocket problem was limited to the trolleys so we set out.

The hostel guy told told us it would take us no more than 15 minutes to get to praixa de cebolla (plaza of the onion), a place he heartily recommended. Coming from somewhere like Portland where everything is nicely and efficiently laid out on a grid, it probably would have taken us 15 minutes, but let me take this moment to describe the Alfama neighborhood's streets to you. First of all, it's located on a hill. Second, there's no such thing as an individual house with a private yard. Every home or apartment is connected to the next creating incredibly tall walls that you cannot see over or get past until you come to a point when the house maker said, 'I will end this house here.' Like most city streets created before the 20th century, the paths are narrow. They also meander, sometimes circling back to where you started which often means going up the hill and then back down again. It's as though whoever laid the streets out never thought that anyone using them would ever be in a hurry to get anywhere and would probably never want to leave Lisbon anyway. You would think that with streets like these, cars and trucks, (which I'm going to wager a guess weren't considered in the Moor's 12th century building plans) would not even attempt to try to pass through these narrow streets, but you'd be wrong.

Roughly one hour later we emerged from the labyrinth and came out onto a main road following the Rio Tejo. A city map posted on a bus stop showed us we were probably 15 minutes down from away from the area we originally intended, all we needed to do was follow the main road. Seriously though, I still don't know if we ever made it to the place the guy recommended. We found an area with a ton of restaurants and picked the one with the nice owner standing outside encouraging us to go inside. We are so easy. Just be nice to us after being lost and hungry for over an hour and we'll follow you anywhere and eat whatever you give us.