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Party in the Streets of Bairro Alto

We met a couple guys back at our hostel who were grad students at University of Washington (the school Zoe goes to). They asked us to come on a mission with them to find bacalhau for an afternoon snack. Bacalhau is salted codfish, a Portuguese specialty. We agreed, but instead of finding fish we ended up at the Confeitaria Nacional, a sweets shop that dates back to the 19th century, where we tried four different Portuguese pastries (which I don't recommend.)

Last night our hostel prepared an "authentic Portuguese meal" for us. It consisted of olives, rustic bread, a soft mellow cheese, a selection of salami and sausage, and red wine. Jean, a funny, short Portuguese guy who works for the hostel, made a show out of firing up a mini terracotta grill to cook the sausage. He and a couple of the other guys who run the hostel danced around to reggae music as we all ate. What a sweet job they have! Paid to eat, drink, and party with young tourists.

It´s impossible to get bored while staying at a hostel with so many young travelers from all over the world to talk to. They all put our trip to shame in terms of adventurousness. They travel for months, with no end in sight. Today they´re in Lisbon, tomorrow they decide they will go to the island of Ibiza, and by the next week they will have found their way to Morocco. It´s all on a whim and they can´t get enough.

I talked to this one girl from Russia who is traveling on her own. It´s astonishing that she has to go through lots of trouble to get a visa to be allowed to travel outside of Russia. She said that it´s risky for her to travel right now because the economy is bad and her boss might decide to let her go unexpectedly while she is away.

Two hostel employees led us up the hill to the Bairro Alto neighborhood, where all the young nightlife is in Lisbon. They took us to a small, empty bar first, and our group filled the place. After a round of drinks we moved to a club where they played Latin music. Pedro, a Brazilian guy with dreads who works at the hostel, taught me how to dance to Latin music the "right" way. He took the lead as I tried to keep up, swinging my hips to the quick rhythm. Such regimented dance is not my favorite, so I soon broke away to tango my-style with my favorite dance partner, Zoe.

The night scene in Bairro Alto is awesome in the summer because people take their drinks outside of the bar to hang out where it´s cooler. So instead of secluded parties in various bars it´s more like just one big party all throughout the streets.

— Jackie

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You are reading "Party in the Streets of Bairro Alto", an entry posted on 21 July 2009 by Jackie Steves.

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Comments [ top ]

Wow. I’ve been to Lisbon a dozen times in the last 20 years. Jackie and Zoe have been there once. And they’ve experienced a dimension of the town I’ve never been close to. I guess I’m a little sad. I know the parties spill into the streets of the Bairo Alto in the wee hours. Even if I felt like staying up that late, there is a pretty serious age-ism raging then and there. Oh well, I can still enjoy both the bacalhao and the national pastries. And by reading Jackie’s blog, I can imagine what the other scene might be like. As I write this response, my Stockholm hotel room is shaking to the trance beat of an after midnight club immediately below my hotel window. It’s not even a weekend. Funny that my annoyance would be Jackie’s delight.

Posted by: Rick (Jackie's Dad) - Jul 21, 2009 10:37 AM

great post Jackie! I love it when hostels make the effort to be more than just a place to sleep and give you a feel of the local culture. And don't worry too much about being well planned. I'm a planner too. I've gotten somewhat less planned as i've traveled more but as much fun as it is to run off somewhere at the drop of a hat it can also be conforting to always know where you are goign to sleep rather than going from booked up hostel to booked up hostel trying to find somewhere to crash. Plus you have a lifetime to make it to Ibiza and Morocco!

Posted by: a - Jul 21, 2009 9:46 PM

I was in the Bairro Alto region on a Saturday night in October when I was there. I have never seen so many young people in my life!! There was so much youth and energy there that made Lisbon seem so alive! The streets were jam packed and everyone was out to party! Lisbon isn't huge compared to many cities in Europe. It's quite cozy but wandering through that area on a Sat night, it is as lively as any happening city in Europe!

Posted by: Jeremy B - Jul 22, 2009 12:54 PM