In Love with Lisbon

The city of seven hills offers the most picturesque “leg day” in the world, with endless charm and equally endless inclines. Fortunately, transportation via cable car, funicular, Uber, taxi, and local-ride service Bolt make exploring each unique neighborhood anything but an uphill battle. A long weekend makes an easy taster of this vibrant city, but you might not be ready to leave its charms so quickly once discovered.

Sleeping Like Royalty

A truly special property, the Torel Palace Lisbon is actually a series of mansions clinging to the top of a hill in the Pena neighborhood. A pink palace boasts rooms named after Queens, blue for Kings, the Lavra palace honoring royal infants, and the white for the Royal Family apartments.

Despite the refined air, the property just has that unique ambiance where you can settle in and feel the serenity envelop you, despite being in the thick of an energy-filled city. The tony digs are situated alongside the oldest funicular in Lisbon – the charming Acensor do Lavra – which dates to 1884. The funicular operated continuously for over 140 years before being temporary halted after the tragic Gloria crash in September 2025 – in a combination of sensitivity and respect despite having just undergone several months of maintenance and testing.

The Lavra line ran just under the windows of our suite’s bedroom and Juliet balcony of the bathroom, adding to the authentic sense of place. Other luxe touches in the high-ceilinged multi-room suite included a massive TV-inside-the-lounge mirror and chandelier so grand and ornate over the bed, I had to smother a giggle under the thick feather duvet having just returned from seeing Phantom of the Opera.

Lisbon offered so much to do, but I could have been happy just lounging by one of two charming hillside pools sipping a chilled cider and tackling a burrata and heirloom tomato lunch, or offering homage to the history of the Lavra mansion in which my suite sat by opting for a cacao-based spa treatment before a visit to the Turkish hammam steam room. Everywhere you wander on the property, you discover comfy secluded nooks where you can sink in and escape the world.

The included gourmet breakfast rivaled any other top hotel, with eggs benedict on demand and chefs topping up sizzling marinated mushrooms, thick-cut bacon, platters of charcuterie with local cheeses, pastries, and homemade cakes, all of which paired nicely with bottomless mimosas or champagne. The meal was served in the elegant Black Pavilion dining room and patio – a great teaser for my dinner plans.

To be fair, I first discovered the Torel Palace after perusing some exciting Michelin-starred restaurants in the city. The 2Monkeys jumped out for its irreverent promise of creativity and the fact that one of the culinary genius “monkeys” was the most awarded chef in Portugal. Alas, the 14 seats had been filled for a very long time before I made my plans.

Poking my nose in before service revealed an intimate horseshoe around a cook space where a chef and dedicated sommelier could interact with the lucky diners looking on. I was mollified by the fact that Chef Matos developed the very menu I’d be dining on upstairs at Black Pavilion.

We kicked off our evening in a classic lounge with yet another gorgeous, carved, wooden ceiling with hand-painted insets. Duke’s exuded sophistication and elegance with a tempting cocktail and bites menu. Our fave was the Conde Castro Guimarães, a lovely libation of gin, lemon, green apple, and basil. Steps outside was the property’s expansive patio with endless views, which is where we headed to enjoy a fabulous evening.

The property’s fine dining restaurant has a gorgeous glass and black steel winter garden vibe. However, the patio views of dying sunset colors over the peekaboo sea view – as twinkling lights of the city grew bolder along the adjacent hill – were too enticing to pass up as a backdrop to our Black Pavillion dining experience. A balmy breeze nicely accented dishes like sea scallops with shrimp ravioli in a delicate wine sauce and traditional “Pil-Pil” fresh cod and chickpeas.

Finishing the meal with a port after a crime brûlée and vanilla olive oil with passionfruit offered the perfect end. Having enjoyed a sampling of creations designed by Chef Vitor Matos only solidified a plan to return for the full 2Monkey’s experience and to enjoy the charm of this special property again. (All 38 villas and suites are uniquely designed and decorated, so I figure I have at least 37 trips back to plan!)

Vintage Port Tasting

Taylor’s Port is one of the oldest of the port houses, established in 1692 with three estates adding their own unique terroir flair to each blend. Taylor’s waterfront tasting room in the historic Alfama district boasts a variety of tasting menus showing off their variety of vintage ports, tawny ports, rose port, and signature Chip Dry cocktail. Gourmet nibbles round out an exploration of the styles, accompanied by thoughtful explanations to share the history of the family and its port.

We opted for the Taylor’s Vintage Experience tasting. After a wine’s second spring, it’s considered by a council who decides if it’s of an outstanding quality worthy of being declared. On average, only three years of every decade meet the mark. The production from those declared years that are determined to be capable of evolving from an early seen structure and depth of flavor will mature into Taylor’s Vintage Ports.

We added a sheep’s milk cheese, pumpkin jam and hearty cracker plate to our sips and also sampled Taylor’s Chef’s Edition EVOO, produced from 17 hectares of olive trees grown on the same estates as the port.

Fado For Days

The Portuguese tradition of fado is found widely in the winding cobblestone streets of its birthplace district of Alfama. After perusing reviews and the proximity to lovely Lisbon Sé Cathedral, we settled on our first of almost daily samples at Fado e Fado.

On arrival, we descended into a room featuring ancient stone arches of the city’s medieval wall and 11th century sea gate. We accepted delicate glasses of port (bottled water also offered) and took seats among the 40-odd chairs. The acoustics and low lighting added to the ambiance, with posters of famous fado singers and musicians lining the far wall.

No show is the same. Spontaneous “poem” choices were announced by performers, flanked by two musicians playing guitar and a unique 12-stringed instrument. These poems blurringly quick-pick’d out the wandering melody at the start of each ode like an opera overture. Humor, longing, passion – the charming 50-minute performance of traditional ballads – was a perfect introduction or starter before drinks in the lively neighborhood.

¡Ole! to Theatre in the Round

On our drive in from the airport, we spotted Phantom of the Opera posters, noting that the touring Broadway show would appear at Sagres Campo Pequeno. The 1892 Neo-Moorish venue has a capacity of 10,000 and also hosts music concerts, kid-focused shows, Christmas markets, opera, fairs, and bullfighting. Intrigued by a theatre space that also doubles as a current bullfighting arena, we snagged tickets and joined a well-heeled crowd for Opening Night.

Rings of seating rose from the floor, but other than the shape of the historic space, the transformation to Opera House of Paris was complete, with dramatic craggy organ-filled phantom-lair and joyful mirrored ballroom filled with a whirl of gorgeous costumes. The immense stage offered large side projections with closeups and Portuguese subtitles of the English production for those in the upper rings to have equally great views.

Coravin to the Rescue

I feel like I’m fairly immersed in the world of wine, but I learned during my Taylor’s Port tasting that a great vintage or tawny port should be ideally enjoyed the same day, if not within an extra day or two of opening. I admit we have had some tawny’s hanging about the place, offering a little sweet end to the day far longer than that.

Early in my career, I covered Coravin’s launch for one of the Condé Nast magazines. At that time, doing solo-mama duty, having a way to drink my bottles by the glass was fab, as I felt like enjoying it not because the bottle was already open. As Greg Lambrecht, inventor and co-founder of the wine lifesaver tech said, “I wanted to teleport wine out of a bottle.” 

These days, I have plenty of help finishing a bottle, but we still slip into sharing a wine that might not go perfectly with our disparate app and main dish choices. The company has aged like wine, getting even better with new science-based accessories to keep multiple bottles fresh for years. In short, the Timeless Six+ is going on the Christmas list for my next Lisbon escape … even if I’ve been a naughty tawny tippler!