{"id":17072,"date":"2019-04-05T15:54:02","date_gmt":"2019-04-05T15:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/devourlisbonfoodtours.com\/?p=2682"},"modified":"2022-02-28T15:44:39","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T15:44:39","slug":"the-triangle-neighborhood-lisbon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/dev.devourtours.com\/blog\/the-triangle-neighborhood-lisbon\/","title":{"rendered":"A Love Letter to “The Triangle”"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

This post is part of our Love Letter<\/a> series: first-person accounts of what we love about Lisbon.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

My relationship with Lisbon over the last 20+ years hasn\u2019t always been undisturbed.<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I suppose that\u2019s what happens with most long-term relationships. But if there is one thing Lisbon does well, and has done so since the Great Earthquake of 1755, is to constantly reinvent itself.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I discovered \u201cThe Triangle\u201d by accident. I was on a work assignment to visit Polo Cultural Gaivotas<\/a>, on a street not quite part of the triangle\u2019s street cluster but close enough to be called a next-door neighbor. Too close to the deadline for comfort, my plan was to go, see, interview, and write. Lisbon, as always, had other plans for me.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"The<\/figure><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Photo credit: Sandra Henriques Gajjar<\/a>; Text overlay: Devour Lisbon Food Tours<\/a><\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"The
The courtyard of Polo Cultural Gaivotas, with a piece by street artist Vhils. Photo credit: Sandra Henriques Gajjar<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

That short interview about this old school turned cultural center resulted in recommendations to visit A Av\u00f3 Veio Trabalhar<\/a>, a place where grandmas literally come to work using their crafts\u2019 skills for disruptive creativity. Then the caf\u00e9 owned by a Portuguese-Australian couple, the mill<\/a>, that roasts their coffee beans at a father-and-son business down the block. Then Mercearia Po\u00e7o dos Negros<\/a>, owned by a Portuguese-Peruvian couple who specialize in selling products of small Portuguese producers. Then Companhia Portugueza do Ch\u00e1<\/a>, where Argentinian Lisbon-based Sebastian Filgueiras custom makes tea blends and created the very local Lisbon Breakfast and Lisbon Afternoon. Then Hello, Kristof<\/a>, a caf\u00e9 where the Scandinavian-style is an interior design choice not a sign of gentrification. Then Palavra de Viajante<\/a>, the only bookstore in Lisbon that specializes in travel books and everything related to travel.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I refer to \u201cThe Triangle\u201d with quote marks because it\u2019s not a neighborhood, geographically nor officially, but it\u2019s a neighborhood at heart. The name was given by locals and shop owners. That was the first thing I noticed when I came here the first time and that I feel every time I find an excuse to return. Old and new come together in a way that, I confess, I no longer thought possible in the \u201covertouristed\u201d and gentrified areas of Lisbon. As we began to lose the rugged character of the historic neighborhoods of Alfama, Mouraria, and Gra\u00e7a, I sincerely thought the city was gone for good.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Square
The tiny square that’s the “tip” of The Triangle. Photo credit: Sandra Henriques Gajjar<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

And then, like a beacon of light, this cluster of three streets (Po\u00e7o dos Negros, Poiais de S\u00e3o Bento, and the end part of S\u00e3o Bento) that looks like a perfect triangle on the map came to the rescue. A real-life example of how a city can grow without completely losing sight of what makes it unique.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It has the same cobblestoned narrow streets and the same iconic mustard-yellow tram 28<\/a> as Alfama<\/a>, and the multicultural vibe of Mouraria<\/a>. It has some of the same glazed tile fa\u00e7ades of posh Chiado<\/a>, and the gritty personality of the repurposed buildings in Cais do Sodr\u00e9<\/a>. It has the same avocado toasts a tourist would relish in Baixa, and the history-in-a-plate dishes a local would eat at a tasca<\/a><\/em> in Bairro Alto<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In a way, the whole of Lisbon fits here. In this cluster of streets that looks like a triangle, between Bairro Alto and Madragoa.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"A
One of the many design stores you’ll find at The Triangle. Photo credit: Sandra Henriques Gajjar<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Some businesses are part of an older side of the city, like the secluded nightclub where people got to by word of mouth long before that was a trend. The name? Aptly, Incognito. Forget complicated cocktails or carefully brewed artisanal beer. It\u2019s the place to drink a local bottled or draft beer while dancing to punk-rock tunes from a time when punk-rock was still young.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The same Poiais de S\u00e3o Bento street is lined by a hand full of local design stores that lead the way into a narrow side alley where more art lives and breathes: The Atelier Museu J\u00falio Pomar<\/a>, a museum designed by renowned Portuguese architect Siza Vieira that houses the work of a lifetime of Portuguese Modernist painter and sculptor J\u00falio Pomar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If Lisbon has a caf\u00e9 in every corner, Po\u00e7o dos Negros street has a caf\u00e9 for every taste. But if you want to try something new, take a detour to the side street on the corner of Companhia Portugueza do Ch\u00e1 for a cup of Lisbon Breakfast tea at Dear Breakfast<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Banana
Banana bread and Lisbon Breakfast tea at Dear Breakfast. Photo credit: Sandra Henriques Gajjar<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For lunch, go local. Always communicative, language is not a barrier for the staff at Zapata<\/a>. Beware that the bilingual menu can only help you so far. Knowing what\u2019s on the menu is one thing, making the hard choice of what to have is another. When in doubt, remember you can never go wrong with the daily specials.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For dinner, get Cabo Verdean\u2019s typical dish cachupa<\/em> with a side of live music on the weekends at Tambarina<\/a>. The food tastes as homey as the innocent spats inside the kitchen. The cook runs that kitchen with an iron fist and she\u2019s always right, and I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way. There is love in that food.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Next time you\u2019re in Lisbon, whether it\u2019s your first or your 100th time, do me a favor and visit \u201cThe Triangle\u201d first. Forget all you think you know about or heard about Lisbon. Turn off your mobile app and fold up your map. Come here with an open heart and wide-open eyes, without expectations, nor even looking for the ultimate authentic experience. It\u2019s not the foodie haven of the city, it\u2019s not the cultural center of the city, here all you\u2019ll find is the<\/em> city that perfectly caters to tourists as it does to locals. If there is one place in Lisbon where I feel there\u2019s life after overtourism, where it\u2019s possible for outsiders and residents to experience the same city without threatening that fragile balance, that place is here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post is part of our Love Letter series: first-person accounts of what we love about Lisbon. My relationship with Lisbon over the last 20+ years hasn\u2019t always been undisturbed. I suppose that\u2019s what happens with most long-term relationships. But if there is one thing Lisbon does well, and has done so since the Great […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":16655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[1723,1755],"tags":[281,1795],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDevour Tours<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/dev.devourtours.com\/blog\/the-triangle-neighborhood-lisbon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Love Letter to "The Triangle": A Haven of Authenticity in Modern Lisbon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a compact city like the Portuguese capital, "The Triangle" is the (unofficial) neighborhood that encapsulates all of what makes Lisbon, well, Lisbon.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"dev.devourtours.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17072\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Devour Tours\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DevourToursCo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-05T15:54:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-28T15:44:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/assets.devourtours.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/breathtaking-views-in-barcelona-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sandra Henriques Gajjar\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@devourtours\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@devourtours\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sandra Henriques Gajjar\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/dev.devourtours.com\/blog\/the-triangle-neighborhood-lisbon\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/dev.devourtours.com\/blog\/the-triangle-neighborhood-lisbon\/\",\"name\":\"Fall in Love with The Triangle in Lisbon - 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