Was in Lisbon for the second time last week. December is a great time to go there as its still quite warm there especially compared to Dublin. Stayed in a small city centre Hotel right in the very centre of all the shops and cafes. Compared to Dublin, Lisbon foe me has much more to offer. Lisbon has retained more of its character, small shops and has less Multi National Shop brands. There was just one MacDonalds to be seen and we decided not to go in even for a cup of tea. Lisbon anyway has much better Cafes and Restaurants. Many Cafes date back to early 20th century and we visited several. One Cafe in Belem out on the coast is reached by an old fashioned Tram which races out along the tracks at break neck speed. The Pasteis de Belem opened in 1837 and today claims to serve up to 50,000 cakes a day. At night the Cafe is filled with young and old tucking into to custard tarts and coffee as well as the odd glass of wine. Many of the cafes in Lisbon serve mainly coffee and soft drinks and people use them like people in Ireland use Pubs to meet up. In the city centre of Dublin the streets sometimes resemble a war zone, the odd fight breaking out, shouting, drunks everywhere. Lisbon seemed more relaxed and family orientated.
Second photo is of a small family run restaurant we went to twice. Wine was less than 85 cent a glass Coffee 65 cents and a main meal was less than 6 Euro. Have heard some tourists complain of being charged for bread and olives which had been left on their tables. But at the prices we were charged those tourists either went to the wrong places or were too tight fisted.
