Lisbon User Guide

Avenida Almirante Reis 205A Location HERE . Open daily 1200-1600 and 1900-2300 hours On the southwest corner of the intersection of Alameda Dom Henriques and Avenida Almirante Reis, Café Império is the “ downstairs ” of the former Cinema Império, a grand building designed by Cassiano Branco, the same architect who designed CineTeatro Eden on the western side of Restauradores. The latter has been restored to its former glory, and is now the Eden Aparthotel, while the “ upstairs ” of the former has become a place of worship for the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (the cinema closed in 1983). It is, though, completely separate from Café Império. Entering from Av. Almirante Reis, one can visualise the space as part of a cinema. There is a ground floor level, with tables laid out around the opening that enables diners to look down into the rather larger basement level, which has several large tables laid out for work, reunion and family gatherings. There is also a distinctive mural, ...

Your bottled water and canned drinks just got ten cents per container more expensive. The name of the culprit is VOLTA. I put all my cans and bottles in the recycling as a matter of routine, but it seems that a lot of people don’t. So, in order to apply a nudge to all of us and get recycling rates up, a national scheme has been launched , and its name is Volta. Meaning Return. The plastic bottles, and cans, have the extra charge added at the till. You can identify a Volta bottle or can by the symbol on the outside of the package. If you want your ten cent deposit (or, as soon happens, multiple of ten cents), then you take the empty containers to your local supermarket - my local Pingo Doce has a machine in the foyer - and return them. The machine has instructions (including in English, should you wish) and doing the depositing is straightforward. When you’ve finished, press the Pagamento button and get a credit voucher. When paying for your next bag of groceries, you can scan the vouch...

Rua Ângela Pinto 19 Location HERE . Open 1000-2300 hours, closed Sundays. It’s in Arroios Market! Not just Middle Eastern, but a Palestinian café and food store. There is not so much seating behind the shop, but if you get there by 1900-2000 hours and are not a large group, you should be OK. The menu has lots of vegetarian choices, and indeed plenty of vegan choices, too. Where the menu says “ sandwich ”, it means Pitta Sandwich. And they’re rather good. The olives are also rather good. You may encounter the phrase “ From Palestine With Love ”. It’s a peaceful vibe. It should surprise no-one that the staff are welcoming and helpful, while at the same time the front window has a poster advertising “ The Voice of Hind Rajab ”, and the window onto the seating area displays solidarity with the Gaza flotilla. Thus empathy for those suffering terrible hardship is shown front and centre by some of those unable to ease it. You leave, after paying a modest bill, perhaps understanding that Pales...

TRAM NEWS Tram 28 is back to its full route, and full schedule. The advice is as before: don’t waste your time queuing at Martim Moniz. If you want to ride the 28, get on at Prazeres, at the other end of the line. Get up there on weekdays using Tram 25 from Praça da Figueira, Praça do Comércio, or Cais do Sodré. Or, every day of the week, bus 709 from Rossio. One other warning: those trying to ride the 28 while carrying rucksacks or luggage - if at all possible, DON’T. It gets uncomfortable enough without the extras. 28 Trams (and a 25) at Prazeres Tram 18 and 24 Reliability, or not. The 18 is a route that Carris tried, and failed, to abandon some years back. There was even a proposal for a group of enthusiasts to take it over, which was most likely scuppered by the potential liability insurance premiums. Also, the 18 has a relatively long run away from the rest of the network, all the way from Santo Amaro to Boa Hora and up to the Ajuda terminus, and without an intermediate turning lo...