Discover Portugal. Includes FREE planning and background information. Lisbon is a twilight zone between past and future; dodgem-like trams screech through cobbled streets and Afro-Brazilian beats pulsate in the graffiti-slashed Bairro Alto, Zen-style sushi bars sidle up to one-pan family taverns, and thimble-sized haberdasheries abut eco-cool design stores. Neither time- nor trend-obsessed, Portugal’s capital is refreshingly authentic. Mistress of revels, Lisbon lives for the noite (night) and is way up there on Europe’s mustparty list. Mournful fadistas (fado singers) crooning in Alfama’s womblike bars, hedonists hitting Bairro Alto for all-night drink-a-thons, clubbers shimmying on the dance floor at Lux at 4am - it’s a Cinderella-in-reverse scene where the ball begins at midnight. Da Vinci had Mona, but you can have Lisa - she’s brighter, sexier and every bit as enigmatic.
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