City Guide: Freelance writer and Shit You Should Care About contributor Bel Hawkins’ top spots in Lisbon
WORDS BY IZZY WIGHT
“It’s a city built to enable spontaneity if the stars align.”
Here at Fashion Journal, we want to unearth the hidden spots in Australian cities that only the locals know about. There’s no gatekeeping here – this is a breakdown of the best bits of our cities. We want the underrated date spots, favourite restaurants, treasure trove op shops and the bars people will always want to go back to.
Taking us around Lisbon this week is Aotearoa-born freelance creative and Shit You Should Care About contributor, Bel Hawkins. After a lot of “work and planning and dreaming”, Bel and her friend Lucy landed a book deal together and decided to move to Portugal’s capital to write. “I wanted anonymity and to throw my whole life up in the air for a creative project and see what happened,” she says.
For more content like this, tap through to our Life section.
Over the last eight months, Bel has been living and working in Portugal while finishing Make It Make Sense. “When I arrived, it was like a jolt of energy into my whole body – you know the way falling in love with someone great feels? It was like that,” she says. “Lisbon is an ancient place currently being infused with modern desires, and it’s such an interesting and, at times, challenging collision to be a part of. I love the colour, the light, the pace of life and of course, the sun.”
While she’ll always call New Zealand her home, Bel believes Lisbon vibrates with something special. “Living here as a foreigner is very political and comes with its own fraught territory… Often it reeks, it’s stiflingly hot in the summer, horrifically damp in winter… [and] ridiculously bureaucratic.
“And then in between all those things are endless evenings at viewpoints looking over the city, Sunday seafood lunches, sipping wine on the street somewhere, getting to a surf beach in twenty minutes after work, meeting strangers in a park and ending up going out dancing til 4am… It’s a city built to enable spontaneity if the stars align.” Here, Bel shares some of her favourite places to visit in the city.
Drink
View this post on Instagram
Almost everyone I know has a love story with Magnolia. For me, it was where we first met our agent in Lisbon. It’s in Praca das Flores, a chic square… surrounded by heaps of cute places to eat, drink and shop. Plus they let you take your wine and go and sit in and watch people dance or make/hang out. Other spots I love are Rude, Amor Records if you’re into vinyl or Mirari for fun markets and events.
Eat
View this post on Instagram
I love Tati. It’s down a fairly unassuming street and if you’re visiting Lisbon, it’s in an area you wouldn’t venture to. Get a drink at A Viagem Das Horas before heading there for gorge plates and low lighting. For more traditional food, I love O Velho Eurico, Trinca or Sal Grosso.
View this post on Instagram
One of my best friends and I always go to Ramiro when we’re both in town. It’s your classic Anthony Bourdain-approved restaurant, [it’s] been there since the ’50s and is such a hectic, fun experience. Every time I’ve been there, I’ve made friends with strangers and ended up talking for hours.
Shop
View this post on Instagram
Salted Books is a divine bookstore that opened last year and hosts great events for writers and readers. [I recommend] Kintu Studio or Cecile M for ceramics. House of Curated and Odile Collective are cute for picking up cute bits from your travels. Or Marvila 8 on the other side of town is a newly converted warehouse with lots of vintage stores and great tacos at Paloma next door.
Date locations
View this post on Instagram
Mirodouros are great for dates unless you’re unsure and you don’t want them to ruin your favourite place to go with friends. Jardim du Torel is a fave – just packing a blanket and a bottle and looking out over the city is gorge and lowkey. Corrupio or Senhor Uva is nice for something chicer and always has a cute vibe… Or wandering around the Gulbenkian… you can pull up on the grass with a glass of wine or catch an event that’s often on outdoors in the summer.
R&R
View this post on Instagram
J’adore a massage. I’ll go to Terra Heal or a class at The Yoga Room in Saldanha if I need a reset. I always enjoy getting a coffee at Marquise and mincing around the area where there are heaps of cute secondhand stores… [I enjoy] stopping off for a spritz at a quiosque somewhere with my book and pen and people-watch until the wee hours if I like.
You can follow Bel here.
Liked this? You’ll love these...
