[Dec. 2021] On the first day in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, we went for a walk after dark.
My husband wanted to go to the river, so we went down the slope.
On the way, we saw people lined up at the pharmacy.
Is could be for the Covid test.
At the bottom of the slope, parallel to the Tagus River, at Av. 24 de Julho, it finally flattened.
Even though it was parallel to the river, there was a railroad track across the street and we couldn’t reach the river in the end.
We decided to walk along this road for a while.
The aim was to reach Comercio Square, a spacious square in the centre of the town.
This area along Av. 24 de Julho seems to be a redevelopment area, and while there are ultra-modern buildings, there are also rough buildings on which there are graffiti painted.
Cars pass, but it doesn’t seem to be a street for people to walk, so it wasn’t fun to walk.
Then, on the way, we came across a big building called Time Out Market.
Even though it said a market, it looked busy even in the evening.
When we entered to see what it was like, we found that it was a big food court.
Upon entering, the vaccine certificate was properly checked.
At a small restaurant we went to during the day, we were only asked if we had a vaccine certificate.
This Time Out Market is said to have opened in May 2014.
No wonder it shouldn’t be in our old guidebook (published in 2009).
Apparently, Time Out, which is famous for magazines, bought Mercado da Ribeira, which is introduced as a luxury food market in Lisbon in our guidebook.
Not only Portuguese food, but also various food booths are lined up in a fashionable way.
There are countless glittering decorations hanging from the ceiling, creating a gorgeous atmosphere.
However, this may be because it was Christmas time.
What impressed me was that the cleaning people were working hard and tidying up the table as soon as the customers finished eating and stood up.
Generally, I have a impression that the food courts are rather dirty and messy places, but it’s clean here.
We bought a serrano ham and cheese platter (€ 17) here and glasses of Prosecco (€ 5.5) at another booth and relaxed.
Next table was occupied by a family with children.
Looking around, the customer base varied from a group of young people to an elderly couple.
According to the information board, it is open from 10 am to 12 am.
It was so convenient that we used it again during our stay in Lisbon.
