Lisbon, From the Tile Up

Begin at the river and walk uphill; in Lisbon you have little choice. The city is a lesson in section, every street a negotiation with the slope.

Read it from the tile up. The azulejo facades are not decoration but insulation, waterproofing and civic pride pressed into the same blue-glazed surface. They cool the wall and cool the eye.

A route

From the pombaline grid of the Baixa — rebuilt on anti-seismic principles after 1755, and arguably Europe's first deliberately resilient downtown — climb to the miradouros of the Alfama. Stop often. The view is the point, and so is the rest.

End at a tiled café with the afternoon light coming sideways off the Tejo. You will have learned more about urbanism than any seminar could teach.