Our Airbnb was on the Leith Walk, just a little bit outside the core of Edinburgh. This proved a good choice, far enough outside the Royal Mile area to avoid tourist traps, but gentrified enough to provide good options for visitors.
Leith Walk Eats
Edinburgh Pubs
Edinburgh is home to a seemingly endless number of pubs. Most of them are nondescript neighbourhood corner spots serving mainly locals. Others are more touristy and claim long, elaborate histories. In every one we visited we found a warm welcome and unexpectedly good food.
More Seville Food & Drinks
This week we discovered a couple more good places to eat and drink near our place in Seville.
Bar Ajoblanco is a quirky little place that sells vinyl records, VHS tapes and Tex-Mexish food. We tried some tacos and enchiladas along with an order of nachos and guac.
Around La Macarena
Our Airbnb apartment is in an area of Seville known as La Macarena.
The neighbourhood is most famed for its Basílica de la Macarena and a long stretch of the original murallas, or protective city walls that date to Roman times.
Bar Alfalfa
On Sunday we had lunch at Bar Alfalfa, a tiny nook of a tapas bar near Seville’s Plaza de la Alfalfa.
This neighbourhood is only 10 minutes by foot from our apartment, but it was the first time we’d wandered through.
The Confession Box
It is true that the black stuff does taste better in Ireland, if only because frequent and rapid consumption by so many citizens ensures that every pint is fresh.
My search for a respectable pint of Guinness outside the Temple Bar district raised a few intriguing candidates, but The Confession Box was a five-minute walk from our hotel so it jumped to the top of the list.
Our Favourite Lisbon Eats
Before our Lisbon memories fade, we wanted to document some of the best restaurants, cafés and bars we visited. Over our three weeks we had great luck finding tasty food, with only one or two of the “meh” experiences that can happen anywhere. In no particular order, these are some places we’d recommend to others.
Cacilhas
Throughout our visit to Lisbon we’ve enjoyed many panoramic views of the Rio Tejo, which inevitably include the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge that connects Lisbon to the opposite shore of the river and its towering statue of Christ, the Cristo Rei.
This opposite shore is in fact another city: Almada. And the closest part of Alamada to Lisbon is Cacilhas, a former fishing and shipbuilding district.
The Food Temple
Last weekend we had dinner at The Food Temple, a vegan restaurant just around the corner from our rented house in Mouraria. Reservations were a must!
It turns out that Alice, the founder of The Food Temple, was born in Vancouver.
Ascensor da Glória
North of the Rossio train station along the beautiful tree-lined Avenida da Liberdade there’s a small funicular that connects to the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara on the hill above.
There are a number of such funiculars around Lisbon, but many are currently closed or under repair. This one was originally built in 1885 and electrified in 1914.