Letters from Lisbon – Part 1

In this series, I’ll take you behind the scenes of the life of a Belgian culinary arts student who’s moving to Portugal for four months for an internship at a Michelin-starred restaurant. This is a letter about my first week in Lisbon, including the exact addresses of a few must-see spots if you’re in the area.

I’m writing this post from Lisbon. I’ve arrived safely and have been acclimating to the Portuguese rainy season for a week now. So far, I’ve needed my umbrella more often than my sunglasses, but hopefully that will change soon.🤞 I’ve spent the past week exploring the region a bit and taking a week off before I start my internship next week. 

In this blog post, I’d like to share some photos of beautiful places I’ve seen, so you can enjoy them a little too. I always include the location so you can easily find them if you ever visit Portugal. 

January 26 – Exploring the City

January 27 – Completely different from what was planned…

At first, I had planned to bike to my internship. I had found an Airbnb that (according to Google Maps) was a 15-minute bike ride away. So it seemed ideal… or so I thought. But the roads turned out to be in very poor condition for daily biking, and I hadn’t really estimated the elevation change correctly. I decided that instead of looking for a bike shop, I’d be better off finding the best walking route to my internship. 

January 28 – Storm Kristin?

“Despite the rain and wind, the power hasn’t gone out again today, and we even have hot water again.” That was the message I sent home. 

January 29 – Visit the internship restaurant & check exam results

This morning I went for a short walk and visited a few stores. After that, I went back to the apartment. I had scheduled an interview with a Belgian chef for my thesis. It was a very pleasant and informative phone call. 

Last night, I had the chance to stop by the restaurant where I’ll be doing my internship starting next week. I got a quick tour of the restaurant and was able to meet everyone on the team. On the way back, I received an email saying my exam results were in. Fortunately, they were very good. Today was a good day. 

January 30 – Botanical Garden & Thesis

There’s a botanical garden nearby with Portuguese plants. So I definitely had to go there. They don’t grow in a greenhouse; instead, everything is simply sheltered from the wind by a bamboo screen. I have some of these plants at home as houseplants, but these are true wild plants. It was really special to see them. The garden was larger than I expected and very affordable; €1.80 for students. I spent the rest of the day working on my thesis. 

January 31 – Trying to Enjoy My Vacation Anyway 

Today I went for a long walk and enjoyed the sunshine. I found an old monastery with a fantastic view from the tower. In the afternoon, I visited a few stores.

I also found a really nice little vegan restaurant along the way where I had a toast with artichoke spread, olives, pickled red onion, and crispy fried tofu, with a view of the kitchen.

February 1 – I'm already sick of it!

Today I spent the morning figuring out how to get a Portuguese washing machine to work and using the doors of my closet as a clothesline because it was raining outside. After that, I went looking for a few spots in Lisbon where I could sit with my laptop to work, because I was really tired of the four walls of my room and couldn’t stand the humidity in the apartment anymore. The lobby of the Hotel Bairro Alto turned out to be ideal: quiet, with a luxurious interior and high-quality tea, coffee, and pastries available.

February 2 – Internship Report and the Last Day Before My Internship Begins

This morning, I worked on my internship report at a coffee shop on my list: Bread & Friends Marquês. Afterward, I went for a walk and did some grocery shopping so I wouldn’t have to worry about it for the rest of the week. My Portuguese is already starting to improve. I didn’t have to use a translation app even once to figure out what I was holding. I certainly don’t understand everything, but just enough to get the general gist of what the text on the packaging is saying. In the evening, I cooked so I’d have a quick lunch for the rest of the week before heading to the restaurant. Tomorrow is my first day of my internship. So exciting!

Tomorrow is my first day at the restaurant. I'll keep you posted for Part 2…