Page 52 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2023 LISBON EDITION

Walking Tours of Lisbon

These are the essential tours for first-time and
repeat visitors. Guides use neighborhoods and
landmarks to delve into the city’s past and illumi-
nate its present. They know how to stay out of
the weeds, revealing dates only when necessary,
and telling stories rather than a litany of historic
facts. Some of our guides have used amusing
props to make the tales more theatrical and fun.
All of them work hard to keep their customers
engaged by asking questions and interacting with
diverse groups from around the world. It’s also
exhilarating to hear an engaging yarn while
standing in the spot where it took place.
In a sense, Lisbon guides have it easy. They can
draw on the city’s rich history for countless sto-
ries from past and present, often well hidden
from visitors and even native sons and daughters.
And they can apply these facts and insights to
subjects, like architecture, literature, horticul-
ture.
One of the most interesting tours we took was
a Lisbon spy tour. The city was a hotbed of espi-
onage and spies during both World Wars, but es-
pecially during World War II, when it was neutral.

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