Rita and Henriques flat is in the middle of Alfama, the old part of Lisbon. You cannot reach it by car due to the small streets and a number of stairs to climb. This is a big advantage, because it is calm and nice and you feel like living in the middle of the "real" Lisbon. You reach the next station in some minutes, so no problem to get to bus or train or metro.
The flat is very nice in a newly restaurated and modernized old house, which is located on a very small but pittoresque place with a very small restaurant. The residents have opened their living-room and kitchen and put some chairs on the street to offer portuguese food to the people, such as sardines, pulpo, potatoes with meat etc. Delicious! And after some wine, it's good to know that the way to the flat is not too long...
Henrique welcomed us very friendly on the first day and gave us a detailed overview of Lisbons history, people, hotspots, fado-restaurants, public transport and much more which you never get to know as a "normal" tourist. Thanks for that, Henrique! We exchanged phone-numbers to get infos from Henrique on short notice, That was very helpful, especially when finding a good fado-restaurant. And Henrique was always available for us and sent some additional proposals.
We took the sightseeing-bus to hop-on and hop-off (proposal from Henrique), which is normally not our way to discover a city. But this time we found it a good alternative due to the incredibly overcrowded historic street cars. 40 Euros for two persons for 48 hours - correct! The bus took us to almost every place in the city - from the Torre of Belem in the west to the modern city of the world exhibition 1998 at the shores of river Tejo.
We recommend Rita's and Henrique's flat without any restrictions and when we once get back to Lisbon, we know where to stay.
Silvia and Jochen, Germany