After marrying off my best friend since University of Florida Drew Edwards back in July 4th 2015 at my wedding and event venue NOVA 535 in beautiful downtown St. Petersburg, Florida to the lovely and French wifey Helene, I was told there’d be a party in the south of France with her family in early October. Well I managed to make it to Montpellier and was even able to score Drew’s possibly final week of travels alone with me before he heads home and gets to work on baby making. We decided to hit Lisbon, Portugal, neither of us having visited there before and it’s on the way home via London LGW.
We arrived in Lisbon about 8 pm local on a Sunday, after a 2 hour flight, and was dropped off by a taxi driver at his recommendation for dinner, after the first restaurant recommendation Ramiro had a 1 1/2 hour wait. So we grabbed a table outside at Restaurant Pinoquio, and while we waited to get served we chatted up some locals who expertly guided us through the menu right to where we needed to be. Even the pouring rain didn’t stand a chance of ruining our excellent experience, the food, the service, the atmosphere and of course plenty of the local delicious green wine plus the friendly locals and fellow travelers made for a magical welcoming to Lisbon!
Address Praça Restauradores 79 1250-188 LISBOA ( Santa Maria Maior )
Phone 213 465 106 or check out their Facebook page
The next day we traveled around, unfortunately Mondays are world wide museum closed days, so we ended up going to a hip area called LX FACTORY. It’s a must see area when in Lisbon! (Disclaimer: these photos are from iPhone 4 and a few from i6 so please forgive the quality issues, they are unedited and served up as is.)
Bookstore Ler Devagar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ler.devagar
Phone: +351 21 325 9992
Address: Rua Rodrigues Faria, 103 1300-501 Lisbon, Portugal
Literally the coolest bookstore I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen plenty. This amazing store is in some kind of an old printing press / newspaper building and along with a HUGE selection of books, mags and more, plus the great coffee and desserts cafe, there is the professor upstairs who has created all kinds of electrical inventions – a Willy Wonka like character – amazing – and he gives you tours of his inventions. THIS IS NOT TO BE MISSED during your visit in Lisbon!!
El Pep Comic Book store and gallery
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/El-Pep-books-108416892528342/
Address LX Factory Rua Rodrigues Faria 103, 1300-501 Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal
Email [email protected]
Below is the really sweet wife of EL PEP owner / producer / comic book store creator; she took her time explaining everything, which books were local, what was selling best and so on. I peppered her with way too many questions and she didn’t miss a beat answering them all. She is holding two of the locally produced comics here in Lisbon, Portugal.
We enjoyed a nice, tasty lunch inside the LX Factory, where the bookstore, the Comic shop and many many other cool restaurants, shops and galleries can be found.
Restaurante A Praca
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/restauranteapraca
Address LX Factory, 1300-501 Lisbon, Portugal
Phone +351 21 099 1792
Email [email protected]
Cork Products are famous here in Portugal – for shoes, purses even umbrellas. I’m off to Porto for a few days and might report back on the cork products. I’ve already purchased a cork hat which is great, and yes 100% waterproof. Drew borrowing my cork hat during the rainy first 24 hours of Lisbon.
What they are missing here in Lisbon, as with most businesses is professionally designed business cards. Most are terrible, font too small to read, lacking critical info – Business Name and Slogan, email, phone, website, address and use both sides. [They do make up for all of that here in Lisbon, Portugal with excellent food, service, a clean quite and friendly city.] I’ve written a blog about creating great business cards here on the Entrepreneur Social Club so please read it! If you’re in beautiful downtown St. Petersburg Florida on a Thursday night, join us for our weekly meetings at venue NOVA 535, if not join us here online!
