Few cities have such an invigorating way of welcoming a newcomer, especially if you have arrived early in the morning after a transatlantic flight and your hotel room won't be ready for hours: Ride Lisbon's century-old tram.
The toy-like wooden trolley I boarded in Praca Luis de Camoes is more like a midway ride than a typical commuter trek. With a clang of the bell, the steel wheels grind into the tracks and propel the few Sunday-morning passengers up a steep and twisting street. Dozing isn't an option: Each curve presents new and startling views as we climb into the Bairro Alto, the once seedy, now trendy part of town that I have come here to explore.
The first impression that comes with this early-morning ride on Tram 28 is that Lisbon is the Atlantic's answer to San Francisco. Then around the next bend the tram rises above the city: Ponte 25 de Abril suspends a graceful arc where the Tagus River widens into the sea and it looks like a copy of the Golden Gate bridge, complete with vermilion towers.
Lisbon is an ancient city that once ruled a considerable chunk of the planet. Its accumulated wealth is still evident today, but an earthquake - another echo of San Francisco - wiped out a large part of it in 1755. Since the Bairro Alto was spared the subsequent tidal wave and fire, its medieval character of low buildings and narrow lanes remained intact.
By day, the bairro is a quiet village where laundry hangs above graffiti-strewn streets. There are local grocery shops and storefront businesses that deal in antiques, interior furnishings and used books. The ateliers of young fashion designers are crammed with sewing machines and pattern-cutting tables that bump up against the display racks.
This traffic-free maze is quiet and ideal for poking around with plenty of bars to grab a refuelling bica, or espresso, and the famous custard tart of Lisbon, the pasteis de Belem. (Although you may want to make a pilgrimage, as many do, to the waterfront Antiga Confeitaria de Belem, where this confection was invented in 1837 and which is still going strong today, churning out as many as 30,000 pastries on any given Sunday.)
Lisbon is said to be built on seven hills, although it feels as though there are many more than that. Apart from the upscale Chiado and Baixa neighbourhoods, where grand squares spill onto the wide riverbank, one is always walking either up or down. The seven hills make for a tenuous link to an event to be held in Lisbon today, when the New 7 Wonders of the World will be announced at a spectacle staged in the Estádio da Luz, home to Lisbon's Benfica soccer team. A mixed bag of celebrities including Jose Carreras, Ben Kingsley, Chaka Khan and Neil Armstrong will make appearances for the announcement, the culmination of a worldwide public vote. The organizers said Portugal is a neutral host because it has no landmarks in the running against such candidates as the Eiffel Tower, the Acropolis and Stonehenge.
This event is the latest attraction in a city that in the past decade hosted the high-profile Expo 98 and the 2004 European Cup soccer championship, both of which have left a legacy that has changed the look and feel of Lisbon.
But it's just a climb away to step back from the modern city and into the past. And in Lisbon, memories are carried on the wave of a song.
Fado is the heartbeat of the city, and the bairro is where these mournful melodies are crooned in dive-like tascas, smart restaurants and tourist traps.
