I was quietly bummed out to have to miss all the fun at Glastonbury Music Festival, where a friend of mine was performing, in order to head to Lisbon for work. But my fun little shopping excursions during the trip ended up erasing all of my disappointment at not being able to watch impromptu Michael Jackson tribute sets while dressed in Wellies and cut-off shorts (but, real talk: sloshing around in the mud is not really my thing anyway.) Before I headed to sunny Portugal, a close friend of mine who knows the city well, gave me a list of little local shops to visit. They rocked my world so much, that I feel compelled to share them with you.
1) Luvaria Ulisses
Literally the size of a closet, this nearly 100-year-old glove shop in the old commercial district Chiado can barely accommodate three people at a time. If it weren’t for the line of people waiting outside the shop, I would have easily walked past it. (And it says a lot about the product that women are lining up to purchase leather gloves in the dead of summer, no?) But the wide array of hand-made gloves in nearly every possible color imaginable more than makes up for the close quarters. Take a peek behind the counter and you can see a long, narrow passageway that serves as the storage room where rows and rows of stacked vintage cabinets are kept (all of the store’s interior decoration dates back to the early 1920s.) My shopping buddy Ingrid and I literally cooed over buttery leather gloves that fit like a second skin. Even better, these locally crafted little gems are surprisingly affordable (if you’re paying in Euros or Pounds Sterling anyway) at roughly €40 a pop.
2) Paris Em Lisboa
It’s a wonderland of locally made table and bed linens (Portugal is known for its linen and lace) and other home furnishings. The first floor features colorfully packaged fragrant soaps from Porto and plush towels among other bathroom items. But the second floor is the real draw with reams of fabric, hand embroidered linen napkins, kitchen towels and table cloths in a variety of colors and prints (items you can easily pack in your suitcase). The third floor was also appealing with an impressive selection of crisp, summer-worthy white sheets. And like its neighbor Luvari Ulisses, which is right down the street, Paris em Lisboa features a wide variety of price points. For example, the table napkins ranged from €3 to €50 per item.
3) Rua da Escola PolitecnicaThe old jewelry shop that I was planning to visit on this famous commercial strip had gone out of business. Besides linen, Lisbon is also known for offering surprisingly affordable gold and silver jewelry made by local artisans (Eloy de Jesus, 45 Rua Garrett is also worth checking out for this.) So I wandered down the street to an open-air flea market instead. The weekly market happens every Saturday and looked totally unassuming compared to Lisbon’s more famous markets. But upon closer inspection, I found an impressive range of antique dishes and jewelry that were being sold for a fraction of the cost of what you’d find in the outdoor markets in Paris (and the variety of goods were just as great.) I bought an old turquoise 1950s Art Deco water pitcher (ended up breaking it once I got back home, though — long story) and matching glasses for €25.
