GET REAL

The Portuguese may be feeling like their country is teetering on the brink of its Atlantic cliffs—the Iberian slip of a nation’s economy has failed to keep up with its European Union neighbors—but that won’t keep Lisbonites down. Crowds form every night outside local restaurants. In neighborhoods formerly given over to ladies of the night, apartments and storefronts proliferate, thanks to foreign money (courtesy of the Golden Visa program, giving non-Europeans residency permits in exchange for in-country investment). Herewith, a guide to Lisbon during its mild winter— December to February temperatures hover around 60 degrees—that focuses on the hidden and the elegant, where Portugal’s top families rub shoulders with cab drivers, who, in line with the city’s erudite vibe, play the blues in their taxis.  The Portugal Surely you’ve played this game: Are you a hotel person, or an inn person? My answer has always been firm: I am not an inn person. The homey rooms, the cheerful “And what