Alvalade: the planned city and the market
Lisbon's 1940s model neighbourhood — low blocks, a modernist church, and a neighbourhood market. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Alvalade metro
Step off and you're in the middle of Portugal's first fully planned neighbourhood, laid out in the 1940s. Walk out into the *bairro* and notice the order of it — the low housing blocks, the deliberate spacing, the trees planted to a plan.

2. Avenida da Igreja
The neighbourhood's high street — wide, tree-lined, lined with everyday cafés and shops rather than tourist traps. Stop for a *bica* (espresso) and a *pastel de nata* at whichever *pastelaria* has the morning queue; that's the local verdict.

3. Igreja de São João de Brito
The neighbourhood church, a confident 1950s building anchoring the *bairro*'s spiritual centre. The monument to the first South Atlantic air crossing stands in front. You don't have to go in; the square reads the planners' intentions plainly enough.

4. Bairro de Alvalade housing blocks
Wander the residential streets — *células*, the planners called them, self-contained cells with their own shops and gardens. This is the *Estado Novo* idea of a model city, aged into something genuinely pleasant to walk.

5. Mercado de Alvalade Norte
The neighbourhood market — produce, fish, flowers, and a handful of counters doing lunch. Mornings are when it's alive. Buy fruit, or just walk the aisles for the unselfconscious everyday Lisbon of it.

6. Roma metro
Head west toward *Avenida de Roma* and the *Roma* station. Green line back into the centre — or linger over a second coffee first; this isn't a neighbourhood that rewards rushing.

Alvalade: the planned city and the market