LISBON is not a new city for a North-East club to visit. Not only did Newcastle United visit in 2005 in the UEFA Cup, both Middlesbrough and Sunderland have had trips to the Portuguese capital in the past too.

And while Middlesbrough's game with Sporting Lisbon in the same competition was just a few months earlier than the Magpies after their Carling Cup success, Sunderland's trip was a much further back.

Bob Stokoe, the season after overseeing the FA Cup triumph in 1973, took his team to Lisbon and they lost on away goals, which remains the club's last European outing.

THAT was around the time when Francisco Oliviera took over Farta Brutos, a quaint little restaurant situated in the Bairro Alto district of Lisbon and where we had dinner on our first night.

On the corner of Travessa da Espera in a beautiful old part of the city, it has resided their since 1900 and built in 1772: one of the originals and constructed after the 1755 earthquake.

The walls were covered in photographs of those who have previously eaten in Fartas, including former Middlesbrough defender Abel Xavier and Portuguese striker Sa Pinto.

Francisco, and his son Rogerio, also wanted a photo of the group of English hacks to sit alongside the rest. Still can't understand why!

THE Bairro Alto district – forming the outside walls of the historical city – is also the home of Portugal's internationally renowned Abola sports newspaper.

And with so many copies around to read it was easy to come across the back page story, expanding on Sunderland's appointment of Paolo Di Canio.

Abola weighed in to the furore surrounding Di Canio's arrival by linking Di Canio's appointment with former Porto striker Hulk's battles with racism since his move to Russian club Zenit St Petersburg.

The headline 'racismo ofende Hulk e persegue Di Canio' translates in to racism offends Hulk and chases Di Canio, discussing how Di Canio had, until yesterday, not clarified his fascism beliefs.

NEWCASTLE fans are flying over in their thousands to Lisbon and will continue to do so before kick-off in tonight's Europa League quarter-final with Benfica.

Among the first few, though, were a group of serial Geordie trippers to the continent, but, not for the first time, things have not gone to plan.

Sat alongside me on the flight were Keith Naylor, Ian Robertson and Russ Youmans from Heaton, Tyneside. A routine midweek break to the Portuguese capital to watch the football was how it was described to the wives and girlfriends.

What the other halves were not told, though, was that Keith booked all the return flights with TAP Portugal for May 3. “One time I let him do it, never again,” said Ian.

The only other occasion Ian claims not to have taken charge was nine years ago, when Newcastle went to Mallorca for a UEFA Cup tie in 2004.

“That time my mate ended up booking flights to Malaga when we should have going to Mallorca, it was all over the press,” he said.

Newcastle won 3-0 that day in the UEFA Cup, a repeat and the Newcastle lads might not be too bothered how long they are in Lisbon for. Their partners might not feel the same!

ALSO on the flight out of Manchester to Lisbon was Portugal winger Nani.

After posing for photographs with some Newcastle fans and signing autographs, he walked up to his seat in the plane and kept himself to himself for the next few hours.

When Nani was a youngster he trained with Benfica and Sporting Lisbon on alternate days before choosing Sporting in 2005 and moved to Old Trafford in 2007 for £25m. The Newcastle fans had little success in convincing him to join the Toon.