Lisbon,
Portugal
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Back to the big city...feels crazy after the Azores, but I am actually glad I got to see the countryside of Portugal before I saw the big city. You learn way more about a culture being out in the farms and villages, and that life is always evident in the cities. Dried salted cod in the windows (which I tried for lunch one day), beautiful tiles everywhere, and ALL the sidewalks are small cobble stones in cool black and white designs. I am staying in a guesthouse in an old building on a main square (freezing and creaky). So I get to look out at everything from my little balcony, but I get to hear everything too! I have been walking all around the twisty hilly neighborhoods, eating big local lunches (today, a whole fish with potatoes and greens), and just sitting in squares and watching people. It is a small city, very walkable, and full of coffee lovers. Everywhere you look there is a cafe with people sipping from little tiny cups.
I was talking to the grouchy but non-stop talking landlady at my guesthouse (we were watching some dumb quiz show on tv and she was translating the questions) and she was telling me that was the great downfall of the portuguese, they spend all their money on coffee, don't save anything. She also said the whole area downtown was all new since it was all destroyed in an earthquake in 1755 and rebuilt right after. New? I guess it is all relative.
