Lisbon
Sept 28th — Oct 7th and Nov 16th — Dec 13th
I have fallen in love, with Lisbon.
Life is teeming in Lisbon. It’s a city that lives for the day, but with an eye to the future and a heart that does not forget the past. It has seen it all — invaders, religious wars, natural disasters, inventors, artists, dictators. You name it, Lisbon has lived it. Perhaps because of this, the people here have a sense of calm to them, a sense of self. A sense of patience that comes from experience.
On the bright white marble stoned streets of the Alameda neighborhood, old women shuffle down narrow alleyways. Neighborhood parks are filled with children playing tag and pick up soccer games. Park benches are packed with elderly folks feeding birds, playing cards, and catching up on gossip.
Watching these everyday scenes unfold, I meditated on the fact that these scenes have repeated themselves over generations. Generations that faced many hardships — famine, earthquakes, tsunamis, iron-fisted governments — while simultaneously creating a fantastic culture filled with art, culinary delights, and rich traditions. Generations that lived full lives.
That is what I found the people of Lisbon to be about — living life to the fullest. Appreciating the present. Putting stock into the art of observation. For this, I fell deeply in love with Lisbon.
3 Highlights:
- The multitude of miradouros (lookout points). Lisbon is situated amongst seven hills, a perfect environment for viewpoints that reveal spectacular sights of the electric city. Each miradouro has its own identity. Some are simple concrete slaps with iron handrails, some house manicured terraced gardens with wooden benches scattered about. Some are well visited attracting scores of tourists, street performers, and souvenir hawkers, while others are lesser known drawing only a handful of residents and visitors who are in the know. Miradouros are such a staple of the city that many tourist books and blogs devote page-long entries to them. However, we found that the best way to go about discovering these gems is by taking long unplanned strolls through the city. Given these lookout points are so plentiful, you are almost guaranteed to stumble upon at least one, and, if you are lucky — one that is spectacularly hidden and lesser known. When Prathap and I came across a hidden miradouro, we would find a sitting area, settle in, and spend hours taking in the sights of the city.
- Parks and Kiosks. Just like the miradouros, city parks are plentiful throughout Lisbon. These abundant green spaces give breath to the city. The parks are well-manicured and house statues, lakes, as well as resident geese and ducks. They are often also home to little park kiosks that sell sandwiches, pastries, coffee, beer, and wine. During the day these kiosks serve crowds of old man gathered to play cards and parents chasing after their little ones. At dusk the clientele shifts to professionals on their way from work. Orders shift from coffee and sandwiches to half pints of beers and glasses of wine. As the night sky rolls in, the alcohol continues to flow from the kiosks and younger crowds, on their way to a night out, begin to patron the stands. Drink orders increase along with the volume of music coming from these wooden octagon shaped booths. Given Prathap and I are past our party going days, we were often part of the first two set of crowds. However, one night when my friend John was in town we made it to the third stage of patronage and thus rounded out our park kiosk experience. Needless to say, it was a rough next day.
- Pandario Do Barrio in the Campo de Ourique neighborhood. Pandario Do Barrio translates into “neighborhood bakery”, an accurate description as we stopped in daily for a glass of delicious house wine, an espresso, and a pastry. With a local atmosphere and a friendly staff, we found ourselves increasing our visits to twice a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. It reached a point where the barista would see us come in around 4 pm and get two wine glasses ready for us before we even ordered. We were becoming locals and loving every second of it.
