Lisbon Is Incoherent

Meaning: it does not cohere in a narratively linear fashion. Lisbon is big & sprawling &, like LA, it doesn't really have a center. Or, more accurately, every neighborhood thinks it's the center. It's a city of many beginnings. There were great explorers we learned about in grade school...those romantic names -- Vasco de Gama, Pedro Alverez Cabral, Joao Vaz Corte-Real -- who discovered the world in the 15th century, during which time Portugal enjoyed tremendous prosperity & global power, a time they now proudly refer to as "The Discoveries." Things got even more extravagant when they discovered gold in Brazil. Spices, jewels, opulent architecture. Then three terrible earthquakes on one day in 1755 (they were so strong that chandeliers swayed in Madrid), accompanied by tsunami waves & devastating fires. Two-thirds of Lisbon -- gone. Two-thirds of its population -- dead. Then, over time, waves of occupiers, each putting their own stamp on rebuilding the city. That's why it's incoherent: no place is just one thing. It's not a story that turns page after page....it's a story in which all the pages are loose & gathered together every which way in a big, dynamic, colorful, glorious mess. 

People here say they don't like skyscrapers; they like "landscrapers," so Lisbon spreads out far & wide.

               There are plenty of monuments, as there must be in every European city

                                 Pigeons show their usual irreverence 

                                            Men with ringlets & pet lions

                                Men getting stomped by elephants

                                               Knights in shining armor

Their crown jewel of monuments is called Padrão dos Descobrimentos (The Discoveries Monument), a huge prow of a ship pointing out over the Tagus River that leads to the sea.

                    It's decorated with large statues of Portugese explorers

There's only one woman (second from the end). She was not an explorer...she's there because she was the sculptor's mother & he wanted her there.

                                   There are ancient fortresses

                                             And Art Nouveau houses

   And modern buildings. This is their "Tower of Pisa," since they greatly admired the original.

            And very modern buildings. This is the Museum of Contemporary Art.

                                                 Lots of street art

 It's good to have interesting graffiti to look at when you're trudging up hundreds of wet & slippery cobblestone steps while cursing under your breath because it's raining & the wind is turning your umbrella inside out & you're drenched to the bone & your camera is stuffed uncomfortably inside your clothes, in your armpit, which is the last dry spot & the steps never, ever seem to end.

  "Fado" is the native music of Portugal. Lots of moody men with guitars, singing sad love songs.

                               Trees that look like giant broccoli 

The tiniest, most adorable yogurt stand ever. It makes me want to have one & be a Frozen Yogurt Lady.

 Gin & tonics the size of fishbowls...in fact, those rather look like goldfish inside...no matter, one must drink & all is fine & good with the world.

Intense competition to make the best of these little custard pies, called Pasteis de Nata. They are truly a cult here. The acknowledged champion is the Antiga Confeitaria de Belem factory & cafe. The 170-year-old recipe is a secret, divulged to only three chefs at a time. The result is DIVINE - perfectly browned so that the pastry flakes like baklava. The factory hand-makes 16,000 tarts a day & serves them warm. I went two days in a row. You can see people eat six at a time. In the summer, there's a line around the block to get in here. Another good reason to travel in winter.

There's a caffeinated collection of modern art. The museum has designated small rooms; each has about 6-8 paintings or installations. Each room representing a "school" of art. It's like speed-reading the history of art from 1900-1960. Cubism, Dadaism (yay!), Constructivism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Op Art, Pop Art. There are many schools I've never heard of: De Stiji, Post-War Figuration, Informalism, Group Zero, Presentness Is Grace, Nouveau Realisme. In some cases it seems that 2-3 friends got together, created a "school" & became a "thing." I need to do that pronto.

                          Pop Art

Art that makes us ask: "If I line up a bunch of stones, will I get my work in a museum?"

              Girl, bear, tin can art

                           Shops entice buyers in frivolous ways

                    An occasional peacock will surprise you in the rain

An airplane photobombed my photo of another plane's contrail. Now that's modern art!

I Have Finally Found the Right House

I have wandered this earth many a year & a day, at home in the short run, never having a long run. Well, I believe I have seen enough real estate on my journey to make an objective assessment of the proper place for me.

After climbing another mountain (after all, this is Portugal), I entered a forest & garden that surpassed all others.

                               This one had rivulets & lakes & waterfalls

                          And ancient trees that scraped against the sky

               And intensity of green that make you think you've never seen green before

      Enter here...I know this arch was made for me

A lawn, which I've rarely seen in my travels & at the crest, a stately pink & coral palace restored in 1858 for Sir Francis Cook, an English baronet of King Louis.

                   This one belonged to a regular family, not a king

Therefore it's more approachable, less terrifying, more livable

But no less beautiful. This hall has rooms branching off...a library, a hexagonal music room, a study, visiting rooms. Smooth marble columns. Gorgeous lattice & tilework.

The rooms are watched over by gently glowing women...no images of war or death or conquest

That hallway, I realized, actually stretched from both sides of a central entryway, all the way from one end of the house to the other. You could see the gardens outside at the far distance.

The upstairs was also shaped like a hexagon, with bedrooms circling all the way around the central staircase. The rooms were surprisingly modest...in my deluded condition, I could almost imagine that I was looking over a rental, deciding whether to take it or not.

Goodbye front portico, beautiful little palace of my dreams.

Parques de Sintra - Monte da Lua S.A.
Parque de Monserrate

Sintra, Portugal

That, my dear ones, is the address where you can find me in the next life.

I Started Out Horizontal & Now I'm Vertical

When this journey began, territory stretched out to the horizon. Mongolia -- barely a rolling hill. Siberia -- vast snowy plains & forests. As I progressed southward, country by country, landscapes began reaching up. Now Portugal is entirely in the clouds. 

                                  Another mountain to climb...a gothic castle

            This one was designed by a king who had a strong belief in things occult

Naturally there had to be a black cat

                                             Spires rose like chess pieces

One of the king's convictions had to do with the underground...the power of "under"...of vortexes of air moving through caves & tunnels. He ordered a hole to be dug. A deeeeeep hole for that era, remarkably deep. I'm sure the center of the earth was just around the corner. You could get there two ways: down a long spiral staircase, or up it. I wasn't sure which one I was embarking upon when I entered this cave.

Parts of the cave were dead black. Some sections had strings of lights. That white light in the foreground was my handy-dandy flashlight, which I carry everywhere. Others used their cell phones as flashlights.

             The cave ended at the base of the hole, which looked innocent enough.

                       Until I looked up. Waaaaaay up to a circle of light far, far above.

I proceeded up the stairs. Water dripped in a loud & eerie way. The stone stairs were slick & narrow. These are the same people who were down there when I started.

                              There they are again, as I climbed higher

                                            And higher....

                And higher....that is them, in that tiny circle of light at the bottom center!

                                   The sun welcomed me as I emerged

In this strange, towering wonderland of castles & mystery & vertical life.