248.4 - Lisbo-ahhhh!
Second stop in Portugal, the capital city of Lisbon / Lisboa. Sorry for some of the photo quality, and the fact I'm leaving out a bunch of stuff that I definitely went to but won't fit in this newsletter; trust me, I'm tryna show you the highlights of it so I can hide all the struggle I had with the 35C heat :D
I took a coach from Porto to Lisboa, which was easy, breezy, beautiful (Covergirl). I was keeping myself entertained reading (random note, because of my data packages and me wanting to be as efficient as possible, I was reading a bunch of manga which takes much less data than video - I ripped through Bleach and HxH again, and started reading Sakamoto Days and Kagurabachi which have been really good), but inevitably I fall asleep on these modes of public transport.
...you ever have that thing where you're listening to a podcast and you've dozed off, and then the next thing you know is that you're nearing the end of the podcast and realised you haven't actually listened to it, so you have to rewind but you rewind too much and re-listen, and then doze off again? Yeah, me too.
Anyway, getting into Lisbon in the early afternoon, I got to my hotel and then raced out to Belem, hoping that the weird timing would mean that I could get to famous Pasteis de Belem for some portugese tarts (success). I also tried to make sure I had enough water and didn't overheat (partial success). And then I went to this hipster-ish area called LX Factory to visit the insta-famous bookstore Ler Devagar (again with the bookstores Vince!), and try to get some peri peri chicken (failure - the place was closed for the summer).
I don't know what it is - perhaps a holdover from Asian tour days - but I was trying to cram in AS MUCH as I could in an efficiency way...and let me tell you, the LINES in Lisbon were just TOO damn long. I took one look at the line that goes into the Cloister / Monastery of Belem and it stretched back about 70-100m. Ain't nobody got time for lining up in the 35 degree heat! I was surprised that there weren't more people fainting from heat stroke. (Below is the Tower of Belem which had the same problem)
When I went on the next (free!) walking tour, our guide was phenomenal and told us some really interesting stories about Lisbon and Portugal. He told us he had studied film-making so he knew how to tell stories, and by god he told some great ones.
I learned about how the last king of Portugal (King Sebastian) was a 16 year old boy who, at 24, decided to lead a crusade into Morocco, in the peak of summer, without any heirs left behind, and 'went missing' as he charged into battle against the infidels. Since they never actually found his body, the Portugese believe that he'll return, on a foggy dawn, in Portugal's greatest hour of need, and that will herald the accession of the Fifth Empire (absolutely GOD-TIER sci-fi/fantasy hook - but perhaps too similar to the story of King Arthur? England and Portugal have been allies for centuries, so who knows...).
Or about Fernando Bessoa, who in the early 1900's, was the four top writers of the time in Portugal. Yes, you read that right - he had different names that he invented other backstories, writing styles and subject matter for, so that they would be recognizable as SEPARATE entities - Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, and Álvaro dos Campos. What a fascinating thing to do - I had to buy a book on him.
Or about Carmo Square (Largo de Carmo), which isn't a typically visited square in Lisbon, but has LOADS of history (or at least, good stories):
- When Lisbon fought against a neighbouring army from Castile in the 1300's, they brought 6k soldiers against 30k soldiers and WON. The general had (purportedly) prayed to God and said 'I'll retire from the military if we win this battle and build a church / convent in your honour'. And they did win. And he did build the church in Carmo Square. And that battle was critical to Portugal's independence which made it super historically significant.
- THEN in 1775 there was a major earthquake in Lisbon that destroyed most of the convent but not the facade of it. God's plan, I guess? They also were like 'how will our descendants know how devastating this earthquake was?!' so the city decided not to rebuild it.
- THEN in 1974, the dictator who had held power for about 45 years over Lisbon (yes I skipped over MANY governmental changes) was holed up in the building next door to the convent (which served as a barracks), and the revolutionary army at the time drove a fuckin' TANK into the square and pointed it straight at the building and were like 'come out, cede power, and we'll just end this peacefully yeah?' to which the dictator replied 'NO WAY GO GET 'EM BOYS' to which the soldiers replied 'nahhhhh' and thus ended the revolution. There's a commemorative plaque in the square and everything!
I'm sure I missed a lot there but that's the gist of it - that part of the walking tour was essentially a sitting tour for about 30 minutes as he told us these stories. But hey, the power of stories, right? (I LOVED it)
Luckily for me the walking group had people who were open to chatting and talking (and my social thawing was complete), so I did meet a few solo travelers to have a drink with as well. Unluckily, their youth reminded me of my age (but at least one of them guessed I was 24 so thanks asian youthfulness gene).
To be honest, once you read about Sintra next, you'll know why half the trip in Lisbon was on low battery, and I was just tryna keep myself afloat. Having a hotel was extremely useful to just collapse at in the middle of the day to escape the heat, and then creep out in the evening to enjoy the river sunset views.
I was able to muster up some energy on the final day to go see the National Tile Museum because tiles are freakin' cool. TEXTURES are elite and probably a good chunk of my photos from Lisbon are just interesting-looking tiles. Another fascinating fact, perhaps not for you, was the Islamic influence of ceramics that turned into religious works that turned into more decorative works, which turned into more modern stuff. I'm thinkin' these designs could be interesting to make as small projects for CAD / 3D printing...if I have the time for it :D
And lastly, after a sweltering day in Lisbon, I decided to go to the best landmark of all recommended by Google (that I found 30mins before I actually went there): the Historic Giant Plant. Presented, with no comments:
Chat soon :)