lots of grafitti---it changes over night! This used to be a naked woman!
Lisbon was really nice. It was a good time for me to really relax and wind down. It is a totally different city than Barcelona. Barcelona has such energy, but the Portuguese are much more conservative and low key. The city is much more run down, but still beautiful nonetheless. I found out from a local that it is because during their long dictatorship they had an issue with rent ceilings being much to low that the landowners could not afford to maintain the buildings, and they became very deteriorated. The architecture was gorgeous though, even when it was rundown. Many houses had beautiful tile walls, and it reminded me of what I thought Morocco to look like. It was so beautiful. I loved the bright colors and the tiles.
I learned the hard way from the complementary glass of wine on my flight from Barcelona that Porto wine is much stronger than your average wine. In terms of strength, it is almost like a liqueur. It was really good though. Probably not the best for a plane ride though.
The food was good. Once again, sort of bland, but good because there was seafood. I got really good tips from the guy at my hostel where to go and eat. He was so nice and helpful, and really interesting to talk to. He was a finance major, and he was working in the world of finance, but decided to step back from the chaos and get into a more relaxing life of tourism, but he is still very politically inclined. Very interesting guy. Anyways, he told me to go to Trinidade, a very authentic Portuguese restaurant with great seafood. I had salmon and potatos. It was great. Lisbon also has many historical places and art deco cafes. It is great. My sort of place.
I went to the Museum of the Orient. That was a favorite for me, even though they lied about their hours of operation, and I went there once in vain. It was so interesting to me to see the link between the art from the Orient and Portugal. I had long known about the connection between Portugal and Japan, and it was a subject of strong interest to me, but I learned a lot more about that and the Portuguese connection with China and Korea. The art was quite beautiful. I think they also did a really good job explaining why certain pieces looked the way they did, and explaining the emphasis of different markets and buyers. I guess sometimes we forget that people then and now made art to be sold for the most part, and that different artists and artisans had different markets in mind. For example the Chinese porcelain that has a lot of blue and geometric symbols was intended for the Middle East, etc. Anyways it was interesting to see why different Japanese and Chinese pieces were shaped in the way they were. I could also see the resemblances in the piece to what would later become art deco, the European imitation of Asian and Middle Eastern art.
Portugal was quite interesting, especially because it was so different to me. I do and did not speak Portuguese. For the first time I was in a country where I did not speak the language--at all. That was interesting. I did learn a word or two on the way though. It was way more diverse than I realized though. I guess I should not have been surprised though. I saw a lot of people of African descent, and a lot more Asians than I had expected, some of which had been there for generations and were fully integrated into Portuguese society.
Unfortunately I came down with a cold in Portugal though. I searched for Asian food, wanting Asian soup as a comfort of home and my childhood, and I was very disappointed by the quality of what I found. That is one thing the US does well, all things considering. (Of course Asia does it better) In the end my place definitely is in Asia and not Europe. You could definitely see how deteriorated the Portuguese economy is though. You see some really lavishly dressed people in fine cars, but lots of homeless beggars as well. It was not as bad as San Francisco, but more than I have seen in a while.
I had interesting conversations in my hostel. I met an interesting Chinese engineer who is working in Netherlands. Wow the Europeans love their vacations. They get 30 paid days of vacation a year! It is just incredible to me. I am sort of jealous, but from an economic standpoint it is still a little hard to believe that this is pheasable, and also that their wages are so high. He told me some of his favorite places in the world that he has been though, and Bali was one of them. This keeps popping up in my mind, and it is definitely high on my list. An interesting thing he told me was was that he, "Hated living in the Netherlands for the first 6 years, but by 7 years he sort of found it growing on him." Wow. That one really got me. I guess I can't even fathom myself living somewhere I hate for six years, but I guess people have definitely lived through worse misery for longer.
I walked a lot in Portugal. It was nice. There were a lot of hills and cobblestone though, both I am not a huge fan of, but the weather was nice enough, so I manned up. It was a nice and relaxing time.
I also went to the city of Sintra by train. It was nice. A lot cheaper than Barcelona or Lisbon, but not a lot there other than tourist stuff. I just went to the Moorish Castle and Palace de Pena. Pena Palace was pretty, but sadly I went on a very foggy day and I could not see the city view or the palace very well. Another time I hope to see it again though. Unfortunately I neglected to see the most beautiful palace of all...but something for next time I suppose. The Moorish castle was ok, but honestly I have seen too many ruins in Turkey to really appreciate it much.
When I got back to my hostel there was an older woman who kept raving about Sintra. She said she had to go their twice because she could not see it all. I frankly have no idea what she spent so much time doing. I guess I have different interests than most, and maybe I am a bit too impatient with some things, but I guess I just do not see the need to see every little tourist attraction. I pick a few of the best, and if I miss something, oh well. I was stupid though. I took the bus up the hill, that was smart at least, but did not take the free bus back down the hill. I took a wrong turn and ended up walking like 8 miles. It was nice though, but I was sure tired the next day. Pretty and great views though. I saw some hidden and beautiful private estates off the beaten path. The scenery sort of reminded me of the redwoods too, so that was nice.
Portugal was quite interesting, especially because it was so different to me. I do and did not speak Portuguese. For the first time I was in a country where I did not speak the language--at all. That was interesting. I did learn a word or two on the way though. It was way more diverse than I realized though. I guess I should not have been surprised though. I saw a lot of people of African descent, and a lot more Asians than I had expected, some of which had been there for generations and were fully integrated into Portuguese society.
Unfortunately I came down with a cold in Portugal though. I searched for Asian food, wanting Asian soup as a comfort of home and my childhood, and I was very disappointed by the quality of what I found. That is one thing the US does well, all things considering. (Of course Asia does it better) In the end my place definitely is in Asia and not Europe. You could definitely see how deteriorated the Portuguese economy is though. You see some really lavishly dressed people in fine cars, but lots of homeless beggars as well. It was not as bad as San Francisco, but more than I have seen in a while.
I had interesting conversations in my hostel. I met an interesting Chinese engineer who is working in Netherlands. Wow the Europeans love their vacations. They get 30 paid days of vacation a year! It is just incredible to me. I am sort of jealous, but from an economic standpoint it is still a little hard to believe that this is pheasable, and also that their wages are so high. He told me some of his favorite places in the world that he has been though, and Bali was one of them. This keeps popping up in my mind, and it is definitely high on my list. An interesting thing he told me was was that he, "Hated living in the Netherlands for the first 6 years, but by 7 years he sort of found it growing on him." Wow. That one really got me. I guess I can't even fathom myself living somewhere I hate for six years, but I guess people have definitely lived through worse misery for longer.
I walked a lot in Portugal. It was nice. There were a lot of hills and cobblestone though, both I am not a huge fan of, but the weather was nice enough, so I manned up. It was a nice and relaxing time.
I also went to the city of Sintra by train. It was nice. A lot cheaper than Barcelona or Lisbon, but not a lot there other than tourist stuff. I just went to the Moorish Castle and Palace de Pena. Pena Palace was pretty, but sadly I went on a very foggy day and I could not see the city view or the palace very well. Another time I hope to see it again though. Unfortunately I neglected to see the most beautiful palace of all...but something for next time I suppose. The Moorish castle was ok, but honestly I have seen too many ruins in Turkey to really appreciate it much.
When I got back to my hostel there was an older woman who kept raving about Sintra. She said she had to go their twice because she could not see it all. I frankly have no idea what she spent so much time doing. I guess I have different interests than most, and maybe I am a bit too impatient with some things, but I guess I just do not see the need to see every little tourist attraction. I pick a few of the best, and if I miss something, oh well. I was stupid though. I took the bus up the hill, that was smart at least, but did not take the free bus back down the hill. I took a wrong turn and ended up walking like 8 miles. It was nice though, but I was sure tired the next day. Pretty and great views though. I saw some hidden and beautiful private estates off the beaten path. The scenery sort of reminded me of the redwoods too, so that was nice.
I did end up with some very interesting pictures of Sintra though because it was so foggy! At first I was so disappointed my pictures were not so detailed and vivid as the emblematic bright pictures that people so often take of Sintra, but I realized later that mine were more rare.
No comments:
Post a Comment