Back from another fascinating week in the city of Lisbon in Portugal.
This time we were lucky enough to be present for a folk dance and song
festival on May Day, at which this first photograph was taken.
This time we rented an apartment instead of staying in a hotel, and I
can't recommend it too highly - both the experience and the actual
apartment, which was just three minutes (and what felt like 45 degrees
up a hill) from Rossio, the "centre of activities" for all visitors, as
well as many Lisboans.
The view that we had from our room was utterly amazing, both by day and
by night, when the Square and all the buildings around it were floodlit,
creating an entrancing and enticing atmosphere just calling us to wander
through it. Inside, the apartment, owned by an American lady, Deb (who
has apparently rented another of her Lisboan apartments to both Frances
Mayes ("Under the Tuscan Sun") and author Margaret Atwood), was
decorated and appointed to the highest standards, without losing the
character of the old house in which it existed.
All around, other residents still hung their washing from the windows to
dry, fed the flocks of pigeons, and hauled shopping up to their third
floor rooms with baskets and string. Community is still alive and very
well in Lisbon - but it may change as renovations and demolitions
proceed apace. If you want to see real, living communities still
functioning organically, I can't help but think that you should go NOW!
Hundreds of photographs taken and many more to share here - I hope you
enjoy these few for now.
Thank you for the lovely travelogue. You should be my guide when if I ever get to Portugal. Your photographs at least make me think I've been there.
Thanks for all the beautiful glimpses of your home, yard, garden. I feel transported to the other side of the world when I read your entries.
Posted by: Vivian Newkirk | Monday, May 29, 2006 at 14:59