Lisbon

Lisbon is an interesting city.  The downtown is reminiscent of Paris or Prague with Art Nouveau store fronts and cafes.  It has all the shops you find in England or any other city for that matter.  When you get out of the main shopping district the city morphs back into what I imagine it's looked like for the past century.  The buildings are piled on top of each other on tiny winding streets that ascend up around the hills.  Streets interlock with courtyards and in the Alfama quarter the streets are too narrow for much more than a scooter.  Lisbon is a simple city full of normal everyday people.  The restaurants are small family run affairs hidden down little alleys with offerings of beef or salted cod and carafes of wine for 3 euro.  After a week you get tired of salted cod.  It doesn't quite fit in with the rest of Western Europe.  Somewhere along the way it was left behind.  We stayed in a little apartment near Graca square and the saturday flea market.  We were lucky to be near the 28 tram which takes you down to the shopping district, although Lisbon really is a walkable city if you don't mind the hills.

The tram is similar to the ones in San Francisco and riding it made us think of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland!  It bumps and lurches, speeding down the hills and struggling up the other side.  The majority of people who take it are tourists and little old ladies clutching their shopping and the seats in front of them to keep from spilling out into the aisles.  

We spent most of our time exploring the city, including the castle and reading our books in one of the sunny squares.  One night we stumbled upon a small Fado restaurant.  Fado is the Portuguese version of the Blues.  It's sung in small restaurants with a few accompanying guitarists.  Most songs are about the pain and hardship of life.  Throughout dinner different singers would come in and sing a few songs.  They must all have their rounds.  Some were dressed for the occasion, others looked like they'd just wandered in off the street.  

Maybe the most beautiful part of Lisbon are its streets.  They're made of square cream cobblestones polished smooth by everyone's shoes.  When the sunlight hits them they turn gold.  It looks like you're walking down a bright shimmering gold path.  The light is beautiful.

Apart from exploring the city, Heath and I celebrated Christmas here.  We cooked in on Christmas since everything was closed.  I made a chicken curry and we opened presents.  I gave Heath tickets to the guinness premiership rugby game and he got me a gift certificate for a massage and a pair of nice gloves.  We definitely missed everyone.