Hola peoples! What's the haps, yo- Ben here from the blogosphere - on this cr-cr-crazy new blog thingy that Stacy cooked up to update you on what's happening with our trip. Since Stacy has already talked in depth about the wedding, perhaps I should tell you about Lisboa, no? No? Ah, okay then!
Well, let me tell you peoples, Lisbon is totally insane, but in a good way. Trolleys zigzagging every which way, narrowly avoiding cars and babies in strollers....no mothers, just babies rolling their own strollers around - babies are really strong here. Anyway, we had tons of fun cruising around everywhere on these trolleys that took us all the way up hills and past 12th century castles, plazas, etc. Our hostel was smack dab in the middle of the oldest neighborhood in the city, the Alfama district, which is also the oldest surviving Moorish district in Portugal. Incidentally, by luck or accident, it was also the only neighborhood to survive the catastrophic 1755 earthquake that destroyed like half of the Iberian peninsula and leveled buildings all the way up to
Ireland and down to Rabat and Casablanca in Morocco. The things you learn on these trips.Sitting on my rooftop terrace, sipping espresso and eating toast and marmalade as the sun went down over an incredible panoramic view of the lower half of the city all the way down to the waterfront, I thought of each and every one of you...I really did.
We found plenty to do in Lisbon. The Castelo Sao Jorge and the Igreja Sao Jorge towered mere blocks away from our little hostel, massive foundations sunk down in the roots of the Alfama district like ancient sentinels, beckoning us to come and discover the wonders within. The Castelo is just that - a huge castle set on top of the hills of the Alfama, dating back
to the Moors and even before, with ruins from the Neolithic age. And every Tuesday behind the Igreja - a massive cathedral where many of the kings of Portugal are buried in elaborate tombs - a huge flea market takes place on Tuesdays and Saturdays. As we walked around, we noticed that many of the items for sale came straight out of the backs of trucks or vans and looked suspiciously like a laundry list of items nicked out of the hostel rooms or backpacks of unwary travelers. A well-used IPOD here, random used shoes and clothes, CDs and electronic equipment. These were just the exceptions, I'm sure. The vast majority of the vendors were totally legit...I'm sure....One day on the advice of our hostel owners, a really cool Portuguese guy and his hilariously bubbly Latvian girlfriend, we decided to take the tram - almost exactly like a MAX light rail train - all the way across the city to the west, to a district called Belem. There we ate pasteis - like glazed tarts filled with delicious custard - and marveled at the Torre de Belem, a bizarre tower fort from the 15th century that is built straight out into the mouth of the
Rio Tejo near the sea. Later we visited a wacky modern art museum where I was chased by giant animated rats - I'll let Stacy explain that one - and we watched insane video installations that are simply indescribable with the written word.One more thing - if you're wondering where to find good eats in Lisbon at the right price, I've got four simple words for you, words that probably won't make much sense to anyone right now (and possibly lead some to doubt my sanity), but whose significance is profound for the budget-conscious traveler - PAO PAO QUEIJO QUEIJO!! Literally translated from the Portuguese, this means BREAD BREAD CHEESE CHEESE! Trust me. All right, I'm off to eat and visit a cathedral where Christopher Columbus is buried. Much more later!
so jealous of your guy's travels!....i wish i could try foreign coffee drinks....im getting tired of serving frappicinos and white mochas to our over-gluttonous population...muwah muwah muwah.....HEY whats the german word for vegan? where are the punk kids? are you guys visiting any college-y places there? woo woo. have fun
ReplyDeleteIn the university towns and bigger cities, there seemed to be a wider selection of vegetarian food selections, but I have no idea about the vegan scene. I'm going to assume that there must be a word for it. I'd have to ask my friends Jacinta or Mary to comment on that since they actually lived in Germany. I must say that we ate way more meat than we usually do in the States - meat and cheese actually. We also find ourselves heading directly to the cheese section of every food market we go to because there are so many new and usually delicious kinds to choose from and with prices ranging from $1(US) for a package, how could you afford not to experiment?
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll put all your years of spanish language training to use when you hit portugal. I'm glad you're having fun hanging out with Chris columbus's remains. Pick up some cool sovieneers for Phil and I to add to your shrine.
ReplyDeleteThey don´t speak Spanish in Portugal silly Aut..er I mean anonymous - they speak Portuguese. Plus they still haven´t gotten over that one century hundreds of years ago (was it the 14th? 15th?) when they were taken over by Spain and forced to be Spanish for awhile and they don´t take too kindly to people speaking Spanish to them when they are clearly Portuguese.
ReplyDeleteAshley. Ben here, answering your deeply thought-out questions.
ReplyDeleteThe German word for vegan, I´m pretty sure, is veganfarkenflugthofbainreisling. Just reading this word is mind-altering; to write it down, as I just did, is frankly dangerous (you´re welcome). To attempt to say it aloud would result in death by brain aneurysm. This is why there are actually no German vegans - they are afraid for themselves and their loved ones, that somebody may actually have to pronounce this word. As for your second question, the punk kids were all cordoned off into a tiny area of Berlin, where they squat in abandoned Soviet concrete buildings, smoke incessantly, and put on hardcore shows for each other in nuclear fallout bunkers deep beneath the surface of the earth. Nobody knows what they eat, but their populations are dwindling rapidly, so the theory is that many of them, in blatant disregard for society´s rules and their own personal safety, are vegans.