LISBON: THE BEAUTY AND THE PAIN

Lisbon: my (Sherry's) thoughts: 

From our views in our very pretty apartment we view red-tiled houses, painted in various colors, deep red, pastels, stucco in decay, a spread of buildings which cover the hills. Below us is the main plaza in the Rossio.

The pavement of black and white cobbles is designed to have a bas-relief effect of waves. There are matching fountains either side of the plaza. Along the side leading into the former old Jewish neighborhood, the Alfama, is a wall of tolerance. Nearby is a monument memorializing the genocide, forced conversion, and expulsion of several thousand Jews in the 16th century. http://www.the-jewish-story.org/lisbon.html.

Paul has taken photos of the monument. the Inquisition occuppied  the white building in the photo above (now known as the National Theater). There is a Wall of Tolerance along one border of the plaza with messages of tolerance in many languages. An olive tree is also near the small monument memorializing the slaughter of several thousand Jews, during the time of King Manuel, he wanted them to stay, but had no power against a raging mob incited by a priest. 

Under that tree water was shot from a canon at the Jews to forcibly convert them. Christians with their useful skills of craftsmanship, and wealth could serve King Manuel.

The benches along the Wall of Tolerance, the ancient memorial olive tree where the slaugrhter took place, and the monument to the Jews of Portugal killed, forcibly converted and slaughtered in the time of the Inquisition are all now used as a place to camp, sell things, and have a "home" by African refugees. It is so sad that the need for refuge continues, and also sad to me that these monuments in the Rossio are not protected as what they are meant to be.

LISBON, PORTUGAL 2015

LISBOA, PORTUGAL - AUGUST 16-21, 2015. SWIMMING-WITH-THE-FISHES.

The small apartment on Tv. de Santana, known as Casa Santana (note a), has been a perfect home for 5 days in Lisboa. We are up the hill above the Rossio, and have views from three sides of the apartment. From the front window is Rossio and the surrounding neighborhood, with the Tagus River in the background. From the side windows in the living room and kitchen we see the hill going up to Chiado neighborhood. And from the bedroom, if we lean out, the castle sits on top of the Alfama neighborhood. This is a great location. 

    The apartment, Casa Santana, is in the upper left (there is actually a tiny yellow star marking it). Rossio Metro stop is the blue M.

We travel at an easy pace. Even so, we've seen and done a number of things here that have given us a good sense of Lisbon and the Portugese people. On our list of things accomplished:

- we stormed the ramparts of the castle of St. George (Castelo de Sao Jorge) - well, we walked across the moat and climbed some stairs...

- we rode the famous old Tram 28E - got in line and I calculated by the rate of movement that it would be a 2-hr wait, so we bagged it and walked; however, later that day, we boarded an empty tram 28E, which quickly filled up again, and rode it to the end of the line near home

- we walked the Alfama neighborhood, did some window shopping (didn't buy any windows, but did buy some other items), sat and had a wine/beer, went into a cathedral, watched the scene a lot

- walked down to the river at the big plaza with the arch, had a great lunch at a canned fish restaurant (note b) - no canned laughter was heard

- visited the Museu de Arte Antiga, an art museum, and on Cousin Lenny's advice, spent time in deep relation with a triptych by Heronimous Bosch - I am scarred for life (luckily, that's not a huge long time)

- took a ferry across the river to the town of Cashilas and had a seafood lunch at Farol Restaurant - Sherry had a bowl brimming with lobster and crab parts in the shell, shrimps, mussels, rice, broth; I had a traditional shrimp and rice, that turns out is also mixed with bread by the waiter at the table, so it is like a creamy bread/rice pudding with lots-o-pink crustaceans

- shopped at a large organic grocery store...

- had dinner at the Argentine restaurant (huh?) with one of the owners of the apartment, Jordan, who is a terrific man and with whom we'll stay in touch

- did I mention wine? Vinho verde, tinto, blanco...and the place where we bought some things in the Alfama even gave us a taste of tawny port - excellent

- did I mention sardines? They are everywhere in Lisboa - no, not swimming down the street or in the fountains, but on aprons, towels, t-shirts, wall plaques, etc. - oh, and also on menus, so I had to eat some, of course

- hung out in the apartment reading, on the internet, cooking meals, eating the meals, drinking wine, looking out the windows.

Impressions: At first look, Lisbon is a charming European city with older areas filled with narrow winding streets, buildings with a lot of tile and wrought iron and red tile roofs, beautiful plazas and fountains, and some interesting architecture. One has to keep in mind that a huge earthquake in 1755 destroyed much of the city, so most or all of the building in many areas were built after that. Lisbon is a city of hills. And, yes, you know, I like maps and other graphics: 

     Topo map (thanks Google maps). Lots of hills. Our place is the tiny yellow star just above the flat area going inland from the river (estuary, actually). This visit had a lot of ups and downs! 

Walking around Lisbon is good exercise. We are here in August, so it is hot and filled with tourists - like us. The heavily used tourist places are fairly clean, but once you get into the neighborhoods, there can be litter and graffiti. The streets are paved with cobble stones, and so are the sidewalks. There are many places where the sidewalk cobbles are missing, so you have to keep one eye on the ground ahead (that might hurt...). 

Portugal was once a mighty colonial power that ruled the seas. As a result, there is a high diversity of cultures here representing immigration from Africa, Brazil, India and other places. It seems that there are also recent immigrants from African countries who are trying to escape the poverty and violence of their home countries. It feels good to be in such a mix. 

They say (who the hell are they, anyway?) that Portugal is the least expensive country in Europe. So far we have to agree. I went shopping for groceries and the total was about 12 Euros - maybe $13-14. What? A take-away whole rotisserie chicken with a huge pile of fries and a large mixed salad...less than 15 US dollars. Places that cater to tourists can be more, but even they are not that expensive in comparison. 

OK, want to see photos? Here it is, your link to a Flickr album. 

https://www.flickr.com/gp/95157126@N03/BZJA21

Want to know how to ask for a whole roasted chicken in Portuguese? "Eu quero comprar um frango assado inteiro, por favor." But the guy spoke English, so I didn't need it.  

obrigado, e desfrutar

Notes:

a. Casa Santana is one of several rentals owned and operated by VisitingPortugal.com through VRBO. Homeaway, and their own web site. The attention to detail is notable, from the gift of fruit, bread, cheese, wine and other items already in the kitchen when we arrived, to the wake-up doorbell ring and taxi arrangement we will get tomorrow morning for our departure. Austin and Jordan (transplants from Seattle) made the arrangements and the stay easy and very pleasurable. The intro walk through the neighborhood when we arrived was the best getting-up-to-speed ever. We very highly recommend visitingportugal.com for your visit.  

b. Can the Can is a restaurant by the river that uses canned sardines and tuna to make gourmet meals; and they have other good choices, as well. Truly a delicious meal.  

SUSTAINABLE BARCELONA (can Portland only aspire?)

August 18, 2015. posted by Pablo Pescahombre (Paul)

Barcelona. Read it again and let it trip off your tongue: Barcelona. Nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and the hills, Barcelona is a complex and simple place. Filled with tourists in all the tourist areas, Barcelona can sometimes feel too crowded. But stroll on a boulevard such as Sant Joan and you will be enchanted by the beauty and design.

On our second day here, after touring the small Picasso Museum (I really like small museos), I put Sherry and three of the young people into a taxi for the apartment and walked there, with camera and notebook. I made my way to the Arch de Triumph through a business/commercial district. My first view of the arch had a very large rack of public rental bicycles in the foreground, and a large flatbed truck carrying more bikes. People with cameras were recording their moments at the Arch, as I did. People on bicycles rode past, and traffic moved busily along surrounding streets. From the arch to the sea was a park-like walk, and this also extended from the arch in the other direction, actually to our rented apartment.

Walking along a boulevard like Passeig de Sant Joan in Barcelona is an experience. The aware walker quickly understands that the boulevard does not just give a nod to pedestrians, cyclists and trees; rather, it is designed with them at the forefront. These boulevards are wide; I paced across Sant Joan and estimated it to be about 150 ft (about 46 m) across. This width is not mostly dedicated to motor vehicles. Starting at a building and walking across, one encounters: 1) a wide sidewalk, often paved with patterned blocks or concrete; 2) a green space with trees, shrubs, flowers and park benches amid paving of rows of bricks with soil and grass between the rows (storm water infiltration); 3) two traffic lanes, one marked for buses and taxis; 4) in the middle of the boulevard is a raised, curbed cycling path with two lanes and grass strips. From there it is a repeat of 3 - 1, above. The green space sometimes has a playground for children, and some areas have tables with umbrellas and chairs for adjacent cafes. 

Another rather unique feature of Barcelona boulevards is how the intersections are designed. Here is a screen shot from google maps:

The buildings at every corner are designed with a face towards the center of the intersection, resulting in an octagonal pattern. I think this does several things; allows more light into the neighborhood, provides greater visibility for drivers of intersecting traffic, crosswalks are set away from the center of the intersetion resulting in greater safety for pedestrians (more visibility for vehicles making turns), and provides a bit more parking for motorized vehicles, including motorcycles. 

Notice in the photo above where the crosswalks are located. You can also see the bicycle lanes in the middle of the boulevard running from bottom right to top left. And the trees in the green space almost obscure the wide sidewalks. 

Another interesting feature of BArcelona is that there are trash and recycling colletion containers - small dumpsters - located at many intersections. Residents and businesses carry their garbage and recycling to these containers, and the city picks it up. There are different containers, with different color tops, for a large variety of materials.  

How about some photos? OK, here is a link to my Flickr album "Sustainable Barcelona:"  https://www.flickr.com/gp/95157126@N03/B19Lww  

There are a couple of other things illustrated in the photo album. One is that there are numerous small trash receptacles located along the sidewalks. I never saw one of these overflowing; in fact, I often saw a uniformed worker taking away the bags with trash and replacing them with new ones. And they were also sweeping trash off the sidewalks.  

And Barcelona has a system of public bicycles, "bicing," that are everywhere. I saw numerous flat-bed trucks carrying bikes around to be certain there is a minimum number available at every bicing station. I checked online, and you buy an annual pass for 30 Euros (about $33). I was told that you can use a bike for up to 30 minutes before you have to re-rack it somewhere. I saw people on these bikes everywhere I went in the city.

How did Barcelona accomplish these sustainable ideas? The street designs originated in the mid-ninteenth century when the city government decided to tear down the old city walls and expand the city outward. Ildefanso Cerda' was the planner who proposed and started to implement the designs for the city streets and boulevards; he even coined the term "urbanization."  Here is a nice article from The Atlantic Citylab about Barcelona urban design: http://www.citylab.com/design/2012/11/6-ideas-every-city-should-steal-barcelona/3998/

As for the trash and recycling collection and street cleaning, I found an excellent article in the Journal of Urban Affairs that examined how the city government manages these services that are contracted to private companies. It is an interesting read, if this kind of stuff interests you. Here is a take-away couple of sentances: "The city was ready to pay more for a service with improved quality that was environmentally friendly. High-quality standards, sustainability, flexibility, and responsiveness are critical requirements in a complex global city with an important tourist sector."  Here is the link to: Managing Competition in City Services: the Case of Barcelona. (2009 Journal of Urban Affairs) - http://www.ub.edu/graap/JournalofUrbanAffairs.pdf  

OK, so maybe I'm being too wonky about this stuff, but I have to tell you, that as a proud resident of Portland, Oregon, USA, a city often touted by itself and others as one of the most sustainabale cities, I see a lot to envy about Barcelona. Yes, Barcelona is larger than Portland (about 1.6 million residents compared to about 600,000). And Barcelona has the advantage of a progressive urban plan that guided the construction of buildings and streets as the city expanded. But a major difference is leadership and political will to spend money and also to manage city services in ways that reduce monopolization and promote innovation. The City of Portland does not provide services that keep sidewalks clean, and the street sweeping in Portland is ineffective. There are no public trash receptacles along Portland sidewalks. The exception is in the downtown area, where there is a Busines Improvement District (BID - see the article in Journal of Urban Afairs, above) that taxes every business to pay for sidewalk sweeping and trash cans. Portland does not have a public bicycle system, although one was proposed a few years ago.  

So visit Barcelona and experience what a truly well designed urban space can be.

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LOVE PARIS IN THE SUMMER

August 8-9, 2015
by Sherry

Two wonderful days in Paris! Strolling Luxemborg garden, then incredible  dinner at Le Christine, followed by such gorgeous views of the Seine, and iconic visions of this beautiful city. Walking back, every cafe and bistro was vibrant; the sidewalk seating overflowed with laughter, converstion and bottles of wine.

After 4 times in Paris, we at last were able to see the Impressionism exhibit at the Musee D'Orsay (strikes interfered before, quel surprise!). We also saw the Italian Art Deco exhibit. It was interesting because last year at the Guggenheim, NYC, we had seen some of these same  Modernist Italian artists with the bent towards facism. Tonight a concert of Vivaldi and Pachelbel at Chapel St. Chapell. A blissful ending to this time in Paris. But, wait! There's more!

Our last week in Normandy takes us back to Paris for one evening and meal before going home.

PARIS 2015

August 9, 2015. Paris, France
posted by: Paul

First I want to say to people who visit the Musee D' Orsay, and any other art museum: Cheesy Crisps, enough with the smartphone cameras, already!! I mean, do you really need a digital photo of every painting in the building? So many of you were doing this in the impressionist galleries that many times I could only see a painting by looking at your display! Buy the book at the museum bookstore.

And while you are at it, learn a bit about museum etiquette and common courtesy. If I am standing back a bit and studying a large painting, it is mannerly not to step in front of me and block my view. As a test, I stood back a few feet from a nice painting and intently viewed it, with a pondering look on my face so there would be no mistake that I was studying the piece. In a span of about 30 seconds about 6 of you walked or stood in front of me, and I was bumped into 4 times.

OK, got that off my chest.

Ah, Paris! The city of light, love, cheese, wine and tourists. We highly recommend the Hotel Odeon, a small, friendly place in a great location. We have walked around a bit, viewed the sunset from Pont Neuf (bridge), had a very incredible dinner at Le Christine (highly recommended by Mia and Tim - we agree), struggled through the crowds in the impressionist gallery of Musee D' Orsay, and had a much more leisurely viewing of the Italian art deco exhibit. We even took a taxi to Helmut Newcake bakery, which is 100% sans gluten. Tonight a concert of Vivaldi at Chapel St. Chapelle was absolutely marvelous, with soloist violinist David Bracini and a string quintet.

Tomorrow we fly to Barcelona to hook up with the FriedFish, Radmacher and Tewfik families for a week of fun in that great city.

Here is a link to a few photos, for your enjoyment.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/95157126@N03/T6F6Dd

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ISTANBUL: THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE

It seems that every building in Istanbul, at least in the Sultanahmet section (the old city), has a spiral staircase. Many hotels have a rooftop restaurant, and even though they have an elevator, the rooftop is accessed by a spiral staircase. These are sometimes tricky to navigate, especially at night when, if you don't move quickly, the motion-sensor hall light switches turn off and you're left in the dark on a narrow spiral stairway.

The spiral stairway is a connector, it allows access to every level in the building, yet takes up only a small amount of space.

The Bosphorus is the body of water that connects the Marmara Sea and the Black Sea, and is the divide between the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. If you look at a map, the Bosphorus is shaped somewhat like a spiral staircase. It, too, is a connector, allowing access to both Asia and Europe in this marvelous city. As we visit various historic sites in Istanbul, we are struck by the pivotal role this city has played through the ages. It has been a major hub for commerce and conquest, and the Bosphorus is a major part of the key.

OK, so perhaps I've carried this one as far as it can go. But the truth is that being in Istanbul is being on a spiral staircase. Once you've gotten part way, the way ahead, as well as the way behind - the past and the future - are full of twists, turns, and potential darkness/mystery. What a fantastic history! The conquests and empires, the diversity of peoples, the influences of multiple cultures, the multitude of landforms and landscapes. Our visit to the Archaeology Museum and the ancient city of Ephesus only whetted our appetites for knowledge about this part of the world, this spiral staircase (aha, I did it!). 

And what about the future? Turkey is in major transitions both politically and culturally. We understand that there are an increasing number of people who are more traditional Muslims, with women wearing head coverings as well as full coverings. There is a growing struggle between secularism and religion. Turkey is also changing with the regional geo-political shifts in the Middle East and this part of Asia; and the Turks want to be the regional powerhouse. This means new and stronger ties with Iran, as well as the emerging governments in the "Arab Spring" nations. The future is the unseen way ahead on the spiral staircase. 

As I posted on Facebook this morning, we're travel weary and longing for home. There are things about this culture that wear us down; primarily the sense of being seen as wealthy tourists = an easy mark. But we've met wonderful people, seen incredible things, and overall have enjoyed being here for this brief time. 

I'll put together a group of photos on Picasa and link it from here for you to enjoy, dear reader. Until then, thank you for reading this, and we hope you enjoy your own travel adventures. 

Four Countries, Four Languages, Multiple cuisines and Myriads of Peoples

Peter Spiers wrote a wonderful book for children back in the late 1970's or early 80's called "People." On this journey, we have been walking through the pages of that book.

Women and men of various Jewish, Christian or Muslim faiths, and from more secular bents walk by in a multitude of headresses, some so covered one only sees their downcast eyes, some quite exposed. The gamut of cultures, and of ideologies, is in the crush of humans all traveling to see someplace else, or dealing with the tourists as they pitch, extol to buy, or ignore us.

We have loved the sites and sights of Amsterdam, Mykonos, Jerusalem, Rosh HaNikra, Shorashim, Rosh Pina, Tel Aviv, and Istanbul. So many religious garbs, so many languages, so many cuisines, and layer upon layer of history. We have spoken with people from more countries than I can remember; here are a few: Iran, Morroco, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Kuwait, Qatar, Italy, France, and of course the four countries we have, or are visiting: Holland, Greece, Israel, Turkey. These countries each have such distinctly different languages; Dutch, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and Turkish. A main language many of the Turks want to learn, or do know, is Russian.

I can always pick up some of the Italian, French, Spanish, and German I hear around me. In Israel I could catch snippets of Hebrew. I feel proud to be able to now have a few words in each of them. And I am thrilled that I can now read a lot of Hebrew without the vowels! I read every sign, then it's translation. I am trying to do this with Arabic.

On our first day at lunch in Istanbul we sat next to a couple from Lake Oswego (just outside Portland, Oregon), and this morning at breakfast, a mother and daughter from Seattle. 

This is always what I take away from our travels: the astonishing wonder of what people can and do create in architecture, art, poetry, music, urban planning, cuisines, and the amazing similarities and diversities in how people worship. " People" was written to build tolerance and acceptance. But as we examine the layers of history, the conquests, wars, and destruction through the millenia, or as we catch snippets of news we are all too aware that divisiveness, extremism, sexism, racism, and politcization of ideology is our lot as humans. But this not what we are focusing on right now.

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