24 Hours in Lisbon

Well, it was actually about a 22-hour layover. To be honest, I didn’t do much research before heading into the Lisbon center. Though I was ready to absorb the history and ready to be surprised by the views. Honestly, I was not in a mood to rush through all the sights. Portugal is a perfect place for this, nothing is too fast here. Now that is not to say I do not have particular goals for this shortstop. My goal, the food, particularly the pastel de nata.

I may have overindulged. Well, just a little…

It’s always important to have a goal when you travel, especially if you have short on time or traveling with other people. It helps you to narrow your focus, make the most of your time while not rushing through them all. Of course, we all wanted to live that romantic dream of realizing our endless wanderlust without the worries of goals, time, or any anxieties. The idea is so prevalent that amongst the traveler, the travel blogger, and the vaguely labeled hippy circles, having goals or structures to your travel is one of the biggest taboos. It is almost to the point of vilifying the travelers have goals or structures. I have heard many times, amongst the hostel halls, that people who are too structured or don’t take enough time to travel are not travelers, just tourists. The romanticism of wandering traveler is becoming the ultimate perfection as the labeling of “tourist” almost means degradation. The label “traveler” now carries the prestigious connotation of people who simply wander, almost to the point of a pure breed obsession. But does it need to be? The reality is most people travel in some way shape or form. Anyone travels can be a traveler. Who am I to tell someone how they should enjoy themselves?

Let’s put aside the association of structured travel with Chinese in general (topic for another time). The reality is that we do live in a society where structured living, stability, and 9 to 5 is the way to secure yours, or your relatives’ social status. This social status manifests both materially and socially. A precarious worker in Brazil may be deemed as criminally suspicious for not having a stable 9 to 5 job ( Perlman 2010, 157; Roth-Gordon 2009, 58). They are targets of government and police harassment in Brazil because the 9 to 5 job title also signifies the quality of a person’s social conduct. ( Caldeira 2000, 138; Scheper-Hughes 2006, 154). Parental babysitting breaks from 9 to 5 jobs result in a drastically lowered chance of re-employment when re-entering the workforce in the U.S, and thus lowers their material survivability. (Weisshar, 2018). The precariousness of wander-lusting is simply not feasible by many parts of the population. One or another, we bounded by the social structure we live in. Simply narrowly defining social status as ego boasting or materialistic is oversimplifying the complexity of societies and their peoples.

This complex social reality contributes to people’s behavior in their lifestyle and travel choices. The result is that most will choose to have structured living. If having goals helps them to enjoy themselves more, I for one, cannot blame them. As the old saying goes, “don’t hate the player, hate the game.” Morally, we want everyone to be inequality fighting heroes who stand up against the system. However, we need to understand that most everyone is just barely staying afloat within the system. Asking them to walk on water is not possible without dramatic events or changes. So next time, go easy on the people who are deemed as “tourists,” they may just have been doing what they need to do. Maybe we should just simply go with the rule of “you never know what is going on with the other person’s life.”

Enough of the sentimentalism, let’s get back to some eye feasts of Lisbon. Most people will choose to ride the trams up to Castelo de S. Jorge. However, I recommend going up the opposite hill to the Carmo Archeological museum. You can also take the Elevador de Santa Justa to get the amazing view (see below). Just be aware, the queue for the elevator may be very long. If you’d rather get some exercise and save money, try walking up from the main streets. The climb was not bad at all. At least, you can always reward yourself with a nice cool drink up top with an amazing view.

At the top, you can also visit the Carmo Archeological museum which is ruins of a prominent destroyed by the earthquake of Lisbon in 1755. This earthquake consequent also moved the river water to flood the entire city. What was not flooded, was burnt. This church is one of the buildings which has some of its main walls standing through the tragedies.

Some structures were reconstructed after the earthquake, like the famous Church of S. Dominic. Fells down three times, considered cursed by the citizens, the church was finally rebuilt in a unique to help the worshippers and the visitors to remember its scarred past which marks one of the biggest massacres of Jewish, former Jewish(forcibly converted to Christianity) population before WW2.

Interestingly, another wall was preserved from the ruins of the earthquake. The walls of the stables of a marquise of Lisbon now live in a cute restaurant that serves some delicious local food.

Speaking about food, you must try the seafood here in Lisbon. Predominantly sardines, bacalao, and shellfish. It’s also worth mentioning that Lisbon has a full month of celebration in the month of June. Every household will be selling its own marinated sardines.

Wrapping up the day, my guide led us up through the narrow streets of the oldest neighborhood, Alfama, to a vantage point not too far from the castle and the cathedral of Lisbon.

This day had been perfect for me. Relaxation, history, and food all pack in a day. As I slowly stroll out of Alfama, back to my hostel, I savored the quaint little neighborhood once more. I wanted to remember all the smell and views so it can linger in my memory for the times to come.

As for my favorite food? Pastel de nata with a bit heavier smoke flavor and a cherry liquor on the side, perfeita.

Citations:

• Caldeira, Teresa P. R. (2000) City of Walls: Crime, Segregation, and Citizenship in Sao Paulo. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Perlman, Janice (2010) Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Roth-Gordon, Jennifer (2009) “The Language that Came Down the Hill: Slang, Crime, and Citizenship in Rio de Janeiro.” American Anthropologist 111, no. 1: 57: 68. http://dx.doi.org/10. 1111/j.1548-1433.2009.01077.x.
• Scheper-Hughes, Nancy (2006) “Death Squads and Democracy in Northeast Brazil.” In Law and Disorder in the Postcolony, edited by Jean Comaroff and John L. Comaroff, 150:87. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Weisshaar, Kate. (2018) “Stay at home parents face a big job market penalty when they try to re-enter the workforce.” American Politics and Policy Blog (15 May 2018).