Lisbon is an incredibly chilled out town for a capital city. The Jacarandas are on full bloom and the streets are lined with old tile marble stones and faded statues, small monuments and relatively creative "street art". I-ve been wondering around the streets all day just poking around enjoying the sun and relatively pollution free air. The hilly area of Alfalma is gorgeous and traditional, small houses line the streets, even though they look uneven, the vintage beaten look is so very attractive with a huge festive look with ribbons, flags and decorations lining the walls and balconies. Old school trams run up and down the street casually tries to miss the pedestrians. Prices are so much lower here and I was able to stock up a week's worth of food and alcohol for seven Es. Woo hoo!The locals are so sweet. They are generally very dark in their facial features and are much more petite than other Europeans. Brash, love their drink, their music, and their pork served in big chunks. They are a lot more relaxed and welcoming than the Spanish. I met this Spanish doctor who treats a lot of broken Australian limbs in a busy Barcelona hospital at the hostel, she says the Spanish are just sick of tourists. But the Portuguese are laid back as they don't get the crowds in the same way, and are still relatively economically in need of tourists so they are pretty friendly to most visitors.
They have a huge pride about their past as world super power and have no qualm about bagging out the Spanish and the Americans. If you think ppl in Macau, Brazil, Timor Leste and Mozambique all speak Portuguese, then you wouldn't be surprised to know that its actually the seventh most widely spoken language in the world. But the Portuguese have given up on world domination, while some others are still trying.Seeing a green cargo with the Taiwanese shipping company's logo "Evergreen" painted on it made me think so much today about my first home, Taiwan. The first Westerners to reach Taiwan were the Portuguese back in the 1500s and gave it the name "Ilha Formosa",
which means The Beautiful Island, and that was the name it was known to the rest of the world till World War II. Before that time the Portuguese also set up shop in Taiwan and used the northern port of Tamsui as a trading port, and fought continuously with the Dutch, Spanish and English to control the Fort till the Chinese and Japanese took over. The name Formosa has since become synonymous to the Taiwanese Independence movement after a pro-democracy magazine was named after it and the KMT tried to ban it, sparking the end of martial law over Taiwan imposed by the KMT government in the mid 80s. To me, Formosa asserts Taiwan's identity as an outlooking worldly nation, as oppose to the self-centered and self-obsessed Chinese. Being a Portuguese given name is also a reminder that it will forever be struggling off its unfortunate history dominated by colonialism and foreign powers. But the meaning behind the name is a poetic and optimistic lament about both outer and inner beauty and strength of the Island and its people. I still get emotional thinking about the unfortunate but brave history
of my country. Visiting Portugal brings it back home for me. When will we have a home of our own?My Top Recoms for Lisbon
http://www.lisbonpoetshostel.com/index.php
Walk around the Castle next to Alfalma
Night out at Barrio Alto
Beach at Cascais
Belem for the antique markets and the egg tarts
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