Lisbon-Porto-Lisbon

Last week - form the 2nd to the 8th - I went to Lisbon...had my post-graduate holydays....eh eh...by now it is the only post-graduate thing that concerns me...we will think about the degree in some months...by now I am satisfied with this....
May I say you came as well, Paterok? I hope so...we had fun, for real....Edgar has been a wonderful host and a very patient guide throughout the city center and on the coast too...he lives in a very quiet and beautiful neighbourhood, not far from the center of this amazing city...just in front of his apartement there are three or four (how many, Edgar?) bars, mostly run by Brazilian guys, that are vey cozy and comfortable...for laid-back people...and we were soooooo much relaxed....
That city is an ever-ending up-and-down on its hills ( they are seven as in Rome...very funny coincidence)...steep streets, trees growing up on tiny stairs...very old and amusing houses, a thin rain covers the typical portoguese sidewalks kind of often in March...

The language sounds like a poem, like a song...I cannot catch it that much...it is much better when it is written...you have to know that, if plural, almost every word gets and s that has to sound like the czech š....I cannot give many more tips about this sexy language...maybe at first hear it sounds like a Polish dialect...but now it is me who sounds so superficial....so enough of this....

We had very tasty dinners in Bairro Alto...a quarter that is the pulsing heart of nightlife in Lisbon...imagine a hill covered by packed and small old buildings, any of them very low ceilings...in every street there some pubs, restaurants and bars open till four in the morning(!!!!). People in Lisbon like jazz a lot, apparently, and I like them because of this....
People look so peaceful and relaxed everywhere: Id say I did not meet a single person who behaved wrong to me....but I know that holydays (with your favourirte travel mate, by the way!) can give a distorted perception of reality...but, man, it has been such a pleasant feeling to feel so welcome...and so often...
We visited Sintra(++), the western border of the European Continent, Capo de Roca (++), and then we walked on a rose sand in front of kind of angry oceanic waves(+++)....so cool and touchy....

After few days we rent a car, in order to visit Porto on sunday and monday...first we went to a Football match in the most beautiful stadium I've ever been into...Porto won...so Fernanda and her family (so nice people....) were so happy about it...35 thousand supporters in a brand new stadium, no riots, no violence, no embarassing police presence and people, family, kids who just want to enjoy their time!!!!In Italy this would be impossible, for real...and I kind of felt embarassed for our close mindedness...

Porto has such a beautiful river that runs just in between Gaia and Porto...the docks on both sides are impressive, at the sunset striking...the Port-wine tasting was a compulsory stop and we did not escape it...What I really loved about this city is this idea of quietness that the river can express...Lisbon is amazing but the river is, let's say, at the border of it while in Porto it looks like the element who balance the two parts of the city...but Porto is soooo steep, damn'...I remember when Fernanda complained about the small road going to Vinarska from Vystavyste: too steep in her opinion...that was nothing if you compare it with the streets in Porto!!!!

We would have probably liked to stay there longer but we had decided to go back to Lisbon for a Fado night! The bar where they played it is so small and typical - as far as I can judge - that Ill remember that evening for ages....we even saw a Japanese guy singing Fado (!!!!): indeed on mondays it is a sort of open concert for Fado singers: you ask for it at the boss and you have your chance...amazing...
I just wanted to give you some impressions of this amazing country, where Ill try to go again in the future...
With this post the short life of this blog is over...nobody is probably so interested in such a development...but I write it anyway...I move to Berlin in 6 days so Ill make up a new blog for this new experience(hey, English native speakers, any tip for a catching new name? Uh?)

The last post will then tell you the addresse of the new one...hope that: somebody will arrive at the end of this very long post; will check the new one at least once; will, from time to time, send me some news about his/her life (my email is not gonna change, guys!!!!) ...take care you all...

THE END