Part One:
I’m sitting in the airport lounge in
Frankfurt on my way to Lisbon, Portugal for a long weekend. Yes, you heard correctly – for the
weekend! Now at first glance you might
think this a little decadent, or perhaps a little frivolous but I want give you
some context although, if you’re a frequent reader you’ll understand
completely. J
It’s no mistake that my new business venture
is centered around travel, its benefits, especially for the likes of me are too
numerous to mention. Having my own
business provides me the type of flexibility in my life that I now see as
essential, and clearly something that I’ve been moving increasingly toward over
the past couple of years.
Strangely, it feels like I’m being magnetically
drawn toward my new lifestyle in some weird way, almost compelled. Whatever it is my sense of adventure and instinctive
curiosity is always tingling with the possibility of getting on a plane and exploring
somewhere new.
The question that keeps coming to mind is “What am I
waiting for?” This very question excites
me and at the same time of it refreshes me to the core (yes, in my head – not
our loud).
For those of you that have started a
business, you’ll know that it takes longer than planned to get everything off
the ground, and so I recently surrendered to the thought of not pushing too
hard but letting it work its way through organically and letting it follow a natural
progression and flow, yes its a lot less stressful as well! The good news is that I have a number of exciting opportunities
on the go along with some cool stuff on the horizon so couldn’t be
happier.
With this as my backdrop late last week I was looking at a weekend without Zach and Sami (as they are with my ex) and thought why not get on a plane
and go explore. Firstly, choosing a
location was trickier that I thought because there are so many places still on my list… As the late Susan
Sontag (Writer and literary critic) once said “I haven’t been everywhere, but
its on my list”. Couldn't have coined it more perfectly!
It eventually came down to two locations,
both amazing options so I could hardly go wrong, however my mind was made up at
the start of the week after a frigid chill swept through Toronto bringing with
it cold arctic air and snow, hence my choice of Lisbon.
The other choice was Berlin, as I said a
great option but the weather differential played the critical role in my
decision. Today Berlin reached a high of
6C, whereas Lisbon was a balmy 21C, you can see where I’m going with this
especially after the crappy week we’ve had in Toronto and the temperature well below 0C for much of the week. Frankly,
I didn’t want to face more cold weather over the weekend…sorry Berlin but I'll have to take a rain check!
Part Deux:
I arrived safe into Lisbon just before
lunchtime today, after two smooth and uneventful flights (always the best
kind!). After quickly checking in and
dropping my bags at my hotel I found myself in a taxi headed for the Alfama neighbourhood (Old Quarter) for the afternoon.
I initially started my exploration at Castelo de São Jorge (St George’s
Castle) which towers over the old city and has commanding views of the Rio Tejo
(or Tagus river that splits Lisbon in two).
Lisbon itself was build on a series of low
rolling hills and as such is interesting to hike, if you want a full body
workout you’ve come to the right city. J In all I walked for about four solid hours
and took just under 400 photos (still not sure what the "keep rate" is on this afternoons photo shoot), not bad for an afternoon’s work.
Initially I
started in Alfama, but then explored Baixa (which is the main tourist area) and Amoreiras with
its high-end stores (equivalent of 5th Avenue in New York). Yes, they even had my favorite store (Massimo
Dutti), which I had to go see just in case they had anything in Lisbon that
they didn’t have in Toronto…surprisingly not too much was different.
Tomorrow, my plan is to walk along the
waterfront to the Belém Tower which is situated a few kilometers along the
waterfront where the Atlantic and the Tagus river meet. The tower was built on an island at the mouth
of the river as a fortified position in 1519 and played a major role in a
number of skirmishes and with the French and Spanish navies over the
centuries. Since the earthquake that levelled Lisbon in 1755 the
Belém Tower is now part of the shoreline as the river itself was strangely redirected by the quake.
After an afternoon of walking around Lisbon
you can see the struggles the proud city has endured and continues to
experience since the financial crisis, with many stores closed and quite a
number of rundown buildings even in the main tourist areas. Given that it’s the countries capital it’s
surprisingly quiet and little traffic to speak of, but it has a great vibe which you can't fake so if you ever get a chance to come to Lisbon...take it!
The key question that keeps going through my mind is “what am I waiting
for?”.
I want you to all take a step
back and ask yourself the same question?
It doesn’t have to be as exotic as Lisbon or Berlin, but committing
yourself to having an adventure is where I believe life begins…oh, and bring a camera
cos’ I want to see what you find along the way.
I like a dare, so I also dare you to respond with your answers and photos on my blog or on Facebook! J
Boa noite
(good night in Portuguese)
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Here a small selection of some photos from this afternoons photo shoot in Lisbon's Old Quarter - enjoy!
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| Friday is wash day in Lisbon! |
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| The Portuguese love their tiles - this is a fully tiled wall (huge tiles) |
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| Autumn leaves in a pond - Lisbon |
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| Reflections over water in Lisbon |
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| Miles of parks in Lisbon - so pretty! |
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| Is it a tram or a funicular? My guess is the latter |
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| Subway graffiti |
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When I first saw this photo I thought the statue was giving
me the finger...hahaha |
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| The tile pattern in the pavement - slightly disorienting |
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| A favour for Zach - picked him up some Portuguese vinyl |
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| The ubiquitous Tuk-Tuk....now I know why they are soooooo popular in Goa |
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| Unforgettable colors and clouds |
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| Colors of the Tagus toward late afternoon |
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| Girl writing in the sand at
Praça do Comércio
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| Brilliant colors! |
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| The street performer was brilliant at getting the bubbles to ah enormous size |
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| A warm embrace with bubble! |
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| Blowing bubbles in Baixa |
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| The door grate |
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| Apartments left to the elements in Baixa |
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| Sadly the sidewalks were empty |
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| Inside the church entrance |
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| The parody - the photographer taking a photo of the photographer! |
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| Church towers reminded me of Notre Dame in Paris, but not as ornate |
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| Tram coming down from the Castelo |
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| How old??? |
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| Nothing like a random tile store... |
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| Tram tracks coming down from Castelo de Sao Jorge |
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| Reflection on water |
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| Cobbled streets |
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| Spectacular views from the Castelo de Sao Jorge |
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| The numerous churches are evident in Lisbon |
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| Indeed - "From Portugal with love" |
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| View of the Tagus River from the Castelo |
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The moat inside the Castelo de Sao Jorge - its now full of Peacocks
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| Yes Peacocks! |
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| The fountain inside the Castelo |
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| The view from Castelo de Sao Jorge over Lisbon |
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| Extremely civilized Portuguese wine seller just after lunch! |
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| Canon still holding firm over the Tagus River from Castelo de Sao Jorge |
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| Statue of a knight at Castelo de Sao Jorge |
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| Tram tracks with grate in Alfama |
