A note concerning tangents (redux) V

 Current Location: Manique, Portuagal (Census Data unavailable)

(Cooridinates, unavailable)

Days 5&6

Expedition Outlook: Girded

Number of People Who Have Tried to Sell Me Drugs in Lisbon: 7

Where am I? Hard to tell sometimes.

Well, dearest readers, I’m going to be frank with you: In case you haven’t figured it out by the entry head, I’m going to cheat. It probably won’t be the last time, either. Day 5 was a bit of a lazy transit day so I’m going to bundle it up with Day 6. The hope, of course, is that I might actually (ha ha) catch up to the present day. You know, it’s strange. The last expedition was entirely helter skelter, flying by the seat of one’s pants antics. We had no plan, no agenda, we didn’t even know where we were sleeping until a few hours before we got there. And yet we had a routine. I think saying ‘routine’ makes it seems more organized than it actually was, but you get the point. Or you will, which is this: barring connectivity issues (either with the internet or with my brain) I was able to rip off a post most nights. Here, I’ve got a base of operations, the ability to settle yet, and a much more structured itinerary and yet by ability to observe any sort of routine or discipline is totally shot. Perhaps because I’m not the Expedition Leader on this one, or maybe the existence of external order lessens my need to create internal order. Or maybe both. Or maybe it’s Martians. Anyway, it’s weird, and I apologize to you for my utter slackitude.

Loverly, ain't it?

On to meat! Day 5 started in Lagos and ended in Manique. In between we visited Vila Nova de Milfontes and Casicais. The trip north was smooth. Although the feel of the place is still very southern California (and in the more modernized areas, the two places could be interchangeable save for the language difference and the use of the metric system) things are getting greener as we travel northward. Less scrubland more… not scrubland. Lushland? Sure, we’ll go with that. VNdM was a cute riverside town where we stopped to pick up lunch and enjoy the fantastic view from the bridge crossing the river valley. Caiscais is a beach town where the larger portion of my cousins live and also where Pops, Lady, and Justinian are staying (as opposed to in Manique, the next town over, where Brother Dear and myself are crashing). So after getting settled and unpacked in Manique, we went to the home of the Matriarch in Casicais and did a big family dinner. It was fantastic. Families are wonderful things to have. And when the bulk of them live in a foreign place, it’s a delight and refreshment to observe the dynamic from a place of comfort and affection. As opposed to a place of anxiety and confusion because you don’t speak the language and can’t possibly be sure that you didn’t just egregiously offend someone.

After dinner we wrapped things up, returned to our crash spaces, and prepared for our first big excursion into a major metropolitan area: Lisbon.

And now day 6! It’s been sometime, I know, I hope you didn’t wear out the seats of your pants or the edges of your seats, dear readers. So, I know many of you have been outside the country before, so bear with my here. Lisbon is the first major urban area I’ve visited outside of the States. OK, so I’ve been to a few places in Canada, but as another relatively new colonial country, it shares a lot of qualities with the US so it doesn’t really count. Here’s the thing with Lisbon: It’s different. Big surprise yeah? Succinct and easy see you tomorrow! Seriously though, nowhere else that I’ve been provides an adequate sense of context within which I can generate a comparison. And it’s not just the language and the metric system that throws me. Lisbon has been around since before Europe even started to colonize the Americas, never mind since our country was founded. It’s an old city. They routinely dig up crap that the Romans built when they lived there. Shoot, the city has been around since before Rome. I can’t even begin to understand the billions of forces that acted upon Lisbon and shaped it into what it is today. It’s nothing like any American city I’ve been in.

Ok, time to contradict myself. It’s Urban. It’s metropolitan. In that sense, it’s like cities everywhere. Or at least everywhere I’ve been. Shoot, I’m of very mixed mind here and it’s hard to articulate. Lisbon was both extremely impressive and nothing at all special. This is a dichotomy I’m having some trouble dealing with, still, so I’m going to move on to the details of the day.

Our plan consisted of taking a walking tour and seeing some sights. This involved a lot of tricky navigation up hills and through tiny streets, but it was totally worth it. First major stop was the Castle of São Jorge. Big honkin castle in the middle of the city. Between earthquakes and neglect the location might not be as splendidly preserved as some other historical sites out there, but seeing as it is a castle, after all, it has weathered the centuries pretty damn well. Well, at least the bits meant for war have. If you like old ruins and the like, the place is a treat. It’s is also absolutely filled with semi-feral animals of all stripes and configurations, the most conspicuous of which are the peacocks. And friends, let me tell you, nothing says “circle of life” quite like a peacock and a cat fighting over the leftovers of someone’s sandwich while tourists from 16 different nations try and take photographs and yell out encouraging advice.

Post castle we transitioned through some minor locales and ended up visiting the Patriarch Cathedral of St. Mary Major. It’s a fully functional Roman Catholic cathedral and is the see of the Archdioceses of Lisbon. It looks a bit run down on the outside, but is absolutely gorgeous on the inside. Say whatever else you’d like about the Catholics, but they make darn pretty places of worship.

We rounded our trip with a stroll through some slightly more ‘modern’ areas of the city. That means areas that were built after the big quake in 1755, so when I say modern I mean “still older than America.” The most impressive of these modern areas are the Rua Augusta Arch and the connected Praça do Comércio. They’re the kind of places that don’t really feature attractions or activities per se but are just nice to hang about and soak up the atmosphere. I took advantage of the wide open spaces of the Praça to waltz with my mother. It was very nice.

After that we took a nice long walk along the waterfront, got some dinner in one of the pier sections and called it a day. It was a good day and did a lot to embolden the Expedition members. It was also the first occasion I’ve been able to spend time with my young cousins Tiago, Hugo, Barbara and Vasco. Absolute gems, and if they’re at all indicative of how the Portuguese handle child rearing, then we are way far behind over in the states.

I’ve little else to report in the way of expedition news. Still no hot female truckers, but no surprise there. No one has yet to claim the $10 bounty for punching a pigeon mid-flight. Big people sightings are extremely sporadic. This leads me to believe that it might be a problem indigenous to the Americas. I did run into Alabaster, King of Pigeons in all of his majestic and blinding white majesty. Don’t know what business he was conducting down on the Lisbon waterfront, but his royal retinue was quite a sight to behold. Alabaster, if you are reading this, then thank you again for gracing me with your royal presence. And you, delightful and cherished readers, are ever a pleasure as well. Time for me to go, thank you, and good night, this is the Nickness, signing off. 

"When there's a bustle in your hedgerow..."