Over dinner, BadHareDay and I discuss everything two friends can discuss.. just like old times. He taught me about the 12 official languages of South Africa, which are extremely difficult to list… and then we got into the upcoming vote on the abortion issue here in Portugal. I’m working on getting photos of the billboards of the YES and NO campaigns.. it is really both fascinating and comical… so stay tuned for that.
But this post is my goodbye to the fair city in 2006. And that was what this evening was all about… stepping out on the town with a good friend, eating dinner at one of the few dirt cheap local holes in the wall, and heading to Ler Devagar (Read Slowly) the finest bookstore that serves wine and tea til all hours of the night. Tonight was the big book sale where prints from 1975 were going for around 1 euro a-piece; good times! Afterwards we walked around the Bairro Alto, which is just like we used to do back in the day. To finish off the evening, a trip down to the municipal market to try and drink some hot cocoa from the all-night Cocao da Ribeira. It turned out to be closed, but again.. it was the thought that counted. Thoughts that take me back to 2002.. when work wasn’t easy or well paid, but I lived the Lisbon life.
It is good to know I can still relive the glory and that even in 2006.. there are still places in Lisbon where I can walk in and the chef comes out to shake my hand, the waitress knows my favorite drink, and the cutey at the bank knows my name by heart. This town may seem a little intimidating at night, and life might not be easy here in Portugal, but there is still plenty to be said for Lisbon as one of the finest cities I’ve ever known.. and loved.