LISBOA
Thursday evening -- arrival in Lisboa. My flight with Iberia was delayed (I will never book with them again!) so we left Madrid at 11:30pm and arrived in Lisboa at 11:45pm local time. Took a taxi to the Lisboa Poet's Hostel, and the receptionist was very helpful in introducing me to the hostel. Portugese is SUCH a strange language. The first time I heard it I thought it was a Slavic language, then maybe German or Spanish in an Irish accent? Just when I think it's totally incoprehensible, I'll recognize a Spanish-sounding phrase and just be confused all over again. Anyway, walked around a little outside -- the square near us was filled with young people hanging out, drinking, bar-hopping. The streets are very slippery white cobblestones.. I finally found Eliana, Cullen, Xavier and Rodrigo and went to bed around 1:30am.
Friday 4 de Marzo
Woke up around 8:30am for breakfast in the hostel. I really like this hostel -- the lounge is colorful, lots of books, free internet, poet quotes all over the place, and breakfast incudes hot tea/coffee, muesli, toast, OJ, oranges and bananas! Talked to a British lady who was so relieved and excited to hear that Xavier was an Earth Systems major. In her vision of the US, everyone sleeps or wants to be able to sleep with a gun under their pillow....
Eliana, Cullen and I walked down to the waterfront -- I can't get over how similar this is to San Francisco! The narrow hilly streets, waterfront with green trees over on the other side like the Marin headlands, red bridge spanning the river just like the Golden Gate, cable cars, warm weather, friendly people -- it makes me miss San Francisco! I'm also surprised though because there are SO many modern, architecturally-innovative buildings here too. Portugal appears to be doing very well. Anyway, took a cable car along the water front to the 16th century Monasterio de los Jeronimos, which commemorates Portugesee discoveries and is also a UNESCO site. Visited the big Cathedral where Vasco de Gama (sailed for Portugal around Cape Horn and made it to India, establishing Portugal's trade dominance in the Indian Ocean). The inside of the church was unlike any I've seen in Spain -- all grey stone very elaborately decorative. On the ceiling were not only the usual suspects -- stars, apostles, crosses -- but also symbols of Portugal's navigation prowess (crosses surrounded by Ptolemic models of the universe). The Portugese oceanic and exploratory voyages of the secular world were considered evidence of God's will and closely linked to future voyages in the spiritual world..
Next walked along the water front to Belém Tower -- a squat little structure built in the 16th century as a key element of a military defense strategy. Another UNESCO site (or "patrimonio de la humanidad" as they say in Spain). It combines a few different architectural styles -- medieval bulwark and part Manueline--and was designed by architect Francisco Arruda. Its white stone contrasted beautifully with the blue sky and river. Unfortunately, we arrived at the same time as a rowdy group of teenage school kids, and the acoustics of this building nearly made us go deaf. Of course, we wanted to ascend to the top floor -- as did all of the kids -- so the very narrow spiral staircase was jammed constantly for about 45 minutes. But no matter because the view from the top of the tower was incredible and the sun was warm. Cullen (who's from Marin) and I were "tripping out" (his lingo) because the view looked so similar to San Francisco's! We tried to find as many similarities as possible. The little cafés along the street look like Sausalito, the buses take forever, the giant cranes at the ports (they look like the ones in Oakland), public transportation only gives change in coins (I used a 20 euro to pay for my 1.50 euro bus ticket and received all coins -- just like how caltrain spits out sacajawea dollar coins!)... the similarities started to scare us after a while.
After the tower, we stopped at the Belém cultural center to check out the contemporary art museum. Outside the building was a very intriguing sculpture -- "Inhabitable object" -- a giant shell-like thing made of cork! Inside was a sign that said "don't smoke" haha. Also at the main entrance of the building: a tree made of green glass bottles. Very cool. Inside, the first piece on display was a light screen with orange lights depicting the outline of just the torso of a lady in a bikini walking down a catwalk. I laughed because this seems to be strategically placed to encourage reluctant men to enter -- and it definitely worked for cullen. He said he could watch that screen for hours and then proceeded to analyze why it was such a good piece of art, why orange was such a good color choice, etc. Eliana and I could only laugh.
Inside: went to a map exhibit-- "Mappamundi." SO COOL!!! Definitely one of my favorite exhibits in my life because it combined maps and art and culture and social commentary and history -- incredible! And so well done; the English explanations were thorough (for example, explaining how for centuries people were guided and oriented according to the location of Mecca or Jerusalem and really only quite recently most of the world "re-oriented" to the "more secular" idea of the North). It's amazing that the image we have of "the world" as that light blue sphere with colorful countries, neatly demarcated along political boundaries is still so recent. One of the artists exhibited here had used those light blue laminated maps used in schools and cut them up and reformed them into different shapes. In general, the design of the space and flow through the museum was really well-thought-out. It was hosted by the Berado Collection Museum with an aim to "review cartography's role in art" and illustrate how maps have changed, inspired artists and shaped our view of the world. Are maps to read or look at? Do they mirror the world or distort it? What do they describe, evoke, protest?
The four segments of the exhibit included:
1) Decoding -- how maps are a system of symbols to be decoded (the idea of North, scale of a map, reference lines, the idea of the Equator as a line...). These artists sort of break the rules here, playing with these entrenched systems of coding. For example: a digitized map in which continents were transformed into clumps of thin horizontal black lines. The artist then used computer formatting to move these lines moved around, smooshing them together -- sort of inverting the process by which pangea separated I guess. The artist was Detanico & Lain and the final image (all the lines of all the continents unified) was called "The World Justified, Centered." Another series was done by artist who cut up maps of the US and Japan and pasted them together in an intriguing way (for example, the US map only included the east coast and west coast, the middle of the country had been obliterated and cut out).
2) Materializing (the word "Corporizar" in Portugese sounds more fitting though because it captures that idea of corporal, giving body and life) -- bodies, sensations and matter. These artists "reassert" the sensitivity of maps and their existence as material objects. There were some maps printed on mattresses, clothing, mirrors... They also explore how maps can bring people together (for example, forcing people to sit side by side to view...). There was a really cool piece-- a collage of photographs taken of metro maps in Paris. Each photo of each station was taken in the actual station itself, so each map was very worn by the number of fingers that had touched the map over the years. Basically, the end product was an image of a map on which each metro station had disappeared (paper had worn through too much) so it was sort of like an inverted map -- the locations visited the most were the least visible. The same artist also used the Paris metro map and superimposed it on a relief sculpture of a woman's torso. All this use of metro maps made me really excited to do something with all the maps and paper things I've collected over the last 2.5 months!
3) Protesting-- how maps have been used by conquerors and are now used as tools of protests, making visible the invisible, refuting official versions, questioning political lines and censorship. I had to smile when I read how, the map is "a weapon with which to heighten awareness, denounce or organize collective action" and then the first pieces I saw (artist was Nelson Leirner) were maps of the world in which all the land bodies had been covered with gold and sparkly stickers of disney characters, daffy ducks, hello kitty or american flags.
4) Dreaming -- how maps represent the world of the imagination. There were some incredible pieces which were books (some blank, some actually atlases containing printed images of maps) in which each page had been cut so that, when the book was opened to a certain page, the result on either side looked like a topographical representation of some land.
A few other favorite pieces:
-series of photos taken in western China and Mongolia (aka middle of nowhere) with a sign of the GPS coordinates in each place, the GPS depiction on an orienteering device, and a panorama of the site
- Mirror glass table shaped like a land mass with seats and chairs and sitting cushions from all around the world gathered around it.
-image of the world with vertical rips in a few places (the largest ran through Africa) from which blood oozed and someone had made attempts to stitch the map together with some thick twine
-dresses made of maps
-photos of an artist who tattooed an outlined map of china on his back and then traveled. In each city he traveled to, he got a new tattoo on his back. Now I have an answer next time someonw inevitably asks me what kind of tattoo I'd get if I ever got one... haha
-seeing 16 television screens, all showing weather forecast reports all over the world. Really interesting and surprising to see how different cultures represent the weather map, something I've never really thought much about! For example, the American and western European reports used lots of arrows, bold colors, straight lines -- very technical. The East African weather report just had some white lines and bubbles that were animated to look like smoke puffs or jiggly ripples in the water, very odd.
-Seeing an actual map of Dubai (wow, didn't realize how beautiful the aerial view must be with all those human-formed land masses!). In the corner was a little outline of the world and the words "under construction" -- !!! I found this attitude of terrestrial plastic surgery slightly disturbing.
Next we went to a famous little café with a beautiful blue "azulejos" (ceramic tile) facade and azul canopies: Pastais Belém. First we enjoyd delicious tomato-mozzarella sandwiches on whole wheat housemade bread and for dessert, the famous little cream cakes "pastais de nata" (sort of like creme brulée in quiche form? Also tasted a bit like french toast). I liked them with cinnamon on top!
So many building facades here are covered with lovely blue and yellow tiles! Even more of them than in Spain!
Took bus back to hostel and saw SO many museums along the way! Museums of popular art, sculpture, cars, the East, maps -- I decided right then and there that I could probably live in Lisboa. There are just so many cool places, influences from around the world, so much energy and activity in this city. Anyway, had some down time as we tried to reunir with Javier and Rodrigo with no success.
Then took cable car to the Castle. We were held up along the way because of many costumed Carnaval celebrators in the streets! I think my arms will be sore tomorrow from trying to stabilize myself as we ascended and descended those steep hilly streets!
Saint George's Castle. The fortification was originally built by the Moors in the mid-11th century as the last defensive stronghold for the elite who lived nearby. A little Portugese history: in 1147 Dom Alfonso Henriques conquered Lisbon (Moorish at the time) and became the first king of Portugal. He used this castle for his royalty and enlarged the place too so it'd be fit for celebrations, coronations and visitors receptions in the centuries to come. In 1580 Portugal came under the Spanish crown and the castle was used more for military purposes. Unfortunately a lot of it was destroyed in an 1755 earthquake but it continued to be used for military functions in the next couple of centuries. It's definitely well-guarded (we know from experience now because it took us a while to find--road signs are not a priority here--but eventually made it to the entrance!) Walked all along the wall, climbed all the towers, took lots of photos in the glorious evening sunlight. There was a neat little archaeological excavation of former royal palaces.
After the castle, it was already 6:30 so we made our way to a cool little café-- Pois, Café -- Eliana had seen on her last visit to Lisboa with her parents. Felt like someplace in Marin, once again, with a rustic, woodsy interior, homemade cakes, fresh squeezed juices, an eclectic mix of ceramic cups and plates.. Eliana and I got a pot of tea to warm up and savor the atmosphere. There were all kinds of books and DVDs and magazines in many many different languages so we amused ourselves for quite sometime before heading out to meet up with Javier and Rodrigo again for dinner. Went to a tiny little restaurant that didn't even have a name.... it was in the Alfama district with lots of little pedestrian streets -- one of the oldest districts in a city that has been the capital of Portugal since the conquest of the Moors in 1147! (According to Wikipedia, Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world -- Julius Caesar actually proclaimed it a municipum called Felicitas Julia). Anyway, the restaurant was run by some older Portugese folks and there were lots of Portugese folks eating inside so we squeezed around a little table. Rodrigo (from Mexico) also speaks some Portugese so, luckily, we were able to communicate some! I had the soup of the day (bean and vegetable), queso fresco and a mixed salad -- all incredibly tasty, especially with the house "green wine" (basically white wine). Had some homemade cakes for dessert (I think mine was almond of some sort) and each had some port wine as we tried to follow some Portugese version of "who wants to be a millionaire" on television and observed the restaurant owners shoot the breeze with the other clientele.
After dinner, we went to a tiny little bar in the Alfama district to listen to Fado music, traditional guitar and singing music of Portugal. Enjoyed another very rich glass of port as we huddled around the bar and the tables in the dim light, watching the musicians prepare their instruments. When they began playing, everyone was still, almost mesmerized by the music, and particularly the deep trembling voice of the singer. Even the bartenders and the ladies cooking in the kitchen came out to have a drink and simply listen. Over the next few hours new guitarists joined in -- including some boys who looked like they couldn't be older than 12 -- and so did the singers. People who earlier I thought were just audience members (a young woman in a beautiful dress, an old man with a grand mustache and fedora hat, and a young girl who was maybe 14 years old?) sang a few songs. We ended up staying until something like 3am -- and there was no sign of the music ending any time soon! It was really beautiful music though and it lingered with me along the entire walk home and even in my dreams when I eventually got to sleep.
Thursday evening -- arrival in Lisboa. My flight with Iberia was delayed (I will never book with them again!) so we left Madrid at 11:30pm and arrived in Lisboa at 11:45pm local time. Took a taxi to the Lisboa Poet's Hostel, and the receptionist was very helpful in introducing me to the hostel. Portugese is SUCH a strange language. The first time I heard it I thought it was a Slavic language, then maybe German or Spanish in an Irish accent? Just when I think it's totally incoprehensible, I'll recognize a Spanish-sounding phrase and just be confused all over again. Anyway, walked around a little outside -- the square near us was filled with young people hanging out, drinking, bar-hopping. The streets are very slippery white cobblestones.. I finally found Eliana, Cullen, Xavier and Rodrigo and went to bed around 1:30am.
Friday 4 de Marzo
Woke up around 8:30am for breakfast in the hostel. I really like this hostel -- the lounge is colorful, lots of books, free internet, poet quotes all over the place, and breakfast incudes hot tea/coffee, muesli, toast, OJ, oranges and bananas! Talked to a British lady who was so relieved and excited to hear that Xavier was an Earth Systems major. In her vision of the US, everyone sleeps or wants to be able to sleep with a gun under their pillow....
Eliana, Cullen and I walked down to the waterfront -- I can't get over how similar this is to San Francisco! The narrow hilly streets, waterfront with green trees over on the other side like the Marin headlands, red bridge spanning the river just like the Golden Gate, cable cars, warm weather, friendly people -- it makes me miss San Francisco! I'm also surprised though because there are SO many modern, architecturally-innovative buildings here too. Portugal appears to be doing very well. Anyway, took a cable car along the water front to the 16th century Monasterio de los Jeronimos, which commemorates Portugesee discoveries and is also a UNESCO site. Visited the big Cathedral where Vasco de Gama (sailed for Portugal around Cape Horn and made it to India, establishing Portugal's trade dominance in the Indian Ocean). The inside of the church was unlike any I've seen in Spain -- all grey stone very elaborately decorative. On the ceiling were not only the usual suspects -- stars, apostles, crosses -- but also symbols of Portugal's navigation prowess (crosses surrounded by Ptolemic models of the universe). The Portugese oceanic and exploratory voyages of the secular world were considered evidence of God's will and closely linked to future voyages in the spiritual world..
Next walked along the water front to Belém Tower -- a squat little structure built in the 16th century as a key element of a military defense strategy. Another UNESCO site (or "patrimonio de la humanidad" as they say in Spain). It combines a few different architectural styles -- medieval bulwark and part Manueline--and was designed by architect Francisco Arruda. Its white stone contrasted beautifully with the blue sky and river. Unfortunately, we arrived at the same time as a rowdy group of teenage school kids, and the acoustics of this building nearly made us go deaf. Of course, we wanted to ascend to the top floor -- as did all of the kids -- so the very narrow spiral staircase was jammed constantly for about 45 minutes. But no matter because the view from the top of the tower was incredible and the sun was warm. Cullen (who's from Marin) and I were "tripping out" (his lingo) because the view looked so similar to San Francisco's! We tried to find as many similarities as possible. The little cafés along the street look like Sausalito, the buses take forever, the giant cranes at the ports (they look like the ones in Oakland), public transportation only gives change in coins (I used a 20 euro to pay for my 1.50 euro bus ticket and received all coins -- just like how caltrain spits out sacajawea dollar coins!)... the similarities started to scare us after a while.
After the tower, we stopped at the Belém cultural center to check out the contemporary art museum. Outside the building was a very intriguing sculpture -- "Inhabitable object" -- a giant shell-like thing made of cork! Inside was a sign that said "don't smoke" haha. Also at the main entrance of the building: a tree made of green glass bottles. Very cool. Inside, the first piece on display was a light screen with orange lights depicting the outline of just the torso of a lady in a bikini walking down a catwalk. I laughed because this seems to be strategically placed to encourage reluctant men to enter -- and it definitely worked for cullen. He said he could watch that screen for hours and then proceeded to analyze why it was such a good piece of art, why orange was such a good color choice, etc. Eliana and I could only laugh.
Inside: went to a map exhibit-- "Mappamundi." SO COOL!!! Definitely one of my favorite exhibits in my life because it combined maps and art and culture and social commentary and history -- incredible! And so well done; the English explanations were thorough (for example, explaining how for centuries people were guided and oriented according to the location of Mecca or Jerusalem and really only quite recently most of the world "re-oriented" to the "more secular" idea of the North). It's amazing that the image we have of "the world" as that light blue sphere with colorful countries, neatly demarcated along political boundaries is still so recent. One of the artists exhibited here had used those light blue laminated maps used in schools and cut them up and reformed them into different shapes. In general, the design of the space and flow through the museum was really well-thought-out. It was hosted by the Berado Collection Museum with an aim to "review cartography's role in art" and illustrate how maps have changed, inspired artists and shaped our view of the world. Are maps to read or look at? Do they mirror the world or distort it? What do they describe, evoke, protest?
The four segments of the exhibit included:
1) Decoding -- how maps are a system of symbols to be decoded (the idea of North, scale of a map, reference lines, the idea of the Equator as a line...). These artists sort of break the rules here, playing with these entrenched systems of coding. For example: a digitized map in which continents were transformed into clumps of thin horizontal black lines. The artist then used computer formatting to move these lines moved around, smooshing them together -- sort of inverting the process by which pangea separated I guess. The artist was Detanico & Lain and the final image (all the lines of all the continents unified) was called "The World Justified, Centered." Another series was done by artist who cut up maps of the US and Japan and pasted them together in an intriguing way (for example, the US map only included the east coast and west coast, the middle of the country had been obliterated and cut out).
2) Materializing (the word "Corporizar" in Portugese sounds more fitting though because it captures that idea of corporal, giving body and life) -- bodies, sensations and matter. These artists "reassert" the sensitivity of maps and their existence as material objects. There were some maps printed on mattresses, clothing, mirrors... They also explore how maps can bring people together (for example, forcing people to sit side by side to view...). There was a really cool piece-- a collage of photographs taken of metro maps in Paris. Each photo of each station was taken in the actual station itself, so each map was very worn by the number of fingers that had touched the map over the years. Basically, the end product was an image of a map on which each metro station had disappeared (paper had worn through too much) so it was sort of like an inverted map -- the locations visited the most were the least visible. The same artist also used the Paris metro map and superimposed it on a relief sculpture of a woman's torso. All this use of metro maps made me really excited to do something with all the maps and paper things I've collected over the last 2.5 months!
3) Protesting-- how maps have been used by conquerors and are now used as tools of protests, making visible the invisible, refuting official versions, questioning political lines and censorship. I had to smile when I read how, the map is "a weapon with which to heighten awareness, denounce or organize collective action" and then the first pieces I saw (artist was Nelson Leirner) were maps of the world in which all the land bodies had been covered with gold and sparkly stickers of disney characters, daffy ducks, hello kitty or american flags.
4) Dreaming -- how maps represent the world of the imagination. There were some incredible pieces which were books (some blank, some actually atlases containing printed images of maps) in which each page had been cut so that, when the book was opened to a certain page, the result on either side looked like a topographical representation of some land.
A few other favorite pieces:
-series of photos taken in western China and Mongolia (aka middle of nowhere) with a sign of the GPS coordinates in each place, the GPS depiction on an orienteering device, and a panorama of the site
- Mirror glass table shaped like a land mass with seats and chairs and sitting cushions from all around the world gathered around it.
-image of the world with vertical rips in a few places (the largest ran through Africa) from which blood oozed and someone had made attempts to stitch the map together with some thick twine
-dresses made of maps
-photos of an artist who tattooed an outlined map of china on his back and then traveled. In each city he traveled to, he got a new tattoo on his back. Now I have an answer next time someonw inevitably asks me what kind of tattoo I'd get if I ever got one... haha
-seeing 16 television screens, all showing weather forecast reports all over the world. Really interesting and surprising to see how different cultures represent the weather map, something I've never really thought much about! For example, the American and western European reports used lots of arrows, bold colors, straight lines -- very technical. The East African weather report just had some white lines and bubbles that were animated to look like smoke puffs or jiggly ripples in the water, very odd.
-Seeing an actual map of Dubai (wow, didn't realize how beautiful the aerial view must be with all those human-formed land masses!). In the corner was a little outline of the world and the words "under construction" -- !!! I found this attitude of terrestrial plastic surgery slightly disturbing.
Next we went to a famous little café with a beautiful blue "azulejos" (ceramic tile) facade and azul canopies: Pastais Belém. First we enjoyd delicious tomato-mozzarella sandwiches on whole wheat housemade bread and for dessert, the famous little cream cakes "pastais de nata" (sort of like creme brulée in quiche form? Also tasted a bit like french toast). I liked them with cinnamon on top!
So many building facades here are covered with lovely blue and yellow tiles! Even more of them than in Spain!
Took bus back to hostel and saw SO many museums along the way! Museums of popular art, sculpture, cars, the East, maps -- I decided right then and there that I could probably live in Lisboa. There are just so many cool places, influences from around the world, so much energy and activity in this city. Anyway, had some down time as we tried to reunir with Javier and Rodrigo with no success.
Then took cable car to the Castle. We were held up along the way because of many costumed Carnaval celebrators in the streets! I think my arms will be sore tomorrow from trying to stabilize myself as we ascended and descended those steep hilly streets!
Saint George's Castle. The fortification was originally built by the Moors in the mid-11th century as the last defensive stronghold for the elite who lived nearby. A little Portugese history: in 1147 Dom Alfonso Henriques conquered Lisbon (Moorish at the time) and became the first king of Portugal. He used this castle for his royalty and enlarged the place too so it'd be fit for celebrations, coronations and visitors receptions in the centuries to come. In 1580 Portugal came under the Spanish crown and the castle was used more for military purposes. Unfortunately a lot of it was destroyed in an 1755 earthquake but it continued to be used for military functions in the next couple of centuries. It's definitely well-guarded (we know from experience now because it took us a while to find--road signs are not a priority here--but eventually made it to the entrance!) Walked all along the wall, climbed all the towers, took lots of photos in the glorious evening sunlight. There was a neat little archaeological excavation of former royal palaces.
After the castle, it was already 6:30 so we made our way to a cool little café-- Pois, Café -- Eliana had seen on her last visit to Lisboa with her parents. Felt like someplace in Marin, once again, with a rustic, woodsy interior, homemade cakes, fresh squeezed juices, an eclectic mix of ceramic cups and plates.. Eliana and I got a pot of tea to warm up and savor the atmosphere. There were all kinds of books and DVDs and magazines in many many different languages so we amused ourselves for quite sometime before heading out to meet up with Javier and Rodrigo again for dinner. Went to a tiny little restaurant that didn't even have a name.... it was in the Alfama district with lots of little pedestrian streets -- one of the oldest districts in a city that has been the capital of Portugal since the conquest of the Moors in 1147! (According to Wikipedia, Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world -- Julius Caesar actually proclaimed it a municipum called Felicitas Julia). Anyway, the restaurant was run by some older Portugese folks and there were lots of Portugese folks eating inside so we squeezed around a little table. Rodrigo (from Mexico) also speaks some Portugese so, luckily, we were able to communicate some! I had the soup of the day (bean and vegetable), queso fresco and a mixed salad -- all incredibly tasty, especially with the house "green wine" (basically white wine). Had some homemade cakes for dessert (I think mine was almond of some sort) and each had some port wine as we tried to follow some Portugese version of "who wants to be a millionaire" on television and observed the restaurant owners shoot the breeze with the other clientele.
After dinner, we went to a tiny little bar in the Alfama district to listen to Fado music, traditional guitar and singing music of Portugal. Enjoyed another very rich glass of port as we huddled around the bar and the tables in the dim light, watching the musicians prepare their instruments. When they began playing, everyone was still, almost mesmerized by the music, and particularly the deep trembling voice of the singer. Even the bartenders and the ladies cooking in the kitchen came out to have a drink and simply listen. Over the next few hours new guitarists joined in -- including some boys who looked like they couldn't be older than 12 -- and so did the singers. People who earlier I thought were just audience members (a young woman in a beautiful dress, an old man with a grand mustache and fedora hat, and a young girl who was maybe 14 years old?) sang a few songs. We ended up staying until something like 3am -- and there was no sign of the music ending any time soon! It was really beautiful music though and it lingered with me along the entire walk home and even in my dreams when I eventually got to sleep.
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