It’s debatable which is more slipper when wet…black-and-white city stone sidewalks or muddy dirt paths. Muddy dirt paths get the “Slip and Slide” award. It’s certainly the dirtier of the two.
What to expect Camino post-Covid? The Albergue host confirms there are fewer hostels and those open fill daily. A local baker delivers breads, sweets, and cheeses every day to the village. These deliveries are more than a convenience to communities without grocery stores.
For me, beginning the Camino from a kitchen seems befitting. Close to the Rua Augusta Arch is Sé Cathedral, considered the official Camino start for Lisbon. After asking the cathedral usher three times where was the Camino’s way-marker, he escorted me. Figure-background…do you see purple graffiti or the Camino way-marker?
The Jerónimos Monastery was built to commemorate Vasco da Gama. He was the first European to sail around Africa to India. Vasco da Gama died in India during his third voyage. His body, albeit well salted, was brought back to be buried at Jerónimos Monastery.
Both walking tours in Lisbon are exceptional. They bring order to a maze of streets while adding historical content. Our guide calls attention to the sepia photographs quietly displayed on city walls. Increases in tourism…increases in rents. Affordable rents are declining as accommodations are being flipped for profitable Airb&b’s. These portraits of locals help establish laws preserving a portion of housing as affordable.
Driving rain sent me purchasing the first in a series of €5 umbrellas. When the rains stops, each umbrella became the latest donation. Travel light.
As though I am Alice in Wonderland falling through the rabbit hole, I enter my hostel through a kitschy souvenir shop. Other entrances lead to far grander places.
Series of city hills, twisting streets, and metro re-constructions makes orienting in Lisbon immensely challenging. “Rooftop” views are spectacular; yet, disjointed for orientation. Rambling I discover Lisbon. City signage keeping tourists huddled from one site to another. We’re like a swarm of bees around the queen bee. Move two blocks off the landmark routes and there isn’t a tourist to be found.
A fitting ending to a 12 day walk is a 2 hour train ride returning to the beginning, Ottawa.
The lowest level of the Montréal Museum of Archeology and History was built of clear plastic flooring exposing original foundations of some of its earliest buildings.
The current exhibit featured Vikings whose men and women were fierce fighters and excellent sailors. Their early religious practices included animal and human sacrifices. They took advantage of unstable and fragile European governments to conquer, plunder, exploit, influence, and rule.
Linda Scandore 