Do You Remember the First Time?

I came to Lisbon about 16 or 17 years ago with a girlfriend. I was a spotty twenty-something with possibly the worst shorts known to man. Walking around the Prata again tonight reminded me of being here in (something like) 1990. I remember being very skittish back then, and very excited. I would get anxious when the dealers hissed "Hashish" at us down near the Tagus; tonight I barely looked up from my book on the subway as the token Saturday night crazy loudly created in front of everyone's faces. I've lost the naff shorts too somewhere along the way. When I first came to Lisbon I'd hardly traveled anywhere and now I gauge my excitement levels when I go somewhere new against my first trip to Lisbon, or Amsterdam, or Berlin.

Last year when I was here with The Strokes I was a little overwhelmed by the gothic decay of the place (It seemed like the kind of place Nick Cave would kill you in); tonight I found it endearing. I walked up to the Barrio Alto for the view in front of the Port Wine Institute but the park was closed for rennovations and the funicular (who doesn't love a good funicular,eh?) was on blocks for repairs. However, the Barrio Alto is as byzantine as ever and there were good buskers singing Fado for the tourists on the streets. Nothing ominous about the place at all. I guess last time I was feeling a little overwrought being half-way through a ten-week tour of the world.

What I should have done last year is prayed at the Bank of the Holy Spirit. Or maybe my Portuguese isn't what it should be? I'm a little fascinated as to how this bank works - is it really taking deposits for Catholics to cash-in on the other side like I learned as a kid? How do you make a deposit? Can you accrue interest on Good Deeds, or is it just like a crappy checking account? How does one marry the Holy Ghost and rapacious commerce? Or is it just me that thinks this is more hypocritical tartuffery...? It's probably just me. It often is.



The architecture in Lisbon reminds me of South America and the language sounds like Russian. The subway echoes Deco design and is full of clean-lined marble. The public buildings are as grand as anywhere else in Europe. Below is an example of a more recent design - it's the train station at Oriente. Huge and flowing and overbearing and spacious all at once. Loved it.



Mr Eiffel built an elevator here. Bugger was at it everywhere, wasn't he? I guess back in the day no one wanted to walk up the hill to the Barrio Alto. Or maybe Bob Eiffel just went to unsuspecting cities with his meccano. "You know what you lot need....? What you need is a big fuck-off lift right in the middle of town and I've got just the stuff you need for it outside in the van left over from another job..."