September 29, 2016

First impressions of Lisbon, well, think of the film ‘Rear Window’ where James Stewart sits with his leg in plaster looking out and listening to the sound of music drifting out of windows, people shouting to each other, dogs barking, drilling noises of builders working, children yelling – that is exactly how it is where we are staying.  The shabby exterior of the building of our apartment belies the beautiful, modern interior of the apartment itself.

When we venture out further afield our impression is of a huge, noisy, busy and very touristy city (not in a good way).  There are magnificent buildings, quaint backstreets, upmarket shopping streets, huge plazas, castles, cafes, bars, artist’s studios and churches aplenty.  Nevertheless, for some reason, we are not finding it as appealing as perhaps we should.  Maybe it is just the constant traffic and building works noise together with the masses of people trampling about that is not our thing.  There are at least 4 cruise liners in the port which must account for some of the tourists flocking around the sites.  We decide that we are actually staying in the most interesting part of the city where there does, at least, appear to be residents living normal lives rather than just tourist attractions.