Into the Heart of the City

1 September 2011I am not your ordinary tourist. Sure, I’ve paid to come to Lisbon, but with time and effort. I did not buy an airplane ticket and I did not plan anything, reading about this city’s history and listing the sights that deserve a visit. I have no interest in the sights, the monuments and the museums. I don’t take pictures and until this week I did not experience the normal anxiety that comes from the inevitable approaching departure. I simply landed here and found what I needed but did not expect to find: the non-demanding comfort that is best described as ‘feeling at home’.

In the Lisbon Chillout Hostel where I stayed and worked for the past two months I had to admit to travelers that my parents would probably be ashamed of my lack of interest. I was raised in a culture loving family and because of it I consider myself blessed with a healthy appetite for architecture, art and history, and always wanting to explore the local customs and traditional food that each new destination has to offer. But in Lisbon I could not be bothered. No paintings, palaces or Portuguese delicacies could move me from the hostel. I hung around like a beach bum, but instead of sand I lay in a hammock in a cement garden, instead of the ocean the hotels and houses of lower Lisbon washed up like concrete waves at my feet. I was the king of apathy, the emperor of procrastination, a sloth specialist with no ambition other than to drowse in the sweet, hot Lisbon sun with a book and a cup of coffee in the morning and a beer in the evening. If I were a superhero my outfit would have a big “L” on the front, Lazy Man!

I guess after having lived and breathed the unfamiliar for nine months and walking three thousand kilometers to get here I am entitled to goofing off a bit, but there may be another explanation to my indolence. Not every city can instantly make you feel at home. From the moment I set foot here the whole place felt like a hammock. It naturally adjusted itself to the contours of my body, softly rocking me from left to right and back again. If Lisbon were a woman she would be the one that takes your heart immediately, before she even opens her mouth to speak or shows you the more hidden treasures that are most certainly there to explore.

There are many ways to start a relationship with someone, but hastily exploring all the positive sides is probably not advisable. What remains then are the downsides, the little irritable eccentricities that everyone has, and the initial delight can slowly but surely erode into disappointment. To build something lasting it is necessary to be patient and to take the good and the bad as they come, with hopefully more of the first than the latter. I do not want Lisbon to be like a holiday fling that is as easily forgotten as it is won. Love at first sight is rare and it should be treated as such, with a delicate mix of deliberation, curiosity and good intent.  I’ll come back for a second date for sure!

But for now, I have to say goodbye. It is time for me to move on and continue my journey. Like Santiago in Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist I have found my oasis, but it will turn out to be a fata morgana if I don't complete my mission first. My first milage for MasterPeace. Twalk With Me, again!
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