Blinded by the Light

Up above us, as we stood on the hilly streets of Lisbon, was the castle which we wanted to reach. The twisting streets were a puzzle to be solved so we pulled out our map.

“Can I help you find your way?” said a local Portuguese man and his wife.
“Sure, we want to get up to the castle.” we replied, pointing upwards.

“You can walk and walk along this street and go up and up, or take the yellow trolley car from that intersection up to the top. It will cost 1.5 Euros. Where are you from?" He then asked.
“We’re from the States. Ohio.” I responded, detecking a bit of an American accent in his voice.

“I used to live in the New York area, let’s see, what was the name of that place?….Ah, Newark!”
“Did they speak a lot of Portuguese in New Jersey?" I enquired.

“No, not a whole lot." Said the helpful man. "Well, if you will excuse me, I must find a Portuguese restaurant and eat some sardines.
And he and his wife left. 

You are never lost if you have a map. Those are my words of wisdom. You may not know exactly where you are and exactly how to get to point B but if you can find a street corner and orient yourself, you can get there.

Paul Theroux said, “A tourist does not know where they have been and a traveler does not know where he is going.”

On some days, I know neither, but for Saturday we did not know where we were going. We just looked at where the city met the shore and headed that way. On our way downhill we came to one of the largest statues I have ever seen. I figured it was a great explorer (Vasco da Gama?) or a great Portuguese King. (Sorry, can’t conjure any of those.) From this massive, commanding statue (complete with a stately lion by his side) flows the main thoroughfare of Lisbon, modeled after the Champs Elyse in Paris. Turns out the statue was….of the architect who re-designed Lisbon after the devastating 1755 earthquake. I am assuming he designed the enormous statue of himself be-striding the world. Clearly it’s good to be an architect.

After a 20 minute walk we arrived where all things converge if you want to see the various parts of Lisbon. We found a Kiosk which sold travel guides, chose one that looked comprehensive and fit in my back pocket, located the name of the Cathedral across the plaza and went over and inside. It was mass, so we sat in the back.

I have never seen such a place. The Church of Santo Domingo, from the 13^th Century. This was badly damaged in the 1755 earthquake and some subsequent fires and devastations. It looked like a few WWII battles took place inside the cathedral (I am not joking on this one) and yet the damaged statues and very unfinished nature of the cathedral did not stop them from worshipping. We sat quietly as the priest blessed the elements and invited the faithful forward. Not wishing to go against Rome, I sat still. During a break I wandered over to the Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima, a particularly sacred event in Portuguese history. (If that isn’t enough, there is a huge statue of Our Lady of Fatima at Indian Lake near Lima, Ohio. I used to see it all the time as a kid. I imagine I was the only person in the Cathedral yesterday who had visited THAT shrine.)

Many sentences of death by the Holy Inquisition were signed in this church. In an unrelated event…across the street in the plaza in 1506 a riot took place. There were two factions; one claimed that the light shining on the altar cross was a miracle, the other claimed that it was the reflection of the sun. 2000 people died as they violently debated that point and killed one another. (Clearly these people had some "issues" to work on.)

Earthquakes, Inquisitions and deadly riots. We decided to move on, silently noting that religion holds a troubled place in the hearts and minds of us all.

So, we spot the castle. Heed the advice of our Portuguese-sardine eating friend and find the yellow trolley, squeeze on, paid 2.50 each not 1.50...clearly our friend had been away in Newark a bit longer than he thought. And up and up we went. I imagine the trolley ( a preserved relic of the 1920’s…but like the Cable Cars of San Francisco….much loved and preserved.) could hold about 50. We had that many and more kept getting on and off. We were packed, well, like sardines. I certainly never expected so many references to this small fish in one morning. After 15 minutes of winding and climbing in the trolley, we decided to hop off.

 And there we were.

We noticed a number of folks heading up further on one street and so we followed it to the castle. We passed on that but kept exploring the tiny streets in the upper reaches of Lisbon. And came across a place to have lunch. The owner spoke English. The music on the sound system was Smooth Jazz. I was set for the day.

My new All-Time Favorite Restaurant in Lisbon

Time to come down. Down and down and around we walked on the small streets.

Plenty of other tourists around. We turned a corner hill and were confronted with this.

Lisbon’s Cathedral. We had to go in.

The cloister’s were the best as they revealed an archeological exhibit. They had excavated the cloister gardens and found sites dating back to the third century before Christ. The Cathedral had been built on top of a demolished mosque when Portugal was re-captured from the Muslim Moors. This was a common in-your-face theme. Defeat a people and build your house of worship on the destruction of your enemies house of worship.

The accumulated weight of all this history is something that I am intrigued by. So much of Christian history is about remaining dedicated to praising and serving God. So much of it is about punishing one’s enemies….but in the name of God, mind you. How does one know?

Peace, Bob