"Over time, I've been building my castle of love, just for two, though you never knew you were my reason" uhhhh even the sweetest song sounds annoying as an alarm tone! 6:10 AM and we wake up on our second day here. We arrived late in the afternoon yesterday and walked till 2 AM. The walk was long and overwhelming with its most positive meaning! I’d say this walk was the beginning of my love affair with this city. I fell in love with this, that, these and those, fell in love with her, him and you (for the second time).
Airport, passport checks, taxi, hotel, shower and immediately to the street.. I always knew evening would be my favorite time here, but reality exceeded my expectations. You have to see how the city changes its mood in the evening for sunset. It looks like an irresistible woman, winking her long eyelashes, sending a gentle air kiss to the local Sun, bringing her red hot lips together and whispering “see you soon”… ah, so alluring!
We walk. No map - I’m so not into the “you must go this way” stuff, no preparation for our trip, no idea about must see places or particular sightseeing, no excursions planned, no guides, but one and the only wish to discover the city myself and ourselves.
Buildings with faded facades, balconies and flowers on railings, tourists, locals all in colorful clothes, shadows, bushes of the greenest green color, fountains and lots of birds flying from my camera, catching each scene and bringing it back into their nest.
We stop on a crossroad, where to go. We hear a melody of a passionate song coming from several meters away from us. And aha! Here’s the direction. Following the music I get more and more thirsty, wanting to seize all of the beautiful sounds of the local language. We finally get there, a small outdoor restaurant fenced with pomegranate trees.
"Boas vindas" - says a handsome waiter out loud with an honest smile on his tanned face and invites us in.
"Obrigado"- now I feel more excited, I feel like I am here!
Young musicians full of joy of life, their melodies saturated with the same energy, about ten tables, round and wooden, quilted table-clothes, vintage candlesticks with orange candles, stunning atmosphere! We take a sit near pomegranate trees to wrap up our bodies in pleasant scent.
“Boas vindas” (won’t get tired of hearing the words!) - welcomes us a charming waitress and brings the menu. It’s not in English and she doesn’t speak a word of any other language rather than her native. I don’t mind, it makes me feel happier. I choose dishes by name, order whatever sounds more beautiful and voilà! tuna salad and blueberry cupcakes are in front of me. I eat slowly, trying to savor each bite of the local taste. Red wine in fat glasses and “cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeers”, our trip has officially begun!
Melodies keep making my soul dance, thenwe stand and dance. Our laughter and joy is interrupted (roughly speaking) by a cute little girl with a hand-woven basket full of flower garlands. She says something very quickly and gives them to us. Girls put the garlands on and emotions are beyond excitement, we are princesses! She did not allow us to pay for them and ran as quickly as she talked. Later, the same handsome man (who invited us in) tells us that the girl’s name is Adelia, the youngest daughter of the restaurant owner, who picks the flowers from their own garden and makes the garlands herself and by the way it is her own idea and wish to give agarland to every guest (the ladies of course)! Time to say goodbye and allow the city to please us with more impressions. We are quite far from the Hotel, but still don't take a taxi, no transportation during our trip, just walking!
I walk barefoot; my mom always says that the person gets energy from the Earth, and this evening I fill myself with local energy! We walk hand in hand; I look at our shadows and happiness tickles my palms. We talk a lot, all together, all about the same episodes of the evening, but each of us with different impression, recall every detail, talk, talk, talk without mentioning “tomorrow” or “will”, nothing related to tomorrow or next days, this is our carpe diem evening!
"Hurry up, it was your idea to get up so early to literally start the day in this city, so hurry up", and my memories from yesterday are scattered as fluffy clouds I saw from the plane. “I’m coming”…
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| Good morning, Lisboa! |
