Alexandersmap

    Tag: Lisbon

    • Onward, Lisbon

      “Perfection is the fulfillment implicit in art, and [James Joyce] achieved it. Imperfection is life. All forms in life are imperfect, but the function of art is to see the radiance through the imperfection.” — Joseph Campbell

      I returned to the scene of the crime today. For it was in Lisbon that I spent the last days working for a company I didn’t love, with some characters I didn’t like all that much, simply to prove to myself that I hadn’t made a mistake joining that company two years prior. The crime, as you may have guessed, was selling one’s soul for financial gain. Immediately after Lisbon we parted ways, I began blogging in earnest and choosing culture over money in my work. The rest is history (mine anyway). Lesson learned, and passions pursued.

      This time I’m not lingering in Lisbon, but I’m using the opportunity to assess where I am versus where I was. On the whole I’m better, and still a work in progress. We must never rest on our laurels or settle for something that isn’t us. I’m surprised by the blog in many ways, for it hasn’t been the journey I thought it would be, but I’m still at it, even as I’m no longer that person who departed Lisbon six years ago.

      I’ve learned to accept imperfection in my writing, But work towards improvement. Perfection is an audacious act reserved for the very best, but who says we can’t strive to get closer to it? Today, the journey continues, literally and figuratively. Onward, Lisbon. A lot has changed since we’ve been together.

    • Revisiting Belém Tower

      Perched on the Northern Shore at the Mouth of the Tagus River, Belém Tower is a time machine back to the Age of Discovery.  It was built while Ferdinand Magellan was still making the first circumnavigation of the globe, a high point on a string of maritime milestones for Portugal.  It was designed by Francisco de Arruda as a “permanent ship” to help defend Lisbon and the river, and features the Portuguese Manuelino style popular during the lifetime of King Manuel I.  That it stands largely as it was built 500 years later is a blessing.  Countless souls have walked through Belém Tower, from kings to prisoners to tourists from all over the world.  I’m lucky to have been one of those souls.  As travel remains a dream for the future, I thought I’d return once again.

      Belém Tower is an island dropped in the waters of the Tagas River. To visit it you purchase a ticket next door and go stand in line on the small pedestrian bridge that spans the lapping waters that swirl around the base of the tower underneath you and then splash up the stairs that circle the tower on shore.  Apparently the island was once further out in the river but an earthquake shifted the land and moved it closer to shore.  Better for tourism today, and it’s likely that the prisoners held in the lowest level didn’t really care about a 360 degree water view anyway.

      You enter into the bastion at the base and the arched ceilings grab your attention.  There are views of the magazine from when it was a fort, or where the prisoners were held when it was a prison.  As you climb, you visit the Governor’s Hall, the King’s Hall and the Audience Room.  I quickly learned that the staircases are very tight, and require you wait your turn to climb up or down in a controlled fashion.  I didn’t expect to be waiting at traffic lights in a building built half a millennium ago, but sure enough I did.  Great indication of just how many people visit, and how cramped those staircases are.  Like other spiral staircases built long ago, these were tight for this tall writer.  There just weren’t a lot of clydesdales walking around in 1520, something I’ve grown to accept as I duck my way through history.  The other thing you notice is the ornate gothic details adorning the building.  This was built as a fortress, but also for a king.  There are wonderful details throughout, and I did my best to take it all in.  Traveling solo, I was able to allocate as much time as I wanted for Belém Tower and managed to explore all parts of the structure open to the public.

      I fell in love with Portugal and wonder when I’ll get a chance to return again.  My visit to Belém Tower in January of 2018 capped off an incredible week in my life that marked a new beginning of sorts for me.  I visited before the tower’s birthday, before the pandemic, before a lot of things.  It would be interesting to return again someday to see Belém Tower with fresh perspective.  To feel the energy of Lisbon and the possibility that the Tagas River offered those who launched their own discoveries sailing right past the tower.  I was so busy looking back during my visit that I wasn’t fully aware of the future that Portugal helped launch for me.  My own age of discovery, if you will.  In many ways, it started right here.

      Inside the Bastion

       

    • Food and Drink and Magic Spells

      Food and Drink and Magic Spells

      I spent some time in the first month of 2018 wandering around in Portugal, and a memorable evening in Lisbon sampling port with some of my co-workers.  Within a week of sipping this port I was no longer working at the company that paid for my trip to Portugal.  I have no regrets about my departure.  Eleven months later I rarely think about the company, but I often think of Portugal.

      Life is a dance, and libations have a way of liberating the timid from their restraints.  Our dance with life is all too brief, so best to celebrate the stuff of it in every moment.  Indeed, as Marcus Aurelius wrote, “... with food and drink and magic spells.  [We’re all] Seeking some novel way to frustrate death.”

      I write about death more than I figured I would when I started this blog, and not because I’m particularly obsessed with it, but rather because I’ve grown to accept stoicism as a guiding force in my life.  I’ve been reading and re-reading Meditations in 2018, and I expect I’ll come back to it again in whatever time I have left ahead of me.  I was a stoic before I really understood what that meant, living in the moment, accepting fate (for the most part), and knowing as the Scots do what lies ahead of us:

      “Be happy while you’re living, for you’re a long time deid” – Scottish Proverb

      Raising a glass of port is different from wine or beer.  It’s a spirit that demands savoring, and I willingly rose to the occasion with my co-worker Jim, splitting a flight of port with him on a memorable evening in Lisbon.  Having a few drinks in faraway places isn’t exactly unique, nor is savoring good and drink and magic spells, as the Bible too points out:

      “Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.” – Isaiah 22:13

      Food and drink are only part of the story, of course.  Good health and a sound mind are larger factors in the year ahead and serve to temper the desire to live in the moment.  2018 has been a little too moment-focused and not enough fitness-focused.  Burpees and step counts are good indicators of a commitment to progress.  Consistency must follow the act of committing.

      “Our minds are bodies are meant to be allied in the quest for a better relationship with life.” – Don Miquel Ruiz

      As we wrap up 2018 and look to the year ahead, I’m struck by just how challenging the year was in so many ways.  And yet it was a very good year.  Looking ahead to 2019, it’s clear that America and the world will face more challenges still.  And so it shall be.  Embracing a little more stoicism helps bring the New Year in focus.

      “Think of yourself as dead.  You have lived your life.  Now take what’s left and live it properly.” – Marcus Aerulius

      I’ll take that advice and run with it.  Live properly with a commitment to career, fitness, strengthening the mind and of course savoring the moments along the way.  Every moment is magic, and if this blog has documented anything it’s my commitment to finding it in the past and present in every place I go.  Cheers.