Lisbon and around, Portugal　葡萄牙里斯本和周边 6/2014

26/6/2014 – 2/7/2014. I have not seen a sky so blue, deep and intense as the one I saw in Portugal. Indeed, much of Portugal is intimately courted by the sea. The sun at this time was glorious and equally intense. The sunseekers were out on the beach, the men hoping to look tall, dark, and handsome, the girls showing off as much flesh as they could, trying to snare the glow of a tan. From a vantage point, something caught my eyes; among the pale-looking sunbathers, there was one that looked like a sea lion. I rubbed my eyes, then realized it was a black girl. She had by then turned almost purplish. I have not come across a black girl who wants to look darker. For a Chinese girl, yellow is as dark as she wants it. That impression was etched onto my memory, for good, like a black dot on a piece of white paper; someone so comfortable in her own skin; so we should all be.

No one should come to Lisbon and be caught flatfooted with high heels. Lisbon is hilly, and hills are not for heels. The streets and sidewalks are also often paved with cobblestones that trap heels. No wonder there aren’t many girls here with heels. Much of what I know about Portugal was because of its soccer. It has indeed produced some of the best soccer stars in the world. But I couldn’t help noticing and wondering, there was not a lot of flat land for soccer. How do they get so good at it? On the soccer table?

How many ways can you cook fish? No matter how many times I grilled the waiters, grilled fish is what I got at the restaurants. After a few meals of the identical fish, I was recommended boiled fish. Indeed, it was boiled fish; just a bare, naked piece of fish fillet, with no embellishment nor garnishing; nothing more, nothing less, and 100% fishy. Believe me, I have no bone to pick with the fish, but my gastronomy experience in Lisbon was largely unimaginative. The city’s narrow and inclined cobblestoned alleys between the building blocks were stuffed with dining tables, then into these crevices diners were jam-packed in to provide that best acoustics and ambiance.

I did some of my longest walks in my travels here. The coastline keeps beckoning, with structures of interest as rest stops along the way. I could not help myself. I literally walked till I dropped.

I also ventured outside Lisbon on a day trip, for a day in the sun, where the sea and beaches were never too far away. Where the unusually blue sky often looked down from above, and a visit to the history of a small country that has left its marks as far as Brazil in Latin America and Macao in Asia, a visit to its castle and palace. This is not a country that rivals many of the great empires of this world, but it surely is a country that finds its place in the sun.

26/6/2014 – 2/7/2014 没见过这么蓝的天空， 蓝如深海，可能是环海拥抱。这个季节阳光照得灿烂，滩上男女尽量裸露，把完肤晒个金黄；忽然注意白肤群里一个黝黑身体，我眯眼一看，原来是个非裔女孩，这时已晒得发紫；烙在视网膜深刻印象，至今不去，因为她不顾白人众目睽睽，如白纸一点黑，不为自己肤色不自在。到靠海地方当然要多吃海鲜；点了几次烤鱼，服务员还是坚持点烤鱼，因为这是最棒的。所谓烤鱼就片一片单纯鱼柳，端上来后自撒椒盐和扭几滴柠檬。几次后，服务员终于勉强透露，可换个新花样，尝尝水煮鱼；我脑子顿时想到中国的水煮鱼 – 大量的大蒜，豆豉，堆积如山的剁椒，铺天盖地的川椒，一层厚厚的红油，香菜，腐竹，隆重的陪着整条苗条焦香的鱼登场；想着想着满脸滴汗，满嘴口水；百般期待后，服务员端上来还是一样的鱼种，一样的鱼柳；一样洁白肉体，好像水里一泡就上阵了，没任何陪衬的，跟白切鸡样子差不多；不难想象， 腥味十足， 难以下咽。不知是还是这里煮鱼想象力就到此为止，还是我没下够功夫寻刺激。对葡萄牙的所见所闻多在于足球，的确也创造不少国际球星；但漫步多日后，发现这里平地好像不多，人口说到底也不过大约一千万，皮球踢来踢去倒很有天赋。这里斜坡多，还铺着老鹅卵石，女孩只能脚踏实地，高跟换运动鞋；夏天夜晚，老居民楼间狭巷摆满餐桌，人们挤在小巷聚餐畅饮，户外气氛什是热闹。里斯本就在海边，我沿着海岸线不停前行；晴朗夏天，海阔天空，空旷海岸，宜人景线，使人神爽；眼前岸线不断招手，一路地标建筑为歇脚点，我走到几乎瘫痪。

兜了里斯本市后，找个了机会到附近一日游，参观一些附近小城，如卡斯凯什，辛特拉；所到之处，无不阳光普照，蓝海和沙滩一路随行，抬头深蓝天空一路陪伴。路上也游览历史宫殿和城堡；葡萄牙虽不是大国，也没其他帝国的霸绩，但也远到巴西澳门留下历史，来头不小。这灿烂的阳光和柔软沙滩，羡慕上天关照。