Monday 7 June 2010

Yin and Yang in Portugal


Arrived in Portugal last Wednesday after two days break in Singapore en route. Helene (Chinese Singaporean guide you may recall) introducecd us to Taoism five days ago as we trod the streets of Chinatown with her. I now seem to be constantly having the Yin and Yang experience. Her's a few that have occured to me this week.

1. We arrived in Lisbon and got access to our apartment. It is probably the most well appointed and well fitted out place we could have imagined - and then there was the hammer drill going in the apartment above. As Filippe, the owner explained: 'They are doing some renovations' Understatement!

2. In Singapore the taxi driver who drove us from the airport appeared to be deaf and to have a death wish. 120 ks along the main airport drive. In Lisbon our taxi driver was a darling writing down lists of his favourite cafes and must dos. Unfortunately he did this as he drove. I made the misatake of asking him about the weather forecast. He proceeded to pull out the newspaper and search for the right page while driving - no hands. Andrea was shitting herself. I think that makes this taxi driver experience a Yin Yang Yin.

3. We wanted to go to a Music concert (Fado) scheduled to play at the castle overlooking Lisbon. I went to book tickets. SOLD OUT. We decided to go to the castle anyway for a sunset walk. As we bought our entry tickets we asked about the concert in the vain hope that there might be some spares. YES. WHOO HOO!


4. The concert was crap but the views from the castle over Lisbon and the port were stunning. And the blokes setting up the street decorations for the Sardine Festival gave us a couple of breautiful cotton banners promoting the Festival. Yin Yang Yang?

5. Went out for a meal of grilled sardines (Sardine Festival of course)venturing into the wild side of Lisbon - Alfama. The sardines were great, the ambience enchanting. Then the bill arrived. Talk about ripped off. $1.50 per sardine -forgivable; $10 for a plate of boiled potatoes, no dressing nothing - wait a minute!(Writing a story about this night - keep an eye out) Yin Yin YANG!

On balance though Lisbon has a five star rating from all of us. Its been fabulous.

1 comment:

Jennifer said...

I love this post - like snapshots of what sounds like a fabulous time indeed. Yin and Yang.