Sunday, November 27, 2011

Visigoths: Breaking the silence

(Photos by your
humble blogkeeper)
Completed a triple play this evening of getting lost in the medieval quarters of Seville, Tunis and now Lisbon. Lisbon's was the least worrying because of the city's physical situation: Just head downhill til the water laps gently around your ankles, then turn right.

And now, just because I have maintained this blog for more than five years without ever mentioning the Visigoths, here's Lisbon's old city wall, part of which they built.

© Peter Rozovsky 2011

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16 Comments:

Blogger adrian mckinty said...

No doubt you've seen quite a few Manueline buildings so far. When I was in Lisbon I couldnt decide if I loved it or hated it which I suppose in itself is quite interesting.

November 27, 2011  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

I've started with the old stuff; I'll see some Manueline the next couple of days. I tend not to be a huge fan of Baroque, Roccoco, and the more flamboyant Gothic, so I may react as you did. I'll visit the Jerónimos Monastery tomorrow. That ought to decide matters.

November 27, 2011  
Blogger seana graham said...

Lost is kind of a theme of your journeys, isn't it, Peter? I think it's probably not a bad thing, usually.

Of course, it depends on the city.

Living in a city with those kind of stairs must keep one pretty spry.

November 27, 2011  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

When it comes to inclines, Lisbon is like San Francisco which, however, has not thought of putting in stairs anywhere but on the famous bit of Lombard Street as far as I know. I have seen some old folks patiently and stoically negotiating some steep streets these past days, which is probably a moral lesson of some kind.

I got lost briefly in the Old City in Jerusalem and plenty of other places as well, but none that conjure the glamor, mystery, and maybe just the faintest wisp of adventure and danger as these three. In Tunis, the only adventure I had is that a guy in a hole-in-the wall shop tried like anything to sell me many vials of his cousin's exotic and wondrous perfumed bath oils. The price kept dropping -- and I still didn't buy! Boy, did he look pissed. I probably forced him to reconsider his entire conception of North American tourists.

November 27, 2011  
Blogger seana graham said...

The hills in San Francisco are nothing to be trifled with. Not even in a car. Maybe especially in a car. I was there just a couple of nights ago, and when you mix together the one way streets and the hills, one can easily be reduced to panic, especially if your car is not in the best of shape, brakewise. Add to that a protest down by the ferry building and let's just say it was a night to remember.

November 27, 2011  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

The hills give one's leg tendons a workout. I took a tram two blocks to my post Bouchercon hotel because I literally could not walk uphill from California Street to Bush along Powell with a backpack full of luggage and books.

November 28, 2011  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Er, your protest did not involve Black Friday, did it?

November 28, 2011  
Anonymous I.J.Parker said...

Lovely pictures! Can you imagine the great earthquake of Lisbon?

Baroque is best in central Europe.

November 28, 2011  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Thanks. In fact I got a bit of help today imagining what the 1755 earthquake must have been like. Look for my next post.

I like Bernini's ecstatic saints and, especially, the little church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane in Rome when it comes to Baroque. I've never been to Prague, though. I imagine the Baroque was pretty glorious there.

November 28, 2011  
Anonymous I.J.Parker said...

The whole Austrian-Hungarian empire is covered with the most exquisite churches and palaces. The influence reaches all the way to Prussia and Saxony and the central states of what is now Germany and into Russia (St. Petersburg). Think Mozart and smile. It's the happiest of architectural styles.
WV: ovationi

November 28, 2011  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Your v-word is a most felicitous coinage. i did visit Vienna years ago and saw St. Stephen's Cathedral under a freshly fallen blanket of snow -- wrong era, but a memorable sight nonetheless.

November 28, 2011  
Anonymous Linkmeister said...

The shades of the Visigoths approve this blog post. They've gotten such bad press over the years that they may weep with joy once they're apprised of your writing.

v-word: oathu. The island on which I live, mispronounced by early Europeans (also see Owhyhee).

November 29, 2011  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Oathu was a Visigothic slogan that meant, roughly, "If you founded cities here instead of merely plundering, you'd be home now."

November 29, 2011  
Blogger Photographe à Dublin said...

That's histerical...


http://www.asterix.com/encyclopedia/characters/prehistoric.html


http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091109/jsp/entertainment/story_11716436.jsp

Beautiful photos, so thank you for sharing.

December 01, 2011  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

It's always a pleasure to hear from everybody's favorite barbarian. Thanks for the links.

December 01, 2011  
Blogger Photographe à Dublin said...

Thank you. There is a mixture of fiction and non-fiction to choose from.

Vote for Irish Book of the Year

December 07, 2011  

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