"Because Murder is More Fun Away From Home"
 |
| (Photos by your humble blogkeeper) |
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.Labels: images, Lisbon, Portugal, Visigoths, what I did on my vacation
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 4:48 PM
This blog is a proud winner of the 2009 Spinetingler Award for special services to the industry and its blogkeeper a proud former guest on Wisconsin Public Radio's Here on Earth. In civilian life I'm a copy editor in Philadelphia. When not reading crime fiction, I like to read history. When doing neither, I like to travel. When doing none of the above, I like listening to music or playing it, the latter rarely and badly. Click here to find an independent bookstore near you.
16 Comments:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Er, your protest did not involve Black Friday, did it?
Lovely pictures! Can you imagine the great earthquake of Lisbon?
Baroque is best in central Europe.
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.
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
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.
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).
Oathu was a Visigothic slogan that meant, roughly, "If you founded cities here instead of merely plundering, you'd be home now."
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.
It's always a pleasure to hear from everybody's favorite barbarian. Thanks for the links.
Thank you. There is a mixture of fiction and non-fiction to choose from.
Vote for Irish Book of the Year
Post a Comment
<< Home