City on Seven Hills

If people were asked if they know which city is built on seven hills, probably most of them would answer with “Rome”. Are there any others? On Wikipedia you can find a list of cities claimed to be built on seven hills. Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, is one of them. Two years ago when I was there it seemed the time was passing by slowly and easy, people didn’t have any intention to hurry up like we are used to… Even sentimental Fado played on the streets of the old town was inviting me to slow the rhythm. Somehow I had a feeling that Brasil was not far away, just a few steps from there, on the opposite coast of the Tagus river. I thought, maybe it was because of so many different faces, multiculturality. It was natural to see a lot of people from different cultures living side by side each other.  You can see the result of cultural interaction in architecture and even in food preparation. Everybody probably has already heard about codfish preserved in salt. Well, you cannot eat it in this way, but Portuguese know lots of recipes how to prepare fish and seafood.  Because of the influence of colonial countries in Lisbon you can try delicacies you will not find in any other European country. I was impressed, for example, by the pastries, which gave me a feeling of tasting a little bit of Africa…

In my opinion, the most impressive architectural composition is the Tower of Belém in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém.  Legend says that King Manuel I of Portugal ordered to build this fortress on the shore of the Tagus river. The King was also the one whom belonged a first rhinoceros in Europe, which was received as a gift.  One day the King decided to ship the rhino to the Pope in Rome in order to secure the Pope’s support. But the ship sank and the poor animal drowned. In one of the watchtowers of Belém Tower the rhino is represented as a statue. So in this way the animal was some kind of immortalized. Not only the legend makes the Tower of Belém a tourist attraction. Impressive are its vivid details, stone compositions and a view from the Tower to different parts of Lisbon city. Though the fortress is a little bit apart from the old town and it takes effort and time to get there, it is worth to visit it.

The Tower of Belém

Next time when I wish to take a slow walk through small streets of the old town, just walk around and enjoy the time passing by, I would visit Lisbon once again.  It might give me an inspiration to visit new coasts…

My memories...

 I’ve been thinking what to write about since I’ve got the task to post on my blog. And I thought it might be a nice idea to share some photos and impressions about the places I have already visited and I would like to visit once again.

Look at the picture above. This one was taken in the hotel room focusing on the calm blue sea. Maybe you can recognise banana plants and palms on it? Can you already imagine what place it could be? It is Ocho Rios and it is located on the north coast of Jamaica, two hours car-driving from Montego Bay. I was there on my holiday two years ago. I did enjoy friendly people, delicious food, Planters Punch already at midday and relaxed atmosphere. At the beginning of my stay I was quite surprised about the loud carol of crickets, which lasted from dusk till dawn. I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep at all because of this racket. Surprisingly I could. I could even enjoy it sitting on the terrace or room’s balcony in the evening. How does it sound? Well, imagine playing a steel drum. I bet this musical instrument was invented in order to imitate the carol of crickets. 

Every time I see this photo it reminds me about the time I spent in Jamaica. I would like to visit it once again, sometime in the future. And additionally to just staying in a hotel resort all the time I would like to jaunt to the Blue Mountains. Because there one of the best coffees in the world called Jamaican Blue Mountain is harvested. But in the meantime the picture taken in the hotel room focusing on the calm Caribbean Sea will bring me back to Ocho Rios only in my memories…