It seems fairly busy, with lots of people out and about, and although I can't prove it, I suspect many of them are tourists. There are certainly a ton of other Americans here, as we picked up on countless conversations throughout the day.
Overall, my initial impression of Lisbon is just okay. It reminds me of Rome, and if you've read my thoughts on that city, you know I don't mean that as a compliment (although it is nowhere near as bad as Rome!). I had hoped that Lisbon would resemble Barcelona, which is one of my very favorite cities, but so far, it does not. However, this is only the first day of exploring, so my feelings could easily change by the end of the week!
People just don't seem friendly here, even in the shops and restaurants, and pedestrians will crash right into you without even acknowledging they've done so, or simply walk four-people-across to take up the entire sidewalk. I freely admit no one else seemed bothered by these behaviors, so I'll chalk it all up to different cultural expectations.
The worst thing, though, is that the panhandlers are very, very aggressive, which is what we experienced in Rome, too. I had to start being outright rude to get them to move away from me. I saw several people - clearly tourists - being relentlessly harassed by panhandlers throughout the day, and generally speaking, I don't really feel safe here the way I do in other cities (Reykjavik is a perfect example of a city that feels incredibly safe - I would have no problem walking around the city by myself at night; contrast that with today, when I stuck very close to C, even during the day.)
However, as I said, it's an absolutely beautiful place so far and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it this week!
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| we visited the world's oldest operating bookshop |
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| whenever we visit a new country, I always find the Harry Potter books and take a photo of them |
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| I wanted to purchase something from such a cool place and look at the book I found! |
Happy Tails to you!
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