One of the many statues on the Padrão dos Descobrimentos. Lisbon, Portugal.
The Padrão Descobrimentos / Monument to the Discoveries is located on the Lisbon waterfront and across the street from the Jerónimos Monastery. The monument is beautiful – one must see it to appreciate its form and aesthetic accomplishment.
City Hall, Lisbon, Portugal.
The pediment atop City Hall, Lisbon, Portugal. Read More
A tomb housing the mortal remains of Luís de Camões, the Portuguese poet and chronicler of the Age of Discovery, inside of the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal. The monastery is located across the street from the Belém Tower and the Padrão dos Descobrimentos.
A tomb within the Jerónimos Monastery housing the mortal remains of Luís de Camões, the Portuguese Age of Discovery poet. Lisbon, Portugal
I recently visited Lisbon and was blown away by the beauty of the city and the warmth of its people. One week was nowhere near enough time to explore the city and I am looking forward to returning soon.
We aren’t silly and we certainly didn’t just fall off of the turnip truck – our furry buddy from the other day was interested in more than just looking cute and purring / chirping at us during lunch. Specifically, he surely thought that we were his meal ticket to a fancy seafood lunch.
Fish in the wet market section of the medina – Fes, Morocco.
Barring a fresh seafood lunch, he may have settled for a squab pastilla…or just the main ingredient.
A caged squab in the wet market section of the medina – Fes, Morocco.
I recently met this gentleman while shopping with family in the Fes medina. His shop is directly across from the shop / workshop of another friend of ours and we chatted about home-stay programs and preservation of the medina, a sensitive subject to many of those still living inside of the medina walls.
Another fantastically nice new friend. Fes, Morocco.
As repeat visitors to this site probably know, I am a fan of street performers, animal tamers, story tellers, etc., and that I have a certain fondness for guarabs, the traditional water salesmen found in medinas across Morocco. Jemma el fnaa in Marrakech? Guarab paradise. Guarabs carry containers of water and are happy to pour off a cup for the equivalent of about a nickel.
These men – I have never come across a female guarab – represent an interesting element of Moroccan culture, as their primary job has been displaced by access to clean running water and the prevalence of bottled water and soda across the country.
A guarab in Jemaa el Fnaa, Marrakech, Morocco.
That being said, they’re a heck of a lot of fun. Read More
