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Position: 38° 43′ 20” N 9° 8′ 21” W
Just as Dr. Pangloss is about to prove à priori the Bay of Lisbon was purpose-made for drowning James the Anabaptist, the ship he and his ward Candide are sailing on sinks. Pangloss and Candide manage to swim ashore clinging to a plank. Almost as soon as they are on dry land a terrible earthquake destroys three-fourths of Lisbon, taking 30,000 lives with it.
The earthquake Voltaire puts at the center of action early in Candide actually occurred in 1755. I am happy to report that 264 years later, Lisbon is fully recovered from that disaster. However, it is still recovering from more recent problems like the 2008 global depression and the concurrent Portuguese economic crisis.
Lagos
After failing to secure a berth in one of the city’s three marinas on our way down the coast, we decided to sail around the southern tip of Portugal to Lagos. Crossing the Bay of Lisbon in the dark of night we tangled briefly with the Portuguese Navy. They were busy playing with their helicopters and hailed us on the VHF. Then they asked us, politely, to bugger off out of area with all possible dispatch. We complied, knowing that ‘dispatch’ on a sailboat is a relative term.
Lagos, a British ex-pat stronghold, sports the first large marina along Portugal’s southern coast. It’s a popular stop for boats heading east towards the Mediterranean and south towards the Canaries. This being the best of all possible worlds, we traveled to Lisbon, not on flotsam from a sinking ship, but by train. The good news is the train station in Lagos is 20 meters walk from the marina. Despite that, the journey takes a good four hours and several beers to complete.
Lisbon
One of the things we learned from our Airbnb host is how the Portuguese government is fueling a real estate boom in Lisbon. The scheme, we were told, works like this: if you buy a house or apartment worth €500,000 or more you automatically receive a residency permit. So, if you’re a Russian oligarch or a middle class American not loving it, then you can pitch up with a few sacks of coin and settle down. With its cozy restaurants, sunny weather, access to the ocean, winding hilly streets, lively arts scene, and relatively low cost of living, there’s a lot to like about the place. Public transportation is modern and comprehensive, and even includes throwback hipster street cars for tourists and their attendant pickpockets to ride in style.
Moreover, Lisbon is an international hub. Conference-goers from all over Europe convene here, and there are direct flights to most of North and South America’s major destinations. People are friendly and the seafood terrific. If you’re only in Portugal for a week or so, then Lisbon is a logical starting and ending point. Visiting in October has the advantages of smaller tourist crowds (although it was still surprisingly busy) and cooler temperatures (to the point where a woolly sweater is a useful thing).
Lisbon was the last stop on our tour of Iberia’s west coast. Below are a few photos and a short video of us riding the ol’ number 28 streetcar to the tune of some traditional Fado music.
Photos
