#large beer

Balcony #139

Ever since I came back, when I fall asleep, I kept dreaming how we are going up and down on the subway lines in Lisbon, as if they are a roller coaster game. Green, blue, red, yellow. The azulejos at each station flash their own kaleidoscopic signals and guide us through the drumming veins of a city that tickles a hundred types of inner smiles. We never get lost, just occasionally almost miss our final destination, too consumed by the familiar words we could catch in the conversations around us – Leonard Cohen, Felicidade, Cerveja. 

For what it is worth, Lisbon is a place for tourists who hate to feel like tourists. It is easy to blend in. The center is spacious enough and embroidered with hidden coffees/restaurants/kiosks where you can avoid the crowds. Even if you decide to give the GPS a break and follow your jolly lack of orientation, you will still be able to navigate successfully to some cozy local gem. Be aware of the waiters, though, cause they will steal your soul.  

Sometimes they would announce the arrival of your dinner with “taratatam” singing verse. Sometimes they would use their absurdly fluent English to explain why Lisbon’s ginjinha is maybe overrated and instead pour you an almond-based liquor that makes you question whether you have ever been happier than now. And sometimes, their indie, Renaissance, curly beauty would sheepishly paralyze all traces of your common sense. As Fatima’s eloquence put it once: “F*** money, let’s order the whole menu!”

I guess it’s simple to fall in love with Alfama, Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, Pena Palace, Carmo Church, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Livraria Bertrand, The Rossio Railway Station. Nevertheless, I believe the things that stay with us for good are not in the travel guides. They are small, illogical, silly. But they are only yours.

Favorite facts about Lisbon:

The toilet seats are unexpectedly low.

They called a 330ml beer the large one.

If you buy more than 10 fridge magnets from a local craft shop, the salesman insists you take for free anything else you like.

The end of this story about Lisbon lies somewhere in early 2013. Back then, I stumbled upon a book called Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively. There was a paragraph in it that I felt instantly drawn to. It represented how I feel about time, people, places, memories and how these images get mixed constantly in your head without order or chronology, how they ultimately shape your lens for the outside world:

“The question is, shall it or shall it not be linear history. I’ve always thought a kaleidoscopic view might be an interesting heresy. Shake the tube and see what comes out. Chronology irritates me. There is no chronology inside my head. I am composed of myriad Claudias who spin and mix and part like sparks of sunlight on water. The pack of cards I carry around is forever shuffled and re-shuffled; there is no sequence; everything happens at once.”

At the beginning of 2018, when we booked our flight to Lisbon, I wrote a message to the amazing Filippa, whose studio is on Rua cor de rosa (the pink street), right next to the ocean. I told her about my fascination for kaleidoscopes and asked her to sketch me a tattoo. She sent me the first draft when I arrived in Lisbon. It was perfect. As she confessed to me later, without being her intention, she had incorporated in the image a kaleidoscopic pattern which reminds me so much of my all-time favorite thing in Lisbon – yep, the azulejos.

P.S. They say each one of us is walking through life with one peaceful town, locked somewhere under his skin. Well…Mine is Lisbon. Now in every sense of the word.

Story: Julia (and Ada)

Beer Fest – Get 1 Large Beer @ Re. 1 for New Little App Users

  Rs. 210 

Rs. 1

Beer Fest – Get 1 large Beer @ Rs 1 for New Little App Users 1 Beer (650 ml) / 1 Domestic Drink (60 ml – Vodka / Rum / Whiskey) / 1 Glass of Wine (125 ml) Valid from 24th December to 31st December 2016 Only. Valid for New Users Only. Valid for 1 Person. Sharing not allowed. Table Timings for deal will be 30min, service will be as per availability.

Brand: Great American Products

Handcrafted Logo

Glass

Officially Licensed Texas Aggies Extra Large Beer Mug

Unisex Adults

32 Ounces

Texas A&M Aggies extra large beer mug. This Texas A&M Aggies beer mug holds 32 ounces and features a handcrafted metal Aggies logo. This is the LARGEST officially licensed Aggies sports mug on the planet! Makes a great gift!