Lisbon and Cascais

In a campsite on the way to Lisbon, we invited a young English speaking couple over for popcorn and a Coke. They enjoyed the popcorn, and told us how hard it is making ends meet, living and working in Portugal. If they are sick or need an operation, the Government medical system is very slow, at best. Teresa is studying to be a lawyer, her mother works with computers, her husband works for Air Portugal.

They told us that many things, including the cleanliness of the city, became worse when about 1,000,000 Portuguese of European and black-African descent were forced to return to Portugal when several African colonies became independent in the 1970s. Some had never lived in a “regular” building, and they lacked job skills. Teresa said we must be very careful of the Portuguese taxi drivers. We found that to be very true.

Lisbon was sure a disappointment and a cultural shock. It’s basically a beautiful city with lovely buildings and wide streets, but there is mess and clutter on the streets, posters and graffiti on the buildings. We spent time in the lobby of the Hotel Sheraton, just to get over the culture shock of this messy city.

As we drove to the Lisbon campsite, we had to pass an area of cardboard and tin shack homes sitting in the mud. We could hardly stand to see these poor people, the worst conditions we have seen, in the USA, Europe, and Central America.

A year or so earlier, while on a cruise on the “SS Fairsea,” we had a wonderful waiter from Portugal, named Dino. We had his address so hunted for his home in Cascais. His wife Maria, who had been told to expect us, answered the door, invited us in, and “told” us Dino was working on the cruise ship, “Song of Norway.” He doesn’t get home often, but could not make a living if he stayed in Portugal. Maria can visit Dino’s ship after he is gone for a few months. He had asked, we had tried, but had been unable to get permission for him to move to the US.

The apartment buildings in the area are built in a very solid manner, but there’s mess and trash all over the place. Inside, while their living room was very, very small, it was furnished nicely, with modern furniture, a large TV, and a loud stereo.

The several heavy deadbolt locks and chains on the door, says something about living in Cascais.