Lisbon... Lisbon

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Lisbon…. Lisbon
2am on a Monday night and the streets are packed. Within a 4 block radius there must be 80 bars and cafes that hold anywhere from 25 to 100 people inside. Some of them had live music, some with DJ’s, and some with just people. If that were not enough the streets are packed with young-ins partying everywhere in the streets and the most polite drug dealers you have ever met. They come up to you, first say excuse me or sorry for interrupting then ask if you want hash, weed or cocaine. Then they leave saying sorry for interrupting or I even got once a, “well have a nice night.” It was blatant and I am told they decriminalized drugs which made it possible for me to get offered it about 20-30 times in one night. I leave the night a little “early” around 2am and go to sleep.
I don’t know how people live in this neighborhood because everyone drinks and parties on the streets until 2 or 3am everynight. I am not sure how people sleep, or even when they do.
The next morning I play tourist and hop on a street car that can be found on market street or the embarcadero in San Francisco. I get on and without saying anything I sit down next to someone and they ask if I am from the US. How obvious am I? I seriously said nothing. We get talking and she found someone else on the tram to go sight seeing with and they invite me along. At a large castle on a hill we find one more and for the rest of the day there are 4 of us and we see everything the city has to offer, eat lunch and dinner together. Then we start bar hoping, and finish the night around 5am night club hoping.
For dinner we pull up 6 stools to sit down upon which was on a very narrow street where cars are gently gliding by within inches of us. 4 of the stools were to sit on, and 2 to make as our table. We have a few bottles of a great verde wine (known to be young and slightly carbonated but not like champagne- it was refreshing) some plates of cheese, bread and fish. It was a fun night and in my head for what I will picture for the rest of my life, a stereotypical Lisbon Tuesday evening.
The sites that I enjoyed were the castle, look out areas of the gigantic Lisbon bay, an elevator lookout area (with some sarcasm slightly thrown in for this one) and sitting in front of a burned out church watching an impromptu swing dance practice.
I leave Lisbon to grab the bus to Lagos, in the south of Portugal. It’s a beach town and I need a break from sight seeing and staying up till 4am. I end up getting part of my wish.

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