I fell in love with Portugal long before my first visit.
Marcin Kydryński's broadcast 'Siesta' built in my imagination a romantic picture of the Portuguese capital, saturated with music. I knew I had to live in Lisbon. The decision to leave was growing up in me for several years.
The Erasmus Student Exchange Programme gave me the chance. A trip for half a year to a country at the end of Europe, to a country whose subjective image I have painted in my imagination, was perhaps the most difficult decision in my life. Its difficulty is mainly due to the need to separate from a loved one. Erasmus does not have a good reputation, so the discussions were lively. Ultimately, I made my own decision. I was in the second year of master's studies, so it was the last opportunity for this type of trip. Selfish decision? Illogical? Inadequate? From where I am standing now, with my baggage of experience and the perspective of time, I am convinced that it was the most difficult, but also one of the best decisions I had made.
In addition to the perception of Lisbon as a distant, magical place, the belief that Alfama should be the district in which I would live has persisted in me. It did, but I had to overcome a lot of adversity before it happened. After making the decision to leave, I had to prepare for it. One of the key issues was the place to live in. The student paradigm would dictate price above all. In my case, the most important issue was the location. Alfama and it's over. Before leaving, I arranged a few meetings and flew. I spent my first time in Lisbon. After a few days, an offer that could not be rejected appeared. Studio apartment under the terrace of Portas do Sol. Dream. The price was prohibitive, but I still had a full wallet in my pocket, so I took it. Unfortunately, only for a month, but it was worth it.
One of the motivations for living in Alfama was the desire to interact with fado music at its source. I haven't achieved much in this regard. Alfama is a district of the poorer, elder social group, but fado clubs are definitely enclaves of 'luxury'. I write it from the perspective of a student who calculated everything into PLN and the number of bottles of wine that can be bought for a given amount. Hence the bill seems simple. The cost of 25 euros is 10 bottles of decent wine, quite a lot of shopping, half the monthly ticket etc. For a tourist, EUR 25 is a normal expense. Full dinner, wine and live music - take it! The money, however, was an effective blockade. But, but… the student can! So, I once took some wine, a glass, and cigarettes and sat down in front of one of the clubs. The cost of the concert - 2 euros. Impressions - priceless. Another time, I went to the Bairro Alto district, where you only sit with alcohol. In Tasca do Chico, because that's the name of the pub, I shook hands with Pedro Moutinho, enough ...
Often walking around Alfama at night, I soaked up the longing voices of pure fado, which feels best here ...
The experience of living in the Alfama seems to legitimize my statements about this district of Lisbon. Few tourists are able to get to know even a fraction of their life in the maze of narrow streets of Alfama. I am far from putting myself in the role of an expert, but I dare say that I saw more, felt more, and most of all I had more time than the average tourist running down the streets with a time charmer around his neck. Alfama may seem inaccessible, closed in on itself. It can be shown from the deck of the electrico and Portas do Sol, but it does not let you enter real life, far from the hustle and bustle of the tourist reality. Marcin Kydryński in his book 'Lisbon. The music of my streets.' writes about Alfama in a beautiful way. He has a greater right to do so than I do, as he is the happy owner of an apartment a few steps away from Mesa de Frades, an intimate fado house. So let's hear:
It is curious to live in Alfama, because nowhere else can a simple walk around the house suddenly turn into a fairy tale, movie, concert, or a landscape made of old postcards. At a time when enlightened Moors ruled the castle towering over the city, these winding, steep streets, these asymmetrical squares of geometry unlike Escher's graphics, these multi-colored houses of single beauty actually constitute the entire city. There wasn't much else. It is difficult to understand the popular metaphor that calls this part of the city 'a house without windows'. The Alfama flowing white stone into the current of Tagus seems to be only a great window. At dawn it is a stained glass window in which the rising sun creates different images every day.
Alfama cheira a saudade - Mariza sings [...] 'Alfama smells of longing'. History seems to confirm that even if you live in paradise, you are always missing something. He would like more, different, further, deeper, however, as long as he does not stay stuck ...
The reading of Marcin Kydryński's words strongly shaped my perception of Alfama. There was a fear that the author, skilfully drawing on the palette of words, poured onto paper the subjective experience of discovering love and finding one of the places where he felt good. This does not mean that everyone will experience the same. The meeting of the product of my imagination with reality turned out to be light and pleasant. We quickly found a common language. We were not differentiated by disappointment and failure to imagine reality. I admit that I often had various disagreements in this matter. Paris syndrome. How many times before our visit we had reviewed photos of the Eiffel Tower. This day finally comes. A dream comes true, I will see the tower live. I stand in front of ... under ... next to ... Hmmm ... Why is she so small, why so tactless? She looked different in the photos ...
Alfama did not disappoint my expectations. It turned out to be a place where I just felt good.
A feast for my senses. Nobody is in a hurry, nobody rushes to work, everything passes at its natural pace. Time is ticked by the tolling of bells and the sun is playfully jumping from one house to another ...
Bartłomiej Sembol