I've seen the efficiency of German flirting first hand and the process is systematic. I've seen a relationship dissolve over an argument whether a plastic cup could be called a glass. I've been told by a Portuguese girl, in passing, that I looked exactly like her ex-husband; she looked 15. I've had a philosophical discussion with a French existentialist whilst 10 drinks deep. These fragments, separate and disjointed comprise of a single night in Lisbon. I write these things down in the hope that I will retain them but they're all transient. That's what makes them so amazing. The fact that you get to share these moments with amazing people makes them even greater. Travellers tend to form relationships at hyper speed. In two days time you'll find yourself sharing inside jokes, latent fears and secret hopes. The people I meet in hostels all tend to share a common quality of openness. They're opinions are usually very liberal but they accommodate the views of others. With the exception of one individual. His name is Ryan, he's from Australia and the following rant is inspired by him. “To all of the pretentious fuckers out there that believe your cuffed pants and typewriters give you a sense of superiority over the layman, do us all a favour and drink a quart of bleach. Your vaguely researched interest in middle east politics doesn't impress me. Or your European cross-legged, too bored to care demeanour. You're originality is a copy of a copy. If you were authentic in any sense of the word you wouldn't look like a fucking H&M ad, so don't come down on the “masses” until you accept the fact that you're a follower too. I'm not preaching from a soap box by any means so let me curtail your rebuttals before you spew them. I bend to society's whims at times, I have no illusions of otherwise. But I refuse to scoff at others while holding onto a fragile bohemian, intellectual persona that's more trite than a frat boy. Take your carefully choreographed party monologues about Faulkner and Faulk yourself.” But as I was saying, the majority of people I meet are genuinely cool and not Ryans. Most sit engaged, listening rather than silently waiting to talk. Its refreshing. And Portugal makes for the perfect setting to meet such people. The city is like a breathing entity, it swells and compresses with the ambient swirl of trams, markets, beggars and music. My God the music. These people exude rhythm at every turn. Nowhere else in Europe did I find a culture that felt the music more than the Portuguese. Maybe the Irish could rival them but their musical expressions are of a different style. Most Irish music is either deliberately sorrowful and thought-provoking or a high energy controlled chaos. Portuguese music is baby making music. Percussive and aggressively rhythmic, you have to be dead inside not to move to this music. Lisbon, itself, is stunning. It'd be easiest to think of it as a culturally rich San Francisco without Danny Tanner. The nightlife is incredible here as well. My first night I did a pub crawl (still not sick of these yet) and walked, nay, stumbled into a bar that Ben Harper happened to be playing in. The venue was intimate to say the least. I stood packed tight against the soft sweaty flesh of a local for an hour but loved every second of the show. That's probably what I've enjoyed most about Europe. You can have some of the best experiences of your life solely by chance. You can be in a market in Barcelona when a group of marching drummers spontaneously arrive and break into a routine. Those kinds of things happened to me constantly. Even the less fortunate experiences I've had like getting hit by a fiat in Rome, losing my phone to the Mediterranean or having no access to money in London have all had a hidden benefit to them. They've taught me how to react to the bad. There have been moments on this trip where I've been impervious to stress because I look back at the tougher situations I've been in. I appreciate everyone who has wished me well and I'm grateful for those of you that were able to make it through these journals. I would recommend a trip like this to anyone. Go alone, you'll learn a lot about yourself and you'll be compelled to meet as many people as you can. You'll find that the travellers and locals you come across are usually willing to help. At the risk of sounding like a cliche, I'll end with a quote from Marky Mark Twain. “ Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Seacrest out.
