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I love living like a tourist. While I've been in Portugal for more than 16 years (and a year before that but who's counting), it never ceases to be a place of wonder. Its history dates back to prehistoric times and you find remnants of many cultures littered throughout the country.
A few months ago I bought a pack of cards entitled Lisbon walks. The deck has 52 suggestions for walking tours in and around Lisbon - 1 for each week of the year. The cards have a map and clearly show a route on one side and offer detailed information about the neighbourhood and what to see.
Yesterday's walk was #22 Industrial Villas. Evidently, "Lisbon's industrialisation brought integrated housing/factory constructions known as vilas, of singular architecture."
Vila Sousa is a good example.It was set in an old palace with a tile façade. You enter through the main doorway which opens up in a huge courtyard. The living quarters were organized according to the importance of those who lived there. This particular vila's courtyard was used in a famous Portuguese file, "O Pátio das Cantigas".
Although I have been to this area many times over the years, I will now look at it in a different way.
Look out Lisbon, here I come.
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