The Six Million Dollar Man

I thought that it was already high time for me to write a few verses about my new home, Lisbon. After all, I've already been here for more than a month! And on top of that, I had a very pleasant day of sunbathing today.

There's one excellent reason why you just have to love this place: it simply never rains, nor is it even cloudy, and we've already had plenty of at-least-twenty-degrees-celsius-days during this past month. And today was one of those hot early March Lisbon days with a scorching (I'm a Finn) outside temperature. We went with LP to a nearby 'miradouro', a sightseeing terrace/plaza, from which you could see the whole city. Not that I was really paying any attention to the city, that is! I was SUNBATHING. And as anyone with any brain knows, the only real way to do sunbathing is to... Well, to do nothing else. You just bask in the sun, and love the world.

But as anyone with any brain knows, I'm not too bright. And that's why I was reading a cell biology book. But you know what?!? I loved it. It was a sin to be sure but I loved every second of it. Of course, at times it was a bit hard to keep concentrating on my book with all the godly female figures around (LP), all the dogs racing around the park, and the occasional gust of wind turning the pages of my book. (Thanks to my brother MS, for loaning me the book!) Still, I was able to make some progress. There's just one thing I have to be frank with you about: that cell biology stuff sure is complex. I mean, really frustratingly complicated. It's all 'this enzyme phophorylates this one, and then when a protein is improperly folded and sent for degradation to a lysosome a baby unicorn comes and sneezes'! You see? I think I almost got it, but I guess even I have to work at it some more... Some more.

The city itself has been nice, too. And I really mean 'nice', not fantastic or fabulous or anything else of such an immense magnitude. Thus far it hasn't been a mind-blowing experience for me to walk the streets, but I have this feeling that the city might grow on me eventually. But let's face it: it's not like I'd have the optimal circumstances to get all infatuated with Lisbon. After all, I don't know the language nor do I have any attachments of my own to the city. I mean, I don't study or work or anything. Still, I think I just might love this place after a month or two. And what's more, I already prefer Lisbon to Madrid. My apologies to all Madrid lovers, that's just the way it is.

For me, it is kind of exciting to compare the two cities, actually. First, here in Lisbon most of the buildings (and people, too) are in less-than-perfect shape (outfits), whereas in Madrid everything seemed to be tip-top, always. Furthermore, here in Lisbon you can find a café (or two) around every corner, whereas in Madrid... Well, you'd find a tavern. And finally, here in Lisbon it is customary to go to those cafés for a quick lunch (an espresso-type strong shot of coffee with a sweet pastry of some sort is a usual choice), whereas in Madrid it is customary to go for a quick lunch to one of those many taverns (the usual choise might be something like a glass of beer and some bread with serrano ham and cheese).

So, to sum up:

• People in Lisbon tend to eat sweet pastrys, drink lots of coffee, and walk around looking like piles of rags.
• People in Madrid tend to walk around looking all neat and tidy, drink beer, and eat ridiculous amounts of ham (read: atherosclerosis)

So there you have it: I have these two cities all figured out already. Wow, I'm so... perceptive.

By the way, today is the International Women's Day! So, this is for all of you pretty ladies who are eagerly reading all of my blog updates! Here goes:


Feel free to make any assumptions based on this clip about my feelings toward unindependent women. *chuckles*