I am really not sure what to make of a recent experience of mine? I can smile and yet am concerned in equal measure. But let me explain so that you can offer your own interpretations, if you wish. These scribbles are focused on one particular issue but I have wrapped it with a few layers to make it more interesting!

We drove into Lisbon last Wednesday for a night in a hotel. It was only when we were a few kilometres from our destination that we realised we had left Francisquinha behind. (See PCs 172, 217 and 331). Anyone who has had a young child in the rear seat suddenly burst into tears and exclaim that they had left their favourite stuffed animal at home will recognise the situation; worried looks between mother and father and thoughts about how they will soothe the situation without driving home to collect the animal. So it was with Francisquinha, although I think we were more worried about what she might get up to, left alone for 24 hours!

In central Lisbon there is a lovely shaded square called Jardim das Amoreiras, a place where local inhabitants can sit under the Mulberry trees, collect a snack or a drink from the little café and if they’re lucky listen to music from an itinerant guitarist.

The south west side of the square is bounded by part of the magnificent Aqueduto das Aguas Livres, an 18km aqueduct

which opened in 1748, survived the 1755 earthquake that destroyed much of the city, and remained the major supplier of the city’s drinking water until 1973. (Note 1)  

at ground level

The leaf of the Mulberry tree is essential food for the larvae of the Mulberry silk worm. I read that they will spend about a month chomping their way through lots of leaves before resting in a pupa stage. After some 10 days they emerge as the silk worm moth – for a rather short life of some 5 to 10 days. The Hotel das Amoreiras obviously chose the Mulberry Silk Moth as its motif.

By now you’re probably thinking he better start taking about this coincidence – ‘a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection’ (see PC 328 March 2023) – that isn’t or I’ll stop reading. Patience dear reader!

My mother-in-law had stayed in the Hotel das Amoreiras before, liked it and its friendly staff, and wanted to stay here for the night before her birthday. The booking was made and around 1600hrs on Wednesday afternoon we checked in, without Francisquinha! The reception is at the end of a gloriously furnished room with an open bar at the other; ‘clubby’ was the atmosphere created but definitely not stuffy clubby!

We all went up to my mother-in-law and Toni’s room on the first floor before Celina and I went up to ours. At the end of the corridor was a floor-to-ceiling mirror and in the middle a framed black & white photograph of Sean Connery and Ursula Andress.

(Note my feet at the edges!)

Those of us of a certain age will instantly recognise the two actors who played starring roles in Dr No, the first cinematic adaption of Ian Fleming’s 1958 book of the same name; Connery as 007 and Andress as Honey Ryder. It was 1962 and this still photograph from some downtime on set has proved an enduring memory. When I saw it I mentioned it to Toni: “Isn’t that great! Good film, Dr No, great actors obviously having some fun!” Toni agreed! At the other end of the corridor was a black & white photograph of Charlie Chaplin so I imagined Pedro & Alicia, the hotel owners, are film aficionados.

We had agreed to meet outside around 1640 and I walked out into the square and sat, listening to a delightful guitar solo from the chap. Still within the internet coverage of the hotel, I checked my emails and clicked on Facebook. We get used to buying something in a store or online and then being inundated with advertisements from the same company, offering more of what you’ve just bought. For example last month I bought an Osprey backpack in the Cotswold shop in Brighton and was then inundated with offers for more backpacks. Why would I want to buy another one right now? In a year or three maybe, but right now?

However the second item that lit up on my Facebook screen was this:

Could someone explain it? My only thought was that my mobile listened to my conversation with Toni in the corridor outside their room, looking at the picture and someone/something thought I/it will make him smile and posted this on my Facebook account. Big brother? Whatever happened I think it’s scary!

Near to the hotel was Avenida Álvares Cabral with Cabral’s statue sitting at the southern end, at the entrance to Jardim da Estrela (The Garden of the Stars). Pedro Álvares Cabral, 1467 – 1520, was a ‘Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil’. Note the use of the adjective European; to those who already lived there, it didn’t need discovering! Brazil is of course the only country in South America to speak Portuguese.

At first glimpse, against the bright sky, I may be forgiven for thinking the statue is of a hooded witch with a staff, bending forward. On closer inspection it’s Cabral with a flag blowing in the wind – well, frozen in bronze wind.

In six days from now, on 31^st August the earth will see a bluish tint to the moon. Blue moons occur every two to three years; in 2018 we had two but will have to wait until 2037 for that to reoccur. In the bar after supper we tried to think, as you do, who had sung the Rogers & Hart song ‘Blue Moon’?

Richard 25^th August 2023

Estoril Portugal

www.postcardscribbles.co.uk

PS Francisquinha looked somewhat space-out on our return.

Note 1 At the bottom of the square is a large dominant building that was the cistern for the aqueduct (reservatório da Mãe d’Água das Amoreiras) but now houses a museum and is an occasional venue for art exhibitions.