| Hello, welcome to my first blog post on this website. |
This is an exciting moment, because here a new writing adventure begins. The starting point will be a picture which I posted on my website. Since my walking tours are very personal and private, they will be always different, depending on the persons who are having the tour.
They are a form of entertainment that makes you feel and see the city in a pleasant way. It makes you happy and meanwhile the city and her habits will be printed in your brains. It makes it to a wonderful experience which you will never forget, if I can trust the reviews of the people who had a walk with me.
Lisbon is a very old city; Portugal is one of the oldest countries of Europe. Some (many) say it is the oldest but we will not have a fight about that since I don’t like violance.
Very old means as well lots of history which I cannot tell you all during the walk, otherwise you would get dizzy and would not see and feel the city. If you are interested in history during the walking you can better follow a history tour, there are plenty of them. I am an artist and that’s why I did choose for a different approach.
In this blog I will however explain more about the history. That I do by explaining the pictures which I posted. Starting with picture 1; my contact card, visit card, business card or whatever you want to call it.
Like with everything, in the beginning there was nothing and then came something. (This comes from the Philosopher inside of me.) Luckily we live now, and not in a far past otherwise it would be different. Can you imagine you are living in the far past needing a contact card?
Some people say, ‘we don’t need cards anymore because we have our smart phones and can sent the card to each other’, but that seems for me not always very handy. And despite that I like the ‘old fashion’ paper cards.
I was sitting with a friend of mine who likes to work with Photoshop and we came with this one, after some brainstorming and fun. |  |
It’s not a standard card like my tours are not standard tours, it’s colorful and has a lot of hidden information and the important information is easy to find.
My first name; which is already a funny start. My parents called me Dick. That is the first joke which I heard when I was born although my parents didn’t understand the joke in that time. If I tell my name you can imagine what often happens and if you can laugh about yourself you are a lucky Dick who laughs a lot. If you cannot laugh about yourself you have a problem and you better learn it!
My second name; Metzeka which is one of my artist names. When I was on High school the teachers always asked me met of zonder ck. Met ck meneer. That is Dutch for with or without ck. With ck sir. Later when I was around 22 I was often making music with a friend of mine and I told him the story and he then came with this name Metzeka with a z instead of a c. I liked it and use it a lot for my art projects. I consider this walking tours as an art work as well. Everything can be art if you create it as art, otherwise you will have mainstream, normal or even bad creations. But yes what is good, bad or even art?
OK, the telephone number and email are there what is also a little bit important haha and on the real card is also the website which is not really important here.
And ‘Tour guide’ (in German Reise Führer, really!!!). Yes I show you the city and after my tour you understand the city and you know where to go or not to go. Depending on your wishes.
The last word is ‘Storyteller’ and here we come to a more or less important issue. I follow the concept of the ancient storytellersen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_storytelling who talk without thinking; they tell a story and feel the audience and surrounding which creates a personal bond with the teller and the audience. And the stories will be always different. It is a unique experience which can bring both to higher levels of being, understanding and happiness. That’s why I call my tours, ‘Lisbon Light Walking Tours’.
OK so much about the words and numbers. What do we have more on this card?
| The prominent bronze equestrian statue in front is from a photo taken at praça de figueria, a big square in the centre of the city. The statue is from 1971 in the time that the Fascist regime was still in power in Portugal and it represents King Joao 1 (1357-1433). He was an important and well educated king of Portugal preserving the Portuguese independence from Castille and stood at the cradle of the Portuguese discoveries. |  |
At the background you see the Castle of Lisbon, ‘Castelo de São Jorge ‘, which fortification started already BC and had many different builders and occupiers, like the Romans, Muslims and the Christians. Nowadays it’s a favorite attraction for tourist from where you can overlook the centre of the city, the ancient neighborhoods and the river ‘teijo’.
| And that the smiling Sun, does it need any explanation? The warm weather, which makes you smile. Often no rain from May till October! And it makes warm hearts as well. I think that the sun and the temperature have something to do with the difference as well, between the northern Europe people and the people from the South, their behavior and way of living. If the sun is shining you enjoy life different. But about this I will speak later in another blog, because I think that the difference in mentality of the North and the South of Europe has a long history and that it was one of the miscalculations (you read the word!) when they founded the EU. |  |
About water.....
OK coming to the end of this first blog as an intro to Lisbon and my walking tour. You can see as well the water in the picture. Portugal has a lot of water. Most of her inhabitants are very sensitive people. The other southern countries are more fire. You can see and feel it if you drive with the car to Spain. Here the cars drive mostly with more respect and don’t use the horns so often. Often they stop for the pedestrians and for other cars. When you arrive in Spain and you cross the border, you hear immediately the klaxons hunk, people screaming and with the middle finger in the air yelling ‘Filho da Putaaaaaaaaaaa’.
Fire!
Welcome to Lisbon!
Oh I forgot something, maybe more but that I don’t see now, and while the universe is always changing it is possible that I see later other or more things in a different way. That’s why this blog post is also a never ending story.
But this is what I forgot to mention; my seal! Loving life is beautiful! Enjoy it, make something wonderful of it. It's maybe a little stone in the water, but better than nothing!
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