A story of home, in cobblestones

Looking for roots in the designs beneath our feet (75)

We find that living in a city we hunger for plant and animal life. Imagine our delight when this popped up outside our door last August.

We haven’t been able to find out what it is.¹ But it sure warmed our hearts and felt like a happy welcome to these gardeners who were admittedly not having the easiest transition. Our regular walks recorded their progress, along with grasses and dandelions.

And then came The Reaper. A sound we suddenly realized we had been very happy not hearing came through our open windows.

Sidebar: The freguesia is basically a civil parish, the administrative subdivision below the city of Lisbon. Think the wards of Chicago. Except the freguesias have their root in the church parish district.

Back to the weed whacker. The wonderful freguesia workers who keep our street clean came by and weed whacked the plants growing betweeen the cobblestones. and then tidily swept (yep, broom, not leaf blower) the debris up. It did look neater. And undoubtedly is a vital role in keeping the stone from shifting.

The presence of these lovely plants also means that this type of pavement is a greener option - it can absorb some of the water before it gets to the streets and the storm drain.

While these flowers are found throughout the city, we affiliate them with this apartment, since during those days our sense of neighborhood was much smaller. We also associate this little guy with home as well - the nearest Metro is the Rato (mouse) station. As such, when someone asks where we live, we often say, “near Rato” (pronounced RAH*too) . Nearby Rato Metro station is a mouse.

In searching for our new home, we noticed that the north of the county has fewer of these gorgeous sidewalks. Perhaps since they get more rain?

One of our three tours of Braga led us to this lovely travessa (lane or alley). You’ll note a marriage of concrete and setts, not cobblestones. Such fantastic grip on the shoe! So much less beautiful.

Ah, but this, in one of Braga’s historic city center in-building alley-malls, makes up for it.

Just recently, during our brief visit to Coimbra, we found this striking design near the university while catching our breath.

It was really remarkable the difference in the amount and ornamentation of the sidewalks in Lisbon vs the North. As well as the tile, but that’s another day. We also scoped out this design.

We love our Rato neighborhood. We love Lisbon. We also love Braga (even though it has many fewer cobblestone designs) and we thankfully crossed one place off our list: Coimbra. It was time to start looking for an apartment to use as a baseline.

The day we looked at our first unit we were reeling. We would have precious friends in the building, it felt like nothing we could imagine, and it felt meant to be. We went to the closest park to process it all. This lovely green space has a small dog park and also all manner of fowl - roosters, geese, and other water birds roam freely throughout. We collapsed onto the most convenient bench and found this design. You’ll note Joise’s head. She did not come with us to the showing. Instead, some seven months ago, Amy and Josie went on a ramble and took this picture. Talk about adding to the feeling as though it’s meant to be.

From here it’s an easy stroll down (on admittedly narrow sidewalks!) to our beloved if normally touristy Rossio Square.

While our switching of neighborhoods will mean fewer visits with the mouse, there are new designs for us to stumble upon in the days and weeks to come. We’re excited to see what flowers grow between the cobbles near our new home.

That’s all for now.

Love from Lisbon,

Amy & Scott

1. The challenge is on, Aunt Clare!