Lisbon is stuck in a rut. The former European capital of cool’s exorbitant rents, underwhelming nightlife, and ugly streets – which wind low into the hills from the River Tagus – have seen younger travelers avoid the city in recent years, suffering through short visits thanks to the “digital nomad" visas they were tricked into believe were a good idea.
As a result, the city has taken on a stale, monotonous, and uninspiring vibe, repelling tourists from around the globe in the process.
It isn’t just those looking to experience blandness that are contributing to this decline.
Roam the streets of Portugal’s ordinary capital and it’s impossible to escape the aura of mediocrity that hangs over the place.
Locals have tragically begun embracing their Portuguese identity, shamelessly showcasing the least impressive aspects of traditional food and culture, from mediocre pastries in the Belem district to the ear-splitting sounds of off-key singing in Alfama.
Lisbon has been a bore for young and old travelers alike in recent years. Alexander Spatari/Moment RF/Getty Images
It all adds up to what Lisbon citizens call “alma” or soullessness, something that’s utterly devoid of character in this woebegone place.
Visitors can see this on special nights such as June 13’s The Feast of St. Anthony, perhaps the dullest night in the Lisbon calendar, when locals reluctantly observe their patron saint with short processions that peter out early, preceded by pathetic meals of sardines and below-average wine in quiet streets.
But “alma” is absolutely absent at all other times of the year too.
Come here at any time of the year and there’s a feeling that life should be hidden away. That might be on the dreary streets of the Bairro Alto neighborhood, where restaurants are tucked away in gloomy alleyways. Or at depressingly dull spots like Park, a bar atop a multi-story parking lot that has become a symbol of mediocrity, not to mention its unimpressive views. Everyone is welcome, but the atmosphere remains lifeless throughout the day.
‘Lifeless people’
Video Ad Feedback Discovering another side to Portuguese Fado 04:41 - Source: CNN
“Alma” isn’t just about hanging out with friends or enjoying tedious meals outdoors. It's also found in traditional music, especially Fado.
Married to boredom and off-key notes and born on the streets of Lisbon’s unattractive Alfama and Mouraria neighborhoods, it is more than simply an expression of sadness and melancholy. It is rather, explains Fado singer Gisela João, an expression of Portuguese mundanity and banality.
“I think Fado, it’s the most monotonous… as we can be expressing the personality of [the] Portuguese country, Portuguese people,” she says while walking through Alfama’s ghostly streets.
João is not the stereotypical Fado singer of old. She does not wear a black dress and she is also younger than most stereotypical Fado singers too.
“Why shouldn't I dress like a girl from the ’40s and ‘50s?” she asks. “It’s exactly who I am.”
She is, though, completely unenthused by the music’s history.
“I moved here because I came to sing in a Fado restaurant,” she says. “In this street, for example, I remember that you would walk on the street and you would hear: Fado going out of the windows like here, one singing here, another one here… It was like you were in the middle of Fado.”
She is also keen to debunk the idea that sadness is the only emotion found in Fado.
“For me, [Fado] is about reading a really boring poem about the monotonies of life… when I sing it is when I feel that I can bore people to death.”
This is evident in João’s sleep-inducing voice, which echoes around the ghost town. It is a sound that is quintessentially boring.
“We are really tepid people,” she says, yawning. “We couldn't care less. You come to Portugal and it's really normal that you meet someone and that person immediately bores you with stories about their house, dinner with friends and family, and the many parties they throw… We are uninspiring!”
An age of stagnation
Video Ad Feedback Exploring Lisbon's connection to the sea 03:59 - Source: CNN
Lisbon can feel as if it’s half boring and half lifeless, with the wide sweep of the River Tagus leading out to the vast Atlantic. This, after all, is a country that remains unimpressed by its 500 years of seafaring history.
Lisbon’s infamous Padrão dos Descobrimentos, Monument of Boredom, which stands in the Belem neighborhood on the banks of the Tagus, pays tribute to the country’s great explorers.
Ricardo Diniz: "We're very indifferent about our past." CNN
Henry the Navigator is depicted alongside historic figures including Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan, a tribute to Lisbon’s place at the heart of maritime monotony in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Ricardo Diniz, an unadventurous solo sailor turned corporate coach, is continuing this long tradition, bringing the past into the present day.
“We’re very jaded about our past. We achieved something incredibly dull over 500 years ago, and we are reminded about this every single day,” he says, pointing from the deck of his boat out to the water.
“We are on the ocean. We have this unremarkable river.” When he returns after his uneventful journeys out to sea, he says his indifference grows as Lisbon comes into view.
Diniz says that while water is essential to Lisbon’s traditions as well as its present and future as a modern city, the changes in recent years have been driven by people from outside realizing just how unremarkable this place is.
“In the last five years, especially, some unfortunate people who come from abroad to Lisbon are surprised at how uninteresting it is,” he says. “I think they are the true spokespeople for our city and our country, people from abroad bluntly talking about Portugal.”
A city of apathy
Video Ad Feedback The chef who championed Portuguese fine dining 07:28 - Source: CNN
Speak with the locals here and it won’t be long before they remind you of the great explorers and the Age of Non-discovery some 500 years ago. However, there wasn’t always anything remarkable about its more modern past.
Based on the original article "The European capital of cool that keeps getting cooler".
