My Portugal Diary: Day 4

Day 4 Friday 18 June, 2004

Started the day with a breakfast in the sun near Praca Rossio. Then walked Lisbon s little bit, as a by-product of my journey in search of the youth hostel. It turned out to be full until the 22nd, which made me suspect the majority of the residents are England supporters, all coming for THAT match. Was recommended to another hostel nearby, which looked better equipped, and, invariably, slightly more expensive. Booked myself in for 3 nights starting from tomorrow. Croatia supporters start to appear in the streets.

Before that, I will explore some other places of the country. I hit the road at 3:30 in the afternoon for Setubal. On the bridge over the Rio Tejo, a giant Jesus Christ statue is opening his arms to all the mankind. It is written in the LP that the statue was an imitation of the giant Jesus in Rio da Janeiro, and partially financed by the Women's Association in gratitude for the government sparing them the horrors of the Second World War! 女人要的其实很简单！

An hour later I was in the centre of Setubal, a weekend retreat for the Lisbonaises. A lovely town. Dropped my big bag in the youth centre (affiliated to the youth hostel, where the booking would only start after 6:00) and was directed to a bar nearby with a relatively big television. I was the only non-local, and the least old. The other customers must all be pensioners already, apart from one beggar, who, it looks to me, is equally old, but supposedly with no pension. They were playing all sorts of games ranging from chess to a four way game similar to 麻将 and a board game more like 大富豪, only no one actually cared about the game on the screen. Bulgaria were never in the game. Denmark scored a goal they more than deserved in the last minute of the first half. Then the bar was closed!

Back to the youth hostel. Same old story: fully booked by the English fans! Was recommended to another place, but decided to come into this roadside hotel which looked luxurious but turned out not too expensive.

Having settled down, followed the second half of the game in the hotel bar. Denmark scored the second, again, almost in the last minute.

Came out for some food, and passed a restaurant I simply couldn't resist—to quote Oscar Wilde: I could resist everything except temptation. LP says Setubal is famous for the fish and dolphin, but the latter should not end up on your plate as the majority of the locals may not have Cantonese cousins. Grilled fish, potatoes, and local beer made a fantastic dinner. A couple of funny pics were taken. For a while I was the only customer of the restaurant, now it is packed. I'm writing this journal over a cup of espresso. A group of locals are sitting next to me, and we exchanged some funny words on football and life, and I enlightened one of them, the most vocal opponent to football, on Shankly's famous quote: "Football is not just a matter of life and death: it's much more important than that. " How much more powerful it could get if I could only speak that out in a Scottish accent!

Should be on my way to the local park, where a giant screen is set up for the fans and cheap beer is served. Hope Italy will go out.

Two hours later, 10:00pm:

Well, Italy didn't lose, but they can still go out