Clearwater Republican., 1921-05-20
Picturesque Portuguese Capital
Contains Much of Interest
to Sightseer.
CITY OF QUEER CONTRASTS
Modern Town ls Crowded With AMI
mated Groups While Old City ls =
Quiet Retreat-Garden Of Eu-
rope Set Beside the Sea.

London.-If, some evening, writes q
correspondent Of the Times from Lis
bon, you should leave Madrid-that
luxurious but melancholy city. perched
high above a wintry landscape of
which the hard, bleak outlines are
softened by mist-and if you should
take the little short-winded train that
jolts cheerfully, If pantingly, all the
way to Lisbon three times a week,
you will wake up the next morning in
an enchanted land.
You will see a clear, pale blue sky
and a fresh, joyous morning light
touching forests of cork trees with sill
yer; flocks of red brown goats frisk-
ing in and out among the bright red of
the stripped tree trunks; torrent
cleaning among white rocks; gaily
painted houses covered with towering
rose briars and surrounded by clumps
Of slended palms, and brilliant green
orange trees laden with silver gilt fruit
that twinkle like stars. Thus. with all
the peaceful splendor Of Virginia
landscape, there passes before your
eyes formosa Lusitania, "Jardin da
Europa beira mar plantado," as the
Portuguese poet Ribeiro called it.
garden of Europe set beside the sea.
At every little station, as you draw
near the capital, the first-class coaches
there are no thirds-are invaded by
peasants wearing short jackets and
woolen caps that hang down onto
their shoulders, and women with ivory
faces framed in bright colored hand
kerchiefs, oil carrying baskets of fruit,
cheese or cackling fowls, and girt
round with strings of partridges or
woodcock. They swarm into the cor
ridors and onto the footboards with
a friendly lack of ceremony; questions
are asked and jokes exchanged in the
soft, somewhat heavy Portuguese Ian
guage, which has lost the rough quail
ties of Spanish. and loud, unrestrained
laughter fills the air. It is a pic
turesque, intimate sort Of scene, which
has the advantage of lasting too short
time to pail.
Lisbon Worth Delay.
If you are on your way to the Portu-
guese Riviera, Lisbon is well worth q
few days delay. Except that the beds
are trifle hard and that the heating
owing to the coal shortage, leaves
something to be desired--but this does
not matter. much, for the sun shines
nearly every day-there are some
quite good hotels. They are well run
and even the visitor who Is merely
passing through Is treated as friend
First, there is the modern town
which lies in the plain at the foot o.
the seven hills. 1t begins on the edg,
OF the country with the superb Avenue
de la Liberdad, with its eight rows O.
plane trees and palms. This thorough
fare extends majestically for half {
mile, between villas and fine new
houses, right into the heart of the city
the Rocio, a wide square overlooked b,
the hill upon which the rusty red cita
del stands.
A dense crowd, differing from north
ern crowds In that 1t is composed al
most entirely of men, passes up ant
down the footpaths and on the streets
there are few carriages or motorcars
but plenty Of tramcars, which are more
numerous and better ruL than In any
other European capital. Men form
groups in the streets and carry on live
ly discussions-pOlitics mainly. A