On The Tiles

This evening I have arrived in Lisbon. And it’s been raining – heavily enough to have disrupted transport links further north. This means that special care is needed on the streets, especially those with the unique tiled surface so characteristic of Portugal. Why so? Because when it rains, those little tiles become, as Neil Kinnock once said, absolutely bloody lethal.

Even in the dry, the tiles have a tendency to become shiny and slippery. When it rains, they don’t shine, but merely reflect. They are yet more lethal. So when I came out into the open at the eastern exit from Baixa-Chiado Metro this evening, the downhill slope of traditionally tiled pavement told me to beware.

And here I am at the residencial – that’s the Duas Nações, at the intersection of Augusta and Vitoria. In one piece. Even after a very agreeable feed and drink session at Casa Liège earlier. For those not familiar with the area, that’s the eatery at the top of the Bica funicular, east side. You can manage a good meal with wine for less than ten Euro a head.

But not a slip ‘twixt cup and lip, mind.