The Great Wave

Lisbon—In 5 Photos

Greg Sherwin reconsiders tourist tat

In the run-up to The Great Wave, we’ve asked speakers, hub hosts, and friends to tell us a story in 5 photos. Here Greg Sherwin offers something for House residents missing Lisbon this year.

The House of Beautiful Business will not be held in Lisbon this year, bringing up conflicted feelings about the benefits and impacts of global tourism. Most of all, I will deeply miss welcoming so many great friends and awesome people to our annual in-person gathering, coincidently held in my neighborhood. And yet the pandemic throws into stark relief our impacts on a world with seemingly boundless travel opportunity.

Living (as I do) in the heart of Lisbon, I walk by souvenir shops hawking cheesy refrigerator magnets and cork keychains every day. And I subconsciously tuned it all out as something to avoid and almost be embarrassed by.

There’s also a streak of a little resentment in those thoughts, too. Because while I know these shop owners are doing what they can just to make a living — and when tourism is at a low ebb thanks to the pandemic — I am reminded of how Airbnbs and global travel are slowly gentrifying vibrant neighborhoods and eroding the unique cultures that attract travelers in the first place. I don’t want apartments for locals replaced by short-term rentals. I don’t like seeing local merchants pushed aside by shops catering to tourists.

But recently on a familiar walk through the Baixa neighborhood, I caught myself taking an artsy close-up of religious Fátima statues of the Virgin Mary. Pico Iyer’s words from a Living Room session early in the pandemic came to the fore: “If you want to see something new, take the same walk every day.” I realized what I stopped seeing by always looking away from the kitsch. At least this time, on this walk, I wanted to lean into the cheesiness instead. Celebrate it. Just swim in it.

Consider this a love letter to tourist Lisbon.

Lisbon misses you. You miss Lisbon.

— Greg Sherwin

Lisbon’s tram network began with horses, going fully electric in 1902. The fully magnetic tram network began more recently and has been found on refrigerators throughout the world.

The colorful Barcelos rooster, based on the legend of a 15th century pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago, embodies the Portuguese love of life. Guaranteed to make you smile more than your smartphone.

“You MUST have one of these!,” is how most first-time Lisbon tourists are introduced to the pastel de nata. You never forget your first. Last night’s, however, was just as amazing.

In 1917, the Miracle of the Sun took place in Fátima, where the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children over six months. Much less celebrated, but no less miraculous, are her many appearances in souvenir shop windows over the past century.

The idiom “to be packed like sardines” was never intended to be pleasurable. But in a time of social distancing, it can surprisingly take on what the Portugese call saudade.

Greg Sherwin has lived in Lisbon since 2018 in a former Airbnb, where the 28 tram running just beneath his balcony provides a steady heartbeat to the city even under the strictest pandemic lockdown. When not listening for the sound of adorinhas, he helps orchestrate digital experimentation at Farfetch, speaks about our technological futures as Singularity University faculty, and serves on the Advisory Board of the House of Beautiful Business. You can read his interview with Twain Liu here and in The Book of Beautiful Business.

Lisbon—In 5 Photos

Share:

Become a Resident

We don't support this version of your browser, and neither should you!