Lovely Lisbon

Visiting cities in Europe, or even in Asia, often makes me wonder why we in the United States, especially in the larger cities in the Northeast, are so, how shall I say it, inconsiderate, sloppy, messy..., I just don't know.  Lisbon is another example of a large city where you simply do not find trash on the streets.  Oh, you will see cigarette butts, but no cans, bags, half-eaten sandwiches, or garbage of any kind on the streets or sidewalks or in the subways.  I am originally from Minneapolis, and that has always been a clean city as well.  When I moved to Boston one of the first things I noticed was how much garbage was strewn everywhere and how nonchalantly people just dropped stuff on the street.  Sadly, New York is just the same.

Even the entrances to the subways in Lisbon have a clean and futuristic look to them.

Futurama


What you are looking at are two escalators, one up and one down, with a stairway in the middle.  And, unlike in New York, all of the subways work.

As you can see, the subway itself is spotless.

Sparkly Clean


In the entire week I was in Lisbon, and I took the subways a lot, I don't recall ever seeing any trash of any kind either on the platforms or on the tracks.

The stations are also quite spectacular, almost like mini-museums.

Quite Beautiful, And Interesting


A Detail From The Above


And I never saw anything defaced in any way.  Not even the advertisements.  Now that isn't to say there wasn't some graffiti in the city.  But very limited and in places that almost looked like they were made for it.  And the graffiti was artistic.  I almost think that if you saw it, it was meant to be there.  Otherwise it would have been cleaned up.

Graffiti Or Art?


Again, look at how spotless the sidewalk and street are.  As you view the rest of my blogs about Lisbon, just pay attention to the streets and sidewalks.  It kind of makes you wonder what cities like Boston or New York might look like if people just didn't throw trash around like they do.

I guess this is a pet peeve of mine, the way people do just throw their trash around.  Maybe, because I grew up in Minneapolis, I would never think about doing this. It just wasn't done.  And, so often when I return from a trip, it just strikes me how so few people here in New York feel the same.

As you can imagine, I have a lot more to post about Lisbon, but I shall be spreading it out a bit so as not to make reading my posts too much of a chore.  Plus, for those of you who read these at work (and you know who you are) you can quickly blast through an entire post while noone is looking.