I have visited Lisboa five times. That may not seem like a lot for those who love to travel to Portugal more often, but I am content with my few visits. Each time, I do get something new out of my experience, even when I am revisiting favourite spots, curious to see if anything has changed since the previous visit. Of course, like all cities, Lisboa has evolved from the time I first saw it in 1984. I had a pocket camera back then and didn’t take too many photographs, which was a good thing because I was able to focus on the moment while exploring the city.

However, by the time of my second trip, in 1989, I had a good camera with me, and so I took more photographs. In the age of rolls of film, it was still a limited number of photos I could take but I always had rolls of 36 exposures rather than the modest 24 in order to get a few extra pictures! As it was, they took much space in my carry-on bag, something I don’t regret giving up once digital cameras became the norm.

These photographs are from my second trip. Back then, I was interested in finding an older Lisboa, the one in my imagination, and so I took many photographs of decaying buildings. I include them here, along with photographs of a timeless Lisboa.