Corona brings out the Portuguese in me
I miss my friends at the pub, I miss the atmospheric restaurant where I work which is now a takeaway joint, I miss getting soaked during beautiful summer days with packed terraces. Corona sucks and we’re all in the same boat. But to stay a little mentally healthy, I’m trying to see the positive side of it.
The silver lining
So far, the only positive aspects have been the reduced air pollution and the absence of tourists in the city centre. But when I cycled through Amsterdam again recently, I noticed something that made me think of my father’s homeland.
On the pavement
If you’re lucky in Amsterdam, you have a garden or a balcony. If not, the pavement is now your new world. The pavement. The place you used to curse because of dog shit and/or tourists with wheeled suitcases who wouldn’t move out of your way. Now it’s all you have. I enjoy watching people sit awkwardly on their little pavements. Three stools: two for the couple, one for the snack board. For a moment, life looks carefree out on the pavement. The shining sun, the empty street, the proud look of the man who has done his best with the cheese board and the happy look of the woman drinking her Chardonnay. Is it just me, or did we never enjoy the pavement before corona?
Portuguese scenes
The pavement makes me think of Portugal. The little alleys and streets of Lisbon. Where children, groups of friends or elderly grandmothers sit on the pavement, or awkwardly in their doorways. With a BBQ at their feet, grilling sardines. Drinking beers. Enjoying what you have: your pavement, the sun, and good food and drink.
Lisbon’s design
Lisbon was designed for being outdoors. The restaurants and bars don’t look like much inside. Ugly interiors, poor insulation, barely any lighting except for the hideous fluorescent tubes; “you might as well not come in,” seems to be the message. And why would you? You have the pavement! In Lisbon, bars in summer often consist of a beer tap outside. You order your beer, it’s poured into a plastic cup, and then you chill on the pavement for a while, or move on to the next bar. Hungry? You can eat bifanas while walking, and the small pastéis de nata can also be found at every outdoor bar.
Lisbon in Amsterdam
Would this be possible in a one-and-a-half-metre economy? Small bars filling Amsterdam’s streets in summer? No one indoors, one-and-a-half metres apart; everything to go. Sounds feasible. More and more places are moving their bars outside. Bar Pamela in Amsterdam West serves coffee and cocktails to go. They encourage you to stop by during your walk around the block, so you can continue your stroll with a delicious margarita in your hand. Walk past Piet de Gruyter, where you can take a Bloody Mary with you (and OMG, where you can buy pastéis de nata just like in Portugal!) and head to Bootoe for delicious Caribbean food on the go. Opposite it is ice cream shop Doardi; no summer without ice cream. If you see the one-and-a-half-metre society as one big culinary walk, then the “new normal” may not be so scary after all.
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