A journey inspired by a stranger's photo

I woke up today not really knowing what to write about. But there's a saying in Portuguese that "words are like cherries", but in English it's said that "one word leads to another".

Today is the second day of my week-long vacation. I still have vacation days from last year to take, and I'd have to use them now or I'd lose the chance to do so.

Yesterday was a national holiday in Portugal. We celebrated 51 years since the change to democracy. It was also the 50th anniversary of the first free elections in Portugal, which saw over 92% of registered voters turn out. A record never achieved again in these 50 years of democracy.

I was leaving the house to take out the garbage for recycling, and next to the bins, after depositing the plastic and paper, I noticed a small piece of cardboard on the ground. It was probably from someone who had also gone there to deposit their garbage, but it had fallen to the ground, or it had been left there after the truck had collected it last time.

It immediately caught my eye.

Firstly because it was from a well-known club, one of the oldest in Portugal, located in the center of Lisbon - Atlético Clube de Portugal, and secondly because it had a real photograph of the member in black and white...

Anyone who follows me here on Hive knows that I have a passion for black and white photography, which unfortunately I don't share as often as I'd like.

I immediately picked up the fallen card and brought it home. The gentleman's face told me nothing. He didn't even resemble anyone I thought might be related to him. This despite the fact that the club he represented was a very old café, which has now closed its doors, but which my father and even my grandfather used to frequent in the 80s and 90s... I remember many stories about that café. Its owners, ardent fans of 11-a-side soccer and Sport Lisboa e Benfica, decided that they wouldn't raise the price of espresso (bica), regardless of the price of coffee beans, or even electricity, inflation, etc., until Benfica were champions again.

This promise made by Mrs. Helena and Mr. Rocha (the owners of the café) led to it becoming very well known, as it was one of the few places that had coffee at such a low price.

SLB, which is also my club, went nineteen years without winning the title, from the 1984/85 season until 2004/05... Can you imagine the damage that did to the accounts of the little café? But it's obvious that there was a huge celebration in 2005 when the glorious club regained the title of National Football Champions for the thirty-second time!

I remember sometimes watching the games with some of my father's friends. Back then, before the anti-smoking laws came into force in 2015... Many years later.

As it was close to the local train station, it always brought together a lot of people coming from work. It was a frequent meeting point, at 7pm, before dinner, to drink a beer and eat some peanuts and exchange views with the neighbors.

My grandfather is no longer here now. He passed away in 1991. Just like my father. He passed away in 2012. The café closed a few years after Dona Helena passed away, and a few years after Mr. Rocha became bedridden. Mr. Rocha's death accelerated the departure of the sons who ran the business, as they too had reached retirement age. And as they didn't have a day job, they didn't choose to join the company. The café closed. It was in a small, two-storey building. Below was the café. A tenant lived on the second floor. In the meantime, the tenant died too. The other day I stopped by the door. I noticed that they were preparing to start some work.

House prices are rising sharply in Lisbon, and in Portugal as a whole. Just to give you an idea, my apartment was valued at 120,000 euros in 2010. Nowadays, no one in my street can buy an apartment in need of refurbishment for less than 240 thousand euros.

It was interesting what an old card from an indoor soccer player with a real black and white photograph brought back for me. Not exactly linked to the photograph. But the association of ideas and facts that I've already experienced.

If anyone knows who he is, let me know. I don't know who I am. The others, even worse.

I hope I haven't bored you too much with my reflection today.

Cheers🍀

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Photos taken by @xrayman
Photographic edition with PhotoScape X