A house in Viseu

This humble old house is in a narrow cobblestoned street in a poorer neighborhood in the central Portuguese city of Viseu. Like many others of its type, the building is of stone and brick, and has a red tile roof. There are three levels, of which the lowest was probably once a cellar or store-room, or more likely a stable for domestic animals. It now has a door with a lock and a mail slot, so it was probably converted into a separate flat by the owner. The two upper floors form the original living quarters of the house, the front door of which is reached by ten stone steps flanked by rickety iron railings. One of them has lost an upright, making it unreliable, certainly for an older tenant. The doors, and especially the windows of the building are weathered and in serious need of new paint, as the large areas of bare wood testify. However, the cream-colored plaster of the wall appears to be in reasonable shape, and has perhaps recently been given a coat of paint, which is more than can be said for the houses on either side. The house on the right has a brick pillar from which most of the plaster or stucco has fallen away.

On the clothesline hang a pair of men's dark trousers, a pair of light blue men's pyjama trousers with a matching top, which has what appears to be a monogram or decoration above the right breast, a dish cloth and a kitchen towel. Perhaps we may surmise from these articles that the occupant of the upper flat is a single petit bourgeois male who, despite being in reduced circumstances, leads a simple, quiet and possibly solitary life, and who has succeeded in keeping his living quarters (rented, no doubt) in orderly fashion. It is likely that he walks to his place of employment, which may be close enough to be reached on foot, and that he carries his lunch with him. Is it possible that he has a lady friend who visits him from time to time, say, to mend the tear in the pocket of his trousers? It would not be surprising to me if in fact he does. The telltale signs are the colorful clothespins fastened here and there on the clothesline. These could only have been purchased by a woman.
-