Lisbon Cobblestones

From the Algarve we drove to Lisbon, where my wife has a conference and where we will end our three-month stay in Europe (plus Oman and UAE). We are staying at a hotel just off the Avenida da Liberdad, one of the grand avenues of Europe. Lisbon sidewalks, like those of many Portuguese cities, are paved with cobblestones; but here they tend to be small, cubic and nearly white, rather than the brick-sized and -shaped stones we see in other places. The Avenida da Liberdad has elegant black designs inlaid into the white.

I came upon a couple of workmen who were preparing white (actually light sand-colored) stones to do some repair work, and the pitchfork they used to scoop the stones off the back of their truck. 

A mini photo essay on urban maintenance!