slowly she turned

Today we decided to take the train to Cascais. This was a cute, very touristy little beach town where the real estate prices are high. I had such a completely different mental picture of it! We had cheeseburgers for lunch, and I think this is when I realized that if you ordered a beef dish, it was probably gonna have a fried egg on it. Also, everyone we met had a different way of pronouncing Cascais. We wandered in and out of shops until I insisted on putting my toes in the Atlantic.

In my original plan, we were also going to nearby “don’t miss” Sintra. Well, we will have to see it next time we’re here.

Back to the apartment for a rest and a shower, then we headed back to the center of Lisbon to meet a friend’s sister and her husband. Now they are our friends too! We really hit it off with Emily and Van, who live in Braga, near Porto, and encouraged us to come back and visit that part of the country. They moved there five years ago and, as pretty much every American expat has told us so far, never regretted it. We wandered to the big square at the arch and then around to different restaurants until we finally settled on one. Emily and I had different kinds of paella. I went for the regional flavor and chose the seafood colored with cuttlefish ink. We had sangria and a bottle of Casal Garcia vinho verde, which I was happy to find in groceries later for 3,99 euros. (Note from home: Deep Roots carries it for $9.99! Yay!)

Before we met them, I insisted on going to the world’s oldest bookstore, established in 1739. I was disappointed because I had it confused with one of the world’s most beautiful bookstores. The building and business itself may have been old, but the interior was unimpressive and it was owned by a chain named Bertrand. Which reminds me…most of Lisbon and many other coastal towns was destroyed in the earthquake, tsunami, and fires of 1755. The oldest looking part of the bookstore was the ceiling. I noted that it had an art book about the Portland Japanese Gardens, one of my favorite places thousands of miles away that I hope to visit again.

Pastries in the window of a shop:

Busker with accordion at the arch. Some people were dancing:

We had another bad Uber experience, mainly because they have certain pick up places in Lisbon and I can’t identify them on a map by the addresses quickly enough. They canceled on me again. I suppose I will get better at that. The metro stop was right there so we took it back to the apartment.

This trip has certainly been a huge reality check so far. Sandy has been miserable with back pain. Lisbon is definitely off the list for places to live, although I never wanted to live in a big city anyway. We made a lot more room in our schedule for less sights and more rest.

Today we slept very late and Sandy really wanted pizza for lunch so we had a light lunch in one of the little cafes in the train station. I had a pastry with bacon and cheese. The bacon was more like chopped cubes of ham at home. Perfect for a snack. 

Then we got on the Metro and went to the Gulbenkian Art Museum, a private art collection from a very rich man who came to Portugal and fell in love with it, so donated his vast collection to the country. We took a quick walk through a refreshing garden to get there.

The collection ranged from ancient Egyptian art to 20th century. We were disappointed that the modern art building was closed for renovation, but the museum with the ancient to 18th century art was fascinating. Of course, I took special interest in the textiles. The fine silk tapestry panels were amazing. The second photo is showing part of a glass collection with a window looking out to a courtyard behind it. Below that, self portraits of Rembrandt and Van Dyke.

I was determined to get to the high spot in Lisbon: the Castilo de Sao Jorge. I called an Uber and actually managed to get it to pick us up! The driver was from Pakistan and we had a great conversation about his move to Lisbon. He dropped us off as close as possible to the pedestrian only street leading to the castle.  Sandy needed to sit so we lucked upon Chapita a Mesa with gorgeous views over Lisbon. It was around 3 pm so it was almost empty.  I drank three glasses of Vinho verde, the young sparkling wine that Portugal is famous for. Sandy had a fresh minty lemonade which I don’t think has been beaten yet for taste, and he drinks lemonade or iced tea everywhere. We had some bread and olives to soak up my wine. I think that this was the first time I relaxed since we left Greensboro.

There was also a Theater of the Absurd (?) outside the entrance to the restaurant with a lot of young people practicing. One young woman did a beautiful handstand in front of us, but we were not allowed to take photos because they were minors.

The walk up to the Castle wasn’t destined to happen, but I had had enough wine that I wasn’t too concerned about it any more, ha! An Uber took us back to the apartment. We had a nap before going around the corner to Tapas 129 for one of the best meals I had in Portugal so far…a salad with a sesame seed crusted tuna steak and sliced mangos on top. Sandy had barbecued spare ribs, which were very tender and tasty…rivaled NC sweet barbecue sauce. (He hates this photo – I asked him to look up and he was goofing. I love it because the looks happy.) And hallelujah, they had stout!

One very good thing about Portugal during a pandemic was that most of the time we ate outside and it was pleasant.

Sandy ended up taking the bed and I slept on the sofa bed, which I found more comfortable. With the fan blasting, the heat was not so bad. Everyone in Lisbon was complaining about the heat. The two issues I had was that the curtains were sheer and there was a bright streetlight next to the balcony doors, and the street noise was loud. In Lisbon, the garbage was picked up around 1 a.m., which made sense because of the crowded narrow streets. Our street was tiny but very, very busy.

We went to a pastelaria a few doors down and had ham and cheese omelets, then walked to the nearest museum… Museu Militar de Lisboa. This was an effort to make my miserable husband happier, but it exceeded my expectations. The building itself had seen a lot of its own history by the riverfront, as a arsenal and a palace. The displays ranged from suits of armor and medieval weapons, to the Napoleonic wars, to World War I. There were ridiculously sumptuous displays of gold and statuary. There was a room full of sculpted cartoonish figures from a contemporary artist that depicted dozens of the different kind of military workers, soldiers, and officers throughout time.

It was the sculpture above that captured me. I looked at it a long time and I could have spent more time. It depicted soldiers pulling an artillery cart at Flanders under attack as their commanding officer motioned them forward. The road was muddy and they could barely move. Death and shock is here.

We had planned to do more, but given the reality of our situation, we went back for a rest and a shower before going to the busy heart of Lisbon to meet some of my Women Over 50 Moving to Portugal Friendship FB group for happy hour and dinner at Granja Velha Restaurante. This time we rode on the Metro to a stop uphill and walked down to the restaurant. We went early so that we might have a little time to shop. I bought a small purse made from cork and some lovely cheap earrings. To my surprise they did not hurt my ears, so I must be allergic to silver. (Later I lost one, of course.) We rested near the famous Santa Justa elevator that was designed by the architect of the Eiffel Tower.

We had a great time meeting and chatting with my Facebook group, women who had come to Portugal from all over the world, but mostly the US. Some of us had made the move and some, like us, were checking the country out for the first time and considering emigration. I didn’t take photos of the event, but we had a great time. I had grilled salmon and Sandy had shrimp with garlic.

This morning we could see the edge of the Feira da Ladra from our little balcony. This is the big street flea market in Lisbon. It was next to the little park we sat in the evening before, next to the National Pantheon. It was a great mix of antiques, junk, more junk, new stuff, and your typical street vendors selling imported clothing.

I got lucky and found someone right away who was selling paper ephemera, old letters, and postcards. As I was looking over a pack of handwritten letters, an American woman leaned over me and said, “Please buy those so I don’t!” I offered them to her, and offered to split them with her, but she was serious. I asked her if she was a mixed media artist, but no, she said that she collected paper. Then she advised me on how to bargain. Sandy and I are NOT bargainers, but I showed the seller everything I had that should have totaled up to 20 euros and offered 15. She accepted, then as I walked away she came up behind me and handed me this. “A gift for you.”

It was a napkin with a handwritten note in ink on it, dated 1929.

I want to go back on Sunday and buy some old keys.

We had brunch at a little cafe next to the market, an omelet and scrambled eggs with toast that came with marmalade and a soft cheese that resembled the taste of ricotta. We went back through the market and bought sunglasses and straw fedoras to save our scalps from the sun. Mine was from an artist who was upcycling clothes into other items, especially neckties.

Sandy was struggling. He had to sit down every few minutes and there wasn’t any seating around. At one point he leaned against a tree and an older woman ran over with a folding chair for him to borrow. We walked back to the apartment, and I blogged about the day before, as I’m doing now. 

A few hours later, we decided to take a ride on the iconic tram of Lisbon, #28E. Actually, there were several other trams but this one happened to have the closest stop. Ouch, the stop was back uphill through the flea market and on the other side of a large church. When it got there, it was full so we stood with others in the aisle and nobody offered to give up a seat. Sandy finally snagged a seat about 20 minutes later when someone in front of him got up, and I leaned against his seat. It was a beautiful ride, but he was pretty miserable because he felt sick. Then at the end of the line, the tram stopped, and everybody had to get off. Fortunately there was another tram there that had seats for us both and we got on. I didn’t know where it went and we didn’t care. Then it happened again and again. Finally I spotted a Metro stop, and we took it back to the train station near our apartment.The Metro is underground, modern, and easy.

After we departed the Santa Apolonia station, we sat down at the first restaurant we saw. Continuing with my plan to get in the special things of Lisbon, I ordered a ginginja, a sweet cherry liqueur, and grilled sea bass. Whoops, it had a face! But it was simple and delicious. Even Sandy liked it, and he is not a fan of fish. His dish, however, was horrible. He ordered shrimp with spaghetti, which was drowned in a pink sweet sauce that tasted like a combination of Japanese steakhouse white sauce and Velveeta cheese, something neither of us would ever have guessed to put on pasta. Truly one of the nastiest things I have ever put in my mouth, and I will try almost anything. Hopefully we will have better luck tonight.

The walk to the apartment was very short but very steep. The stairs to the apartment are very steep and uneven. When we got there we both collapsed, but I spent the next few hours getting advice and researching a new plan for the next portion of our trip, which was meant to be Porto. I told Sandy that this vacation is not worth killing him. So we resolved to go next to a flatter place, and to use Uber. I cancelled the room in Porto and I found a nice old place in the center of Tomar with a terrace with a view, close to a train station. That’s where we will go after Lisbon. And then, I did not sleep until about 3 a.m. I am worried. This is a huge reality check for both of us.