Greetings once again from Porto, our happy place. Here's the latest news:
Our shipment finally arrived and there was no damage. Everything was packed so well and so tight. Since we'll be moving to our new flat in February, we opted not to have the movers unpack and put things away; however, we did have to unpack some boxes just to inspect for damages, since there is only a 30 day window to make a claim. I was thrilled that my big MAC computer arrived in perfect condition and is now my go-to computer. My laptop has been fine up to now but you see, I had an accident a few weeks ago and fractured my left forearm (I'm left handed so this is a real pain). My keyboard can be placed on my lap now, making it easier for me to type, though mostly I'm doing this with only my right hand.
So, what happened...we were walking back to our apartment after a day of shopping and I tripped on the uneven sidewalk and went sailing before crash landing on my left arm. I did manage to bang up my right knee, elbow and palm in the process. The pain was excruciating, and once I came to (I wasn't knocked out but I was completely dazed), Nick and a young man passing by were able to get me on my feet again. A waitress at a nearby cafe guided us to a table outside and brought me water while I was going through shock. After a few minutes I realized that the pain was so bad that I needed to get to urgent care, and the waitress called an ambulance for us and stood outside waiting for it to arrive so she could direct them to me. Four hours later we left the hospital with confirmation that I fractured my left radial something-or-other, my arm wrapped tightly and having finished an infusion of pain meds. I was lucky that everyone, including the paramedic, spoke English. Unfortunately for me, I won't be back to normal for some time. Losing the use of my dominant hand/arm is a new experience for me. Last week I returned for a follow up exam and it appears to be healing nicely. I'm to begin physical therapy in January. We paid nothing for the visit by the way. But enough about klutzy me.
For those who haven't seen my Instagram post from Halloween, I've attached a photo here.
The following week we attended a dinner celebration at our friend Solange's restaurant. It was the Sao Martinho (Saint Martin) celebration, which apparently is celebrated in many countries at this time of year. In Portugal it's also referred to as the "Summer of Sao Martinho. (a day to celebrate the maturation of the year's wine production) which involves roasted chestnuts and a particular Portuguese liqueur called Jeropiga, which is a sweet liqueur wine made from Brandy and wine must. The chestnuts were roasted in a baking dish with lots of salt...it was a lovely pairing. The story connected to this celebration involves a Roman soldier who was traveling on horseback in a horrible rainy storm when he encountered a poor beggar. The soldier was concerned about the poor man so he cut his warm cape into two pieces and wrapped one piece around him. At that moment the clouds and rain disappeared and the sun came out to warm them. According to Solange, every year at this time the cold weather disappears and we have sunny days, which is exactly what happened this year.
Ron, whose flat we're buying, invited us over for drinks recently and the plan was to go to dinner later in the evening. We arrived at 5:30 and he had a spread of crackers and cheeses along with drinks. He's such an interesting man...originally from Amsterdam, worked for KLM airlines, lived in a variety of places including Israel. He's traveled extensively and may be in Dubai at the moment. Before we knew it, it was almost 10, so the three of us walked over to a diner he frequents and had a late meal and then we walked home from there. I think we have a delightful new friend.
Recently, we started shopping for major pieces of furniture in earnest and now have those pieces set to be delivered in early February. Honestly, we've been to so many furniture stores, and for the most part, Nick has been an enthusiastic participant. We've been taking advantage of "black days" and "black week" sales recently, which is what they call them here. Porto is a big furniture shopping mecca, with some people coming all the way from the Algarve to shop here. A lot of wood furniture in particular is manufactured in and around Porto, and in fact, we ordered a custom made dining room table for a very reasonable price. Beds here are very interesting because box springs aren't used and the majority of bed frames that we've seen are platform style in various heights. They come in all kinds of finishes from real wood to fabric and you can even order headboards to match. Depending on the size of the bed, there will be one or two handles at the end of the bed for lifting the platform/mattress to reveal a huge storage space inside. They use hydraulic lifts so it's not hard to lift your mattress however it does take some muscle to pull it down again. Some even have special sections just for storing shoes but most are just big empty spaces for storing whatever. No more vacuuming under the bed or trying to pull out boxes from underneath the bed...very clever design.
We had a wonderful visitor for the past week who departed yesterday for Turkey where she had recently been living. It was a fun week showing Linda around, although that's not exactly what we did. Linda has lived in a number of countries and usually rents for a year or two before moving on to a new location, though she did fall in love with Vietnam and spent 9 years there. She is more interested in interacting with local people than in seeing all the tourist sites. though we did manage to show her a few. We took her to the new Mercado Bolhao which I talked about previously and I swear that any vendor who spoke English to her made a sale. She bought all kinds of produce from a variety of stalls as well as nuts, canned sardines, and cheese. She chatted with everyone. Her goal is to see what the people are like and then decide if this is a place she would want to live for a while. We also visited our favorite Vietnamese restaurant twice during her stay and she made friends with the owner and his wife. One day we accompanied her to the Turkish Consulate office here in Porto as she needed some assistance with her Turkish visa. Finding the office was very difficult and as we wandered around the huge office complex she asked a receptionist in a real estate office if she could help. Soon a realtor came downstairs and asked if he could assist us and before we knew it, he and Linda were discussing real estate because Linda had been a realtor. Meanwhile the receptionist was busy making phone calls trying to track down the location of the consulate's office. Soon a handsome young man walked into the office, the sole representative for the Turkish Consulate here (and only a part-time gig), however before we could accompany him to his office, both the realtor and the receptionist had to hug Linda goodbye. Then we found out that this young man is an architect and has a rather thriving business not only in Portugal but in a number of countries and one of their current projects is a concept store for Ikea. His office was full of staff working on projects but he took us to his conference room and offered us coffee and water before spending roughly half an hour with us chatting. By the time we left, the staff were all seated at one long table eating lunch and they were smiling and saying goodbye. It was a crazy, fun experience. My guess is that Linda will return to Porto early next year and investigate the rental market however Oaxaca, Mexico is still in the running as well. Rents have been going up steadily here due to the popularity of Portugal for expatriates.
Saturday Nick and I boarded the Metro to go downtown. My arm is still in the early healing stage so I had my sling on. The metro train was quite crowded and there were no seats available so Nick was trying to steer me safely to a standing section however this amazing little dance of sorts started when a woman noticed my arm in a sling and immediately offered me her seat. As I was trying to make my way there, others on board were reaching out trying to make sure that I got to the seat safely because the train was moving rapidly. Once I sat down another woman in the seat behind me got up so that Nick could sit near me, while yet another young man got up and gave his seat to the first woman who had given up her seat for me. It was this amazing bit of movement by a number of people all happening at once. I am always so impressed by the simple acts of kindness that I see from the Portuguese people.
On Wednesday we'll be taking the high speed train to Lisbon to spend a few days. I'm hoping we'll finally get to meet Gloria George in person. She used to reside in the same retirement community we did in Brentwood however we never met. It's only been since we both learned that we were moving to Portugal that we got connected so we're looking forward to meeting her in person.
Our language lessons continue, although I had to take a two week break after my fall. I normally take lots of notes when studying and I haven't been able to write. We've started watching television shows that are either in Portuguese with English subtitles or English shows with Portuguese subtitles. The more we see it the more words we come to recognize. Sometimes it feels like we're in a race to become fluent quickly and yet I know that for me it will take a few years to feel confident with the language. Nick is much better at this than I am.
That's all for now. Next week we'll be taking in all the Christmas light shows around town and checking out the Christmas fairs as well.
Adeus, abraços e beijos.