Mary Lou's Portugal Journal #18

Greetings and Happy New Year!

I had a busy Christmas season visiting both Miami and northern CA and spending Christmas week in London. It was great to visit family and friends and see five out of eight grandchildren while in the U.S. Nick wasn't able to join me on that trip, but I did get to visit with his 92-year old sister while there. I will say that I was astonished at the high grocery prices in both Miami and the Bay Area. Unless I'm trying to find a special item that isn't typically sold here in Portugal, i.e. canned pumpkin, canned hominy, and Crisco, all of which cost a lot more due to import taxes, our prices for everyday items here such as chicken, fish, meat, eggs, bread, fruit/veggies and milk are definitely less expensive.

A few days after my return from the U.S. I had to sit for my first exam in Portuguese. Nick and most of the other students in the school took their tests on December 7. A small group of us who were traveling at that time sat for our test on December 19. It was a relief to finally have that test behind me. Grades won't be available until later in January because there are still some students who have to take the test sometime this month. The good news is that getting 50% correct is considered a passing grade so I'm sure I'll pass. Nick will likely pass with flying colors.

We didn't have a Pinheiro de Natal (Christmas tree) this year due to our plans to travel over Christmas. Here in Portugal people use only artificial trees or live ones in pots. It's actually illegal to cut down any kind of trees that are traditionally used for Christmas due to the environmental impact and what's viewed as wastefulness. Decorating the Christmas tree takes place on December 8th here and everything is taken down on January 6th. Families typically gather for Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and peru (turkey) is often served along with polvo (octopus) and bacalhão (cod - which is a staple here). Christmas presents are typically opened at midnight after the big feast. In school we learned to sing a traditional Christmas song called Pinheirinho, Pinheirinho (okay, we read the words but didn't actually memorize them) which is about decorating the Christmas tree and sung to the music of Jingle Bells.

In mid-December we bundled up and took our Christmas walk downtown in order to see all the street lights and decorations here. I posted many of the photos on Instagram and will try to post a few below. It was really nice to see that all the street lights/decorations were different from those we saw last year. There were lots of vendors set up to sell hot chocolate, crepes, traditional Portuguese liqueurs, roasted chestnuts, as well as many crafts and other Portuguese made items. We stopped along the way to enjoy a meal of delicious tapas before finishing our photo tour.

On Christmas Eve we flew to London (about a two hour flight) and spent the next six days enjoying that beautiful (and very expensive) city. We learned to use the underground while there, which was an easy way to get around the city and far less expensive than a taxi (!!) or Bolt/Uber. There are so many areas of town that put up beautiful Christmas lights and decorations and it was a feast for the eyes. I was constantly bumping into others as we were all trying to take pictures. London was very crowded with tourists. We enjoyed two exceptionally good shows while there: Tina the Musical (fabulous) and The Play That Goes Wrong (hysterical). One evening we were standing in front of an Italian restaurant, looking at the menu, when a couple and their two teenagers happened along and stopped to tell us that it was one of their favorite restaurants. Pat is originally from Canada but has been in the UK about 30 years and husband Adam is a native of London. We ended up having a lovely chat with them and hope to see them in the next few months when they visit Porto for the first time. We did end up dining at the restaurant Bocca Di Lupo and had a lovely meal so, if you find yourself in the Soho area of London, check it out. You do need reservations and they offer a "pre-theatre" dinner that is quite nice.

We returned home on December 30th and on New Year's Eve I watched a spectacular array of fireworks from our balcony for over 40 minutes. Our apartment faces west toward the ocean and there were fireworks going off all along the waterfront as well as in neighborhoods, so I had a spectacular view over many areas and felt quite festive. Nick crashed earlier and missed it all, sadly.

Wishing everyone good health and much happiness in 2024.

Adeus, abraços e beijos,

MaryLou

The first five were taken in Porto. The last one is from Carnaby Street in London, the most colorful decorations of all! If you can, please check out all my photos from London on Instagram or FB.

Mary Lou's Portugal Journal #17

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving however you chose to celebrate. We managed to celebrate it twice this year. On Thanksgiving Eve we attended a dinner for 55 expats (of which a large percentage were from CA) where we feasted on two huge turkeys cooked to perfection, with an assortment of side dishes and desserts. The event was held in an old, very eclectic building that was once a department store, so there are many display cabinets that are now filled with collections of antique toys, cameras, dolls, etc. There is even an old Fiat hanging on one wall. After our meal, we were entertained by a trapeze artist and musician. Some of my classmates also attended and dined with us. The following evening we had a wonderful potluck Thanksgiving dinner with the two couples we've become close with and their three teens. Here's what we learned about buying turkeys in Portugal: whole turkeys, fresh or frozen, are not sold in grocery stores/butcher shops, however you can order one for pick up, typically within a day. Once your order is placed, a turkey is butchered and transported, head and all (minus the feathers), to the shop. Our friends (and hosts) for Thanksgiving, Chala and Bob, found this out when they arrived to pick up the turkey. The butcher accommodated their request to remove all the unnecessary parts for them. We also discovered that cranberries are not a thing here, so we used lingonberries instead. I baked an apple pie using Portuguese flour (not gluten-free) but was pleasantly surprised that I was able to enjoy a piece myself because flour here isn't treated with Round-up, nor is it the hard red wheat grown exclusively in the U.S. I don't plan to get carried away, but it was really nice not to have a reaction to the flour.

On Monday (11/27) I arrived in Miami and spent a wonderful few days with our Miami based kids and grandkids. It was a wonderful visit and I was treated like a queen. Thursday evening I arrived in CA to spend a little time with family and friends and take care of some business before returning home in mid-December. Nick is holding down the fort in Porto. Now that I'm in a language school, it's a bit stressful to be leaving before our winter break, especially because our first written test is coming up in December. Fortunately, I will be able to join my class via Zoom on Mondays and Wednesdays however, it will be in the morning. The goal is to pass both the A1 and A2 classes over the next few years and earn a certificate for each. In order to bypass the written/oral test when applying for Citizenship, (after 5 years of residence) you must have completed and passed levels A1 & A2. Wish me luck.

One of the nice things about this language school is the fact that they also want to teach us about the culture. Each month they plan events and field trips to different places of interest. Last week we had a field trip to the local zoo and found it to be much more fun than we anticipated. The zoo features a beautiful light show each night, filled with models of all the various animals/fish/bugs that inhabit the zoo. I posted many photos from there on Instagram if you are interested. In December they have scheduled a cooking class which, unfortunately, I will miss.

On November 7th our Prime Minister resigned. Lots of intrigue! Advisors to the Prime Minister were actually arrested in order to be questioned and to prevent anyone from fleeing. This all revolves around possible "deals" made for lithium and green hydrogen projects. At this point, the Prime Minister himself has not been implicated however, they are investigating further, obviously, to see if he was involved. The good news is that as soon as he found out about the charges being leveled against members of his staff, he handed in his resignation to the President, so as not to be a distraction. The President then decided to dissolve the Parliament and call for new elections, which will be held in March. His decision to wait until March was to allow for the national budget to be finalized and approved by vote on November 29th, which is a good thing, because a minimum wage increase was due to go into effect in January. The new minimum wage will be 820 Euros/mo., an increase of 60 Euros/mo. That currently equates to about $876/mo. The Prime Minister is staying in place in a caretaker role until the elections in March.

We have no clue what to expect from this election. There is certainly talk of the "right wing" party called Chega, possibly winning, however, according to some people I've heard from, our "right wing" in Portugal would be considered center-right in other places. And we have six different parties as well. Having only come out from under a 50-year dictatorship in 1974, who knows what the people will want. This is still a very liberal country, but a poor one as well. Many people cannot even afford to buy a home. Young people can't afford to rent so they continue to live with their parents into their 30's. What I don't see as a big issue here is the hatred of immigrants that seems to be so polarizing in so many countries, so it remains to be seen whether that will become a big issue in the elections. Other than billboards, I've seen no campaign ads and am not even sure who is running yet (as residents, we are not eligible to vote). Whoever wins still has to build a coalition government. According to my instructor, Joanna, Portugal is known for being very collaborative by nature and a number of Portuguese officials have been elected many times over for bigger positions in the EU because of their willingness to work across the aisle, so we'll see what happens.

Stay well and stay safe. Wishing you a great holiday season!

Adeus, abraços e beijos,

MaryLou Photos in order: Pre-Thanksgiving dinner Thanksgiving at Chala and Bob's Evening walk through the zoo

Mary Lou's Portugal Journal #16

Greetings again from Porto,

I hope this email finds you all doing well and staying healthy. We enjoyed a very pleasant September weatherwise, until the last few days, when we had another heatwave. Yesterday, September 30, it hit 89 here, which is definitely not normal.

Ron, from whom we bought our flat, was back in Porto for a visit and came by to see what we've done to the place. We had a lovely visit with him, followed by lunch at the little cafe around the corner from our place. It was our lucky day because they were serving Duck Rice as the special that day and, in the seven years Ron lived in Portugal, he had never had it, nor even heard of it. It's definitely a Portuguese specialty and, when you find a place that makes it well, it's heaven. Lucky for us, our little neighborhood cafe knocked it out of the park! The following week, before Ron headed off to Lisbon, we again got together for lunch, this time in the arts district. While there, Ron introduced us to his friend Bruno, who runs a restaurant and is also an artist. Small world, Bruno lives in the building next to ours. We exchanged contact information and he invited us to attend his upcoming art show, which we did yesterday. Bruno also told me about an art support group he belongs to which meets monthly. Once I get a little more confident with the language, I would like to attend.

Our good friends Debra and Larry came to Porto for a visit, and we had a grand time playing tour guide. In the four days they were here we had great food, showed them as many sites as we could, and finished with another Douro Valley tour, which was, by far, the best one yet. Our tour guide, Violete, was a hoot. She had us laughing all day and taught us a Portuguese saying about women ... These are her words: "Portuguese women are called small sardines because we are small, juicy, and we can be eaten from top to bottom with no bones". 😂 The first winery we visited was organic, and it was fascinating to learn the process they had to go through to become certified organic. It takes years of clearing the fields, not to mention money, while your fields sit idle. The winery, Quinta Dos Castelares, not only makes very good wines, they also make great organic olive oil and honey. Our tour guide at the winery was a 22 year old young man, originally from Morocco, who has lived in many countries and speaks seven languages. He was living in Ukraine when the war broke out and made his way to Portugal, where our government helped him find work. The owner of the winery took him in and taught him everything about the business, and now he is teaching tour groups like ours about the winery and their products.

We started language school ... real school, not online, two days a week, running through early June 2024. We get the same holidays and vacations as regular school kids get. I'm in the beginning level A1 class along with friends Nicole, Andrew and Chala. Nick is the next level, A1/A2 class, because he's further along in his speaking abilities. He's already buried in homework tonight. I've mentioned before how difficult this language is but let me just say, there are five different ways to pronounce the letter x; each verb is conjugated based upon the pronoun; there are six different conjugations for each verb tense; and, don't forget accent marks: á, à, ê, ç, and ã (there are many more). And then we have sounds, some of which are very nasal. Not to say there aren't other difficult languages one could learn, just sayin'.

FYI, If you are planning to travel to Europe in 2024, there is apparently a new process that applies for anyone, so be sure to check out the ETIAS website: https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias_en to learn more. Once your application is approved (and that can take up to 30 days from what I've read) it will be valid for three years. Don't wait until the last minute to apply.

Good news ... the Portuguese government is starting to discuss the possibility of legalizing recreational marijuana. From what I've read, the real discussions will begin next year, but there is hope!

I finally got around to applying for my driver's license exchange. After completing my application online and submitting copies of a number of documents, including verification from my doctor and opthamologist that I'm healthy and can see to drive, I attended my appointment a few days ago. The clerk took my AZ driver's license and gave me a document that I must carry with me if I intend to drive in Portugal (it's apparently not useful anywhere other than here). He informed me that I should receive my Portuguese driver's license within the next six months (no guarantee). Nothing in government happens quickly here, we just have to be patient. We still have no plans to own a car here but, when traveling elsewhere I will need one sooner or later.

Remember the new radar on the highways that I mentioned in my last email? Well, in the first 24 hours after installation, 6,000 speeders were caught. Tickets are a minimum of 60 euros so, do the math. I'm not sure I would want to drive in Portugal!

I wish you all a very happy October. This year we will be better prepared with candy, as we don't want any more toilet paper hanging on our doorknob.

Adeus, abraços e beijos,

MaryLou

Pictured below are some shots from Debra and Larry's visit, including lunch at a winery, a shot of a terraced vineyard, and one from our short cruise on the Douro River.

Mary Lou's Portugal Journal #15

Greetings to all and I hope this email finds you in good health and not suffering from heat stroke, flooding or fires.

August was a warm month here in Portugal, even in Porto. Keep in mind that in Porto we think temperatures in the 80's are too hot (and we had about 10 days in the 80's this month) plus two days that hit 92. Fortunately for us, our part of town is located near the ocean, so we tend to get some ocean breezes in the afternoons and evenings, whereas the downtown area near the river is always a bit warmer. On the few really warm days here we were able to lower our outside blinds to block the sun from heating up our apartment too much and, thanks in large measure to our five floor fans, we were fine. Typically, Porto stays in the 70's in the summer, and lucky for us, we returned to those temperatures last week. In the town of Pinhão, located northeast of us in the Douro Valley, it recently hit 114. Now, the Douro Valley area is looking at changing their harvesting schedule due to the heat; they may schedule harvesting at night. In another town called Paderne, located in the Algarve, where it is always warm to hot in the summer, it got so hot that a pumpkin being grown for competition started splitting apart. The grower has apparently won contests previously and this pumpkin had already reached 730 kilos (1,609 lbs. ... how is that even possible?) before it bit the dust due to excessive heat. While Portugal overall wasn't hit by the really excessive heat that enveloped a lot of southern Europe this summer, particularly in July, I'm starting to read warnings from our government that we need to prepare for warmer temperatures going forward thanks to global warming.

We decided to try and take advantage of a recent government offering that would reimburse us for a portion of costs if we made energy efficient changes to our home. Our apartment would benefit greatly if we installed energy efficient, dual paned windows in our dining room and kitchen, as our windows are the original ones installed 49 years ago. So off we went to find window installers who would come and give us a quote. Well ... it's August, and Europeans are on vacation in August. So far, we've been to three different places, including the Home Depot equivalent called Leroy Merlin, and no one has yet to call us to arrange a meeting. We've given our contact information and what we're looking for, but so far, nada. Everyone is supposed to return to work tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. Interesting side note here ... while in Leroy Merlin, I thought I would look at ceiling fans, but guess what ...apparently ceiling fans are not a thing here. There wasn't a single one. I wonder if it has to do with construction materials used here?

Early this year we attended a function at a local gin distillery (and bar) here in town called Scoundrel's, and Nick felt it was time to purchase another bottle of their award winning "Invicta" gin. Travis, the owner, told us to come by at 5 pm because he was conducting a gin making class that afternoon. When we arrived, he still had one student lingering there who eventually came to join us for a drink and chat. Travis is originally from Australia and his student, Sam, also an Aussie, was here visiting from Melbourne. We learned that Sam and his brother own three quite successful restaurants in Melbourne and Sam was here sourcing Port wine and other beverages, as well as learning to make gin. He gave us a taste of his batch from the class, and it was pretty good. Eventually, we were joined by another guy, Jim, who came in with his suitcase, having just landed here. Jim is originally from Austin, TX, and is a diplomat for the American Embassy in Poland. We also learned that Jim is an investor in Scoundrel's. It was such a fun and interesting few hours for us.

Upon leaving Scoundrel's, it was really time to get some dinner so we headed down to the Cedofeita area of town, which is very trendy and full of restaurants. There we made a great discovery ... Mexican food ... authentic Mexican food! Callejero is owned by Laura, a young woman from Spain, and the chef is from Mexico. The food was great, and Callejero will now be our go-to spot when craving Mexican food (because there just aren't many places here that even offer it, let alone do it right). Yes, we have Taco Bell, but really ... that requires desperation.

Our friends, John and Mary Lou, from New Jersey, were back in town, and we had them over for cocktails and snacks before heading out to dinner at one of our favorite fish restaurants. This is the couple we met last year while standing at a bus stop here in town. It was great fun to spend an evening with them again before they head off to do the Camino de Santiago walk in a portion of Portugal. I didn't even know what the Camino walk was until we moved here, and now we see people on this pilgrimage fairly often. It actually dates back to medieval times. The ultimate goal is to make it to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. In addition to the route through Portugal and the route through Spain, there is also a route through France.

Last night we got together for dinner with two couples we've become great friends with who all live here in Porto now. We had a discussion about some of our frustrations with the healthcare system and the immigration system. Both are just way too bureaucratic and hard to get used to. All three couples need to update addresses with the immigration service, but we're all finding that next to impossible. With regard to healthcare, I think once we actually get assigned to any specialists we might want/need by our PCP, it will hopefully get easier, but it does take a lot of time and patience. Emergencies are handled very well here, but the day to day needs so far are a bit frustrating. There is a shortage of doctors in some areas, particularly in the Algarve where some towns have no doctors at all. The government is actually trying to recruit a bunch of doctors from Brazil to come to the Algarve to work. Interestingly, one in our group was able to get in to see a pain doctor early on and was prescribed cannabis. He described some kind of vaporizer that is used with it, and he gets his script filled at a local pharmacy. I was very impressed that cannabis can be prescribed. It's definitely not sold retail here however. Recently, I read that a variety of studies have shown that Americans feel more pain than European patients. Is it that Europeans have a greater tolerance for pain? IDK. Paracetamol is the typical pain medication used here, which is like Tylenol. If a stronger medication is really needed, you might get Tramadol, but only a few tablets for the first few days. They won't prescribe it for longer term use. It was interesting to read that the U.S. makes up 4.4% of the world's population and consumes 80% of the world's opioids.

One of our neighbors, Daniel, called me recently to see if we could use some potatoes. His father-in-law has a farm up in the Douro Valley, and Daniel's wife was on her way home with a bunch of potatoes. He called me a little later to tell me to send Nick down to the garage and pick out a bag of potatoes ... well, there were three bags, probably 40 pounds each. We took one bag and have been gifting potatoes to everyone we know because we can't possibly eat all these. They are very good potatoes, I must say.

I'm so glad that we don't own a car and drive here! Portugal is installing new radar on the roads beginning September 1st. Unlike normal radar that we're all used to, these new devices don't check your speed but rather calculate how fast you drove between two points, thereby assessing whether you drove faster than legally allowed between two points on a given route. I wonder if Siri will know the difference and will still warn you of upcoming speed traps? I don't know if it records your license plate so a ticket can be mailed to you or if there will be more police on the roads. One thing you should know about traffic tickets here ... if you get pulled over, you have to pay the fine right then on the spot and not with a credit card. So if you plan to drive in Portugal, be sure you have cash with you.

I leave you with a couple of photos: me in front of Scoundrel's and dinner with John and Mary Lou.

Adeus, abraços e beijos,

MaryLou

Mary Lou's Portugal Journey #14

Greetings on this last day of July,

This has been a busy month. My last posting was from Palermo, Sicily where at IL Culinario restaurant we were introduced to the most wonderful gin & tonic made with Rose Gin (exclusively from the Mt. Etna region) adorned with pomegranate seeds. It is their specialty drink, so if you go to Palermo, try that restaurant. From there we headed to Taormina, definitely the jewel in the crown for Sicily, situated high in the hills. We took a bus from the train station to get to our lodgings. The road twists and turns with hairpin curves ... not something I would want to drive, as every other vehicle was a bus of some sort. Don't say I didn't warn you if you decide to visit Taormina ... don't drive. The town itself is enchanting and almost looks like a Disney set. The beautiful old buildings are well cared for and everything is kept very clean, unlike Palermo. High-end shops line the streets and there's an abundance of restaurants to choose from. You can see Mt. Etna in the distance, which was still erupting while we were there. An easy way to get to the beach is by way of the cable car (Mazzaro Taormina Funivia), the upper one, which lands below four minutes later at the Mazzaro and Isola Bella beach area, was very close to our lodging. Now, let me say that it is quite beautiful, however, the big round rocks on the beach make it near impossible to walk in comfort without sneakers. There is another sandy beach nearby, however, we didn't get there. After spending four lovely days in Taormina, we had to get back to Trapani for our flight home, however, the train and bus schedules were not accommodating as neither of us wanted to spend 12 hours to get there. Instead, we rented a car and, since I was the only one who remembered to have my driver's license with me, I drove. We passed through Catania, home to Mt. Etna, where it was quite hazy and not suitable for a visit. Less than 5 hours later we were back in Trapani for another day before heading home.

A few days later, our son Nicholas, wife Gracie and two darling granddaughters, Isa and Ava, arrived for a visit. Kudos to them for traveling from Miami to Porto with a one year old and four year old. We had a grand time while they were here. Nicholas rented a large SUV/van, and drove us everywhere. We took another wonderful tour of the Douro Valley, and I finally got to snap some photos of Magellan's birthplace in Sabrosa on the way when we stopped for a coffee break. Incidentally, Magellan was born in 1480, and his original childhood home, while not still in the family, is still in use today by another family, and apparently on occasion they open it up to visitors to show some of the original furniture that is still in the home. But back to our visit ... in addition to seeing Porto and Gaia, we visited Guimarães (Isa had to see a real castle, after all), Viana do Castelo, and finally Braga. Somehow, some of us managed to have ice cream every day ... Nick is a very bad influence on small children! That was our first visit to Viana do Castelo and sadly, it started raining when we arrived, so we didn't really get to see much of the town. We had lunch, hoping it would pass, but unfortunately it didn't, so we returned to Porto. The nice thing about visiting these towns is that each is only an hour or less from Porto. We will definitely return to Viana do Castelo. Otherwise, the weather was beautiful here for them and a welcome respite from the heat in Florida. Hopefully, they will return next year to see more of our beautiful country.

Speaking of heatwaves, it's been crazy to see so much of the U.S. in such extreme heat, and I hope this finds you avoiding the heat, however possible. Some of southern Europe has also been hit with extremes, however, here in Porto we've stayed in our typical summer highs in the 70's and on occasion a low 80. Fingers crossed that it stays that way. I read that it's due to something called the Azores Anticyclone which serves as a protective shield against the warm masses coming from Africa. The Lisbon area and the Algarve, however, have had some high temperatures and wildfires, but nothing too extreme. A few days ago I woke up to a foggy morning, which reminded me of my time in Pacific Grove, CA. It burned off quickly, however.

We're in that time of year when there are lots of festivals (Portugal has 150 festivals a year) and every night we hear and see fireworks, mostly from the beach area in Matosinhos. It's amazing that this takes place nightly, but it really does. And we're really not sure if something is being celebrated or whether it is just a thing here. I've tried googling it but find no information, so maybe they just celebrate the summer nightly?

Recently I went on my first "girls night out" with friends Nicole and Chala. We attended a meet-up with women from the Absolutely Fabulous Women of Porto 35+ FB group at a local wine tasting shop. The organizer is a Belgian woman and three of us were originally from the U.S. but the rest were from Switzerland, South Africa, Turkey, Russia, and France. It was a fun evening and I look forward to more of these get-togethers.

National health doctors started striking last week, though strikes here are different. This strike lasted for three days, and subsequent ones will likely be the same. No one stays on strike until demands are met, rather they announce what days they will strike before returning to work. I think I've mentioned before that our train system is the same ... I get a weekly email letting me know which trains/destinations will be on strike and on what days.

Yesterday, we visited the National Museum Soares dos Reis here in Porto. One of the nice things about living here is that on Sundays entrance to all museums and monuments is free to residents. This art museum is housed in an 18th century palace and named for a famous Portuguese artist who was quite talented in sculpture, painting and drawing. Other Portuguese artists are also on display as is a wonderful collection of furniture, silver and jewelry. Because of Portugal's history of dictators, often certain types of art weren't allowed, so many artists went to Paris to study and eventually brought their works and talents back to their homeland later.

I will end with the news that recently an 82 ft. whale was seen off the Algarve coast. The photo of this whale was amazing!

Adeus, abraços e beijos,

MaryLou

Mary Lou's Portugal Journal #13

Hard to believe but today, June 29th, is our one year anniversary living in Porto. When I look back at the journey to get here as well as the journey to get settled I can say that without a doubt we are living the life we wanted to live. It was never about replicating our life in the states. We've always talked about living in Europe but we had careers and family to consider. For me it was finally realizing that my grandkids were teens and didn't need me like they did when they were younger...picking them up from pre-school, etc. Once we moved to Arizona I was really only seeing them twice a year anyway. Our adult kids have lives of their own and don't require much from us. Certainly Covid changed our lives immensely as I'm sure it did for all of you but it was another wake up call to get busy and do what we want to do before it's over. We are living our lives now in an apartment of about 900+ sq ft.; we have no car and don't care to ever own one again; we've mastered public transportation here; and we've made some great friends and they aren't all Americans. And now we're getting to do the traveling that we wanted to because it's so easy to do from here both time-wise and $$. In fact, as you are reading this, we are in Sicily! Ryanair started direct flights from Porto to Sicily this summer so we decided to take advantage of it. It's a 2.5 hour flight. And no, we're not staying in the same hotel that you saw in White Lotus ... that's over $1500/night. I'll be posting pictures on Instagram/FB.

If you saw any of my pictures on Instagram and/or FB this month you saw my daughter Erinn and my grandchildren Zoe and Owen. This was their first trip abroad and we tried to make it a fantastic one. They loved Porto and did all the touristy things here. We took a great city tour on a tuk tuk that taught us a lot about the history of the city as well. Lisbon, Belem, Cascais and Sintra were also on our whirlwind tour. We toured the Pena Palace in Sintra which was amazing. Hard to fathom that it was strictly a "summer home" for someone. If you visit Lisbon you really should swing by Belem to see the statue honoring the famous Portuguese navigators and taste the incredible Belem Natas which are supposed to be the very best. I even ate one and I'm gluten-free but this was worth it (and I didn't even have a reaction). Also, lesson learned in Lisbon ... don't book a hotel near all the action, i.e. for us it was near Pink Street. The electronic music (is it really considered music?) was loud, pulsing noise that lasted until 5 a.m. The hotel provided earplugs but those didn't help a bit.

Another lesson learned this month ... ALWAYS zip my purse. Now, I know that but I failed to do it when I picked up Erinn and the kids at the airport and we took the metro and bus back to our house. While standing on the metro a man came up to me and started asking questions about where the next stop was while pointing to the map up above the doors. I was trying to be helpful and pointing out where we were and what the next stop was and thought nothing more of it. Late that same evening when I finally logged into my email, lo and behold I had a number of emails from credit card companies asking if I really charged 1900 euros at one electronics shop, paid a TIP of 164 euros 7 times, and a few other numerous charges. As soon as I first discovered it was missing my daughter and grandkids all thought it was the guy on the metro train who was asking me questions. Fortunately the companies flagged the charges as suspicious and we won't be charged. My bigger concern then was that my new Portuguese Resident card was in there along with my AZ driver's license, my CA credit union debit card, my Portuguese bank debit card and my insurance cards. After making a trip to the police station to file a claim, we set out to try and get an appointment with the SEF (immigration services) to obtain a replacement card. No luck there. They aren't accepting appointments at this time and we were told that we need to check their FB page to find out when they open new appointments. A funny little side note about filing the report at the police station ... the officer wanted to see the photocopies of my Resident Card and DL, which I provided. When looking at my driver's license he commented that he saw I was an organ donor and thought that was very nice. I asked him if Portugal has the same program and he said "no, unfortunately we just have to wait until an accident happens" and kind of smiled.

Last Friday I was surprised to receive a phone call from the police ... They had my wallet and wanted me to come pick it up. We hurried over to the central station that handles all lost and found and got my wallet back, minus the credit cards (which were all cancelled and replaced in the meantime). Thankfully my Resident card, driver's license, medical cards, even my U.S. credit union debit card were still there. They didn't catch the person who stole it unfortunately. It was found at a nearby shopping center where many of the charges were attempted.

Friday was also the Sao Joao (pronounced sou...like sour without the r...joe wow) festival in Porto celebrating the birth of St. John the Baptist. This is the biggest festival of the year and in Portugal it's only held in Porto. This holiday goes back about 700 years and always takes place on the evening of June 23. The historic district and the riverfront area are packed with people but every neighborhood also celebrates it with smaller parties and fireworks. On the riverfront it's standing room only by nightfall and there is some heavy drinking taking place. Grilled sardines are traditional as is a pig roasting on a spit, of which we saw many. Beer vendors were lined up about 10 feet apart on both sides of the river. Restaurants charge more that night too. The really unusual part of this celebration is the plastic hammers. They were everywhere that night and people hit each other over the head with them. Now these are soft plastic (see photo below) and they squeak when you hit them. I would have taken more photos that night however I was getting hit in the head (and hitting others with my hammer) to bother. We met one couple from Germany that evening at dinner and they have been coming to this festival every year for the last 12 years. When we arrived at the airport on Sunday for our flight to Sicily we saw many people with hammers sticking out of their backpacks. Fireworks are set off from the Dom Luis Bridge at midnight, after which the crowd at the riverfront starts walking (staggering) to the Foz (over 4 miles) to continue the party. When I say crowd, I mean thousands of people packed together. I saw a photo taken last year that you can see in this article https://portoalities.com/en/everything-about-sao-joao-festival-in-porto/. We decided not to take part in that walk. The sky was filled with sky lanterns that are powered by fire ... really a beautiful sight. We were home before midnight and watched the fireworks from our balcony.

As I mentioned, we are now in Sicily. We landed in Trapani on Sunday and spent the first two nights there. Now we're in Palermo and on July 1st we will take the train to Taormina where White Lotus was filmed. Trapani is a cute harbor town. Palermo is the capital of Sicily and has some beautiful buildings, however the town is full of trash/litter. We've both been really amazed by how dirty it is here. So far the food has been very good.

Finally, another observation about living in Portugal. Strangers say "bom dia, boa tarde, or boa noite" (depending on the time of day) as they pass by us. Emails and phone calls always begin with a greeting and inquiry as to our well being and end with gratitude. Portuguese people are always very polite, which is another reason why we love living here.

Mary Lou's Portugal Journal #12

Greetings,

I hope this finds you all in good health and ready to enjoy the summer.

We enjoyed having my sister and brother in law here for two weeks. After visiting Guimarães (see my last write-up) Bonnie and Randy spent 5 days seeing a bit of Lisbon, Cascais and Sintra before returning to Porto. Anxious to see the Douro Valley we booked a tour and spent the day visiting a couple of wineries, learning a lot about the stomping of the grapes (body heat and sweat are an important part of it) and why the soil in the Douro Valley is so perfect for growing wine (it's the shale). On the way there, our tour made a coffee/pastry stop in the very charming town Amarante. As we were walking around I was rather surprised to see an unusual pastry in a shop window, see photo attached. My sister ran in and purchased one for Nick, and yes, it has a creamy filling and it's the official pastry of the town. Wanting to know more about this unusual pastry I googled it and learned the following: Amarante is sedate and conservative town obsessed with cakes shaped to look like the male member. São Gonçalo the 13th-Century saint, is said to have settled in the town after making pilgrimages to Italy and Jerusalem as a Benedictine monk, and while no claims are being made about his physical attributes, legend holds that he was possessed of Cupid-like gifts. The cakes, known locally as doces fálicos (literally, “phallic sweets”) are handed out together with locally-harvested dried figs at ceremonies held each January (on the anniversary of São Gonçalo’s death) to usher in a “fertile and favorable” year. It’s a tribute to the cakes’ popularity and, ahem, staying power, that they are available at all today—banned as “obscene” by the right-wing dictatorship that took control of Portugal in the 1920s, the cakes were baked and exchanged in secret until the Carnation Revolution of 1974—the peaceful uprising that returned Portugal to Democracy.

May is college graduation time here in Portugal and there were huge celebrations for a week. Called the Queima das Fitas (Burning of the ribbons), graduating students enjoyed a wide range of activities from parading around town in their uniforms with colorful top hats and canes, attending nightly concerts by well known national bands, drinking, attending teas and a gala ball, drinking, and burning the ribbons which signify which academic studies they pursued (Law - red; Medicine - yellow; Humanities - dark blue; Science and Technology - light blue; Pharmacy - purple; Economics - red and white; Psychology and Education Sciences - orange; and Sports Sciences - brown). While we didn't attend any of these events, many of which are open to the public, we heard them every night because the large city park nearby was the main location for all the concerts. Lots of drums!

May was also the time for the huge Eurovision event. While I have heard the term before I never really paid attention to it until now. This event is bigger than the Super Bowl, even bigger than Beyonce and this year 162 million people turned in to watch. All European countries have their own competition to select the best song/performer to represent their country. I love Portugal's entry this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NmF5otCtqU. Unfortunately, this year's winner was Sweden. Notable winners in the past include Celine Dion (Switzerland) and Abba (Sweden), while others who participated in the past and didn't win include Lulu (UK), Olivia Newton-John (UK), Englebert Humperdinck (UK), and Julio Iglesias (Spain).

Property taxes here are due in May and though we applied for the 3-year exemption we're allowed, we received a notice telling us we were approved for two years instead so we headed to the local finance office to get clarification (and we were able to get the three-year exemption). While waiting in line the gentleman in front of us heard us speaking English and started chatting with us. Jamie is from Southern CA and his wife is originally from Sacramento. They moved here 1.5 years ago and they too purchased an apartment and were trying to verify their exemption. As it turns out, Jamie is also the volunteer head of the Porto chapter of Afpop, which is an organization that helps expats from all over the globe here in Portugal. He invited us to attend a tour of the Super Bock facility in Matosinhos the following day with his group. Super Bock is the #1 selling beer in Portugal and while I don't drink beer, the tour was great. The brand was founded in 1927 and has won 39 gold medals. In 1927 the CEO realized that most of their workers had to walk great distances to get to work and were exhausted when they arrived. This was during the Salazar regime when most people were too poor to own a car, so the CEO decided that they would serve breakfast to all employees when they arrived at work ... a practice that is still in force today. Then he decided to invest in some buses to pick up the employees and bring them to work and take them home at the end of the day. Salazar wouldn't allow the Portuguese to drink anything other than beverages made in Portugal so Super Bock also started producing a coca cola type beverage (Snappy Cola) as well. Today they have a number of lines of sodas, bottled waters, ciders and even wines. At the end of the tour there was a tasting with pairings of cheeses and nuts.

Last weekend was Navy weekend ... similar to Fleet Week in San Francisco. We headed down to the Ribeira to see, as did everyone else in town. There were three large ships on display on the river but only one that was open for touring, a large sailboat that is used for the initial training of all sailors. When we arrived on Saturday afternoon we discovered a mile-long line of people waiting to go onboard, so we decided to come back on Sunday morning when they opened. Unfortunately we encountered another mile-long line of people who had the same idea. There's always next year.

We were delighted to see some old friends from Brentwood when they were visiting Porto this past week and enjoyed a great meal and conversation. I was bummed that the weather turned cloudy that evening, preventing them from viewing the awesome sunset over Porto but they didn't seem to mind. It was wonderful to see them all again and catch up.

Last night (actually Sunday morning) we were treated to a half hour long fireworks display from our balcony, taking place in the neighboring city of Matosinhos. Every May Matosinhos holds a festival, considered to be one of the high points of religious pilgrimages of not only the district but also the whole country. Called the Festival of our Lord of Matosinhos, it is three weeks of recreational, cultural and sports events culminating with a huge fireworks display that starts at midnight. We figured it was better to stay up to see it than go to bed and be awakened by all the explosions.

Tomorrow, May 29 we'll be heading to Sitges, Spain, a beach town about 30 minutes south of Barcelona. Our friend Linda is house-sitting for a friend and has invited us to come stay with her. We're looking forward to seeing Linda again and checking out Sitges. We'll return a few days before my daughter Erinn and my grandchildren Zoe and Owen arrive for their first visit. June and July are packed full of visitors and trips.

And finally, here are a few more things I 've learned: Portugal consumes more wine per capita than any other country in the world. While Americans aren't the largest group of expats in Portugal, 40% of American expats in Portugal are from CA. And finally, romaine lettuce doesn't seem to exist here.

Adeus, abraços e beijos,

MaryLou

Mary Lou's Portugal Journal #11

Greetings everyone.

April has been interesting mainly because we got to learn a lot about the Portuguese revolution of 1974 and because my sister Bonnie and BIL (brother-in-law) Randy are here for their first visit to Portugal. It was a month featuring a number of holidays, when most things were closed ... Good Friday, Easter of course, and Dia da Liberdade (April 25th) - more about that in a moment.

Remember my story about our lost luggage back in December and my suggestion to buy Apple Trackers? On her trip over here, my sister had one checked bag and a couple of carry ons. She did have a tracker in her bag that remained in the Dallas airport for the first two days of her arrival here. She was four days without most of her things so the first day with us was a shopping day to acquire some basic clothing items: toiletries, undies, girl stuff, etc. Fortunately pharmacies here are very accommodating, so Nick took her to one nearby, and Bonnie was able to obtain a couple of weeks' worth of her prescription medicine just by showing them a photo of what she was taking. Summer travel time is coming ... please do yourselves a favor and put Apple trackers in all checked bags. And good news for us, United Airlines finally reimbursed us for the full amount of our claim which was over $600 for clothing and toiletry items we had to purchase while waiting for our luggage to finally arrive back in December.

We attended another InterNations event a few weeks ago at a local bar downtown. These events are typically attended by a wide range of folks from all over the world but that night we encountered a number of Americans. We were surprised at how many Americans we met that evening who live up here in the north because it's more common for Americans to choose Lisbon or the Algarve region. While Brits, Germans, Brazilians, and Dutch have been the largest source of immigrants in Portugal, Americans seem to be on the rise.

Easter is a time that the Portuguese actually eat lamb, so we were finally able to find some nice lamb chops for our dinner. It's not that you can't find lamb here but it's just not as readily available. Portuguese love beef, chicken and pork, and of course, fish is king here, in particular salted cod (bacalhau). Once soaked to remove the salt, it is used in many delicious dishes here in Portugal.

Ed and Rhonda (mentioned many times in previous write-ups) were back in Portugal with some friends of theirs from Canada. We had a great dinner with them down on the riverfront and the following day they all came over to see our new place. We also got to show it off to our friends from Little Rock, Andrew and Nicole. It's nice to finally feel settled enough to have friends over. Our new dining room table finally arrived, the replacement for the one that burned up in the warehouse fire back in February. We're quite pleased with it. We're waiting on our final two pieces of furniture, a bookcase and a shoe cabinet, that will be delivered sometime in late June or July.

I've been trying to finally get some pictures hung on the walls and it's tricky because we have concrete walls. Some smaller pieces I was able to hang using some clever hangers that don't require a drill. I hung a large piece using Velcro hangers with adhesive on the back ... think of those Commando stick-ons only these are the super weight ones. My biggest issue has been one piece that I wanted to hang in our hallway. The first time I hung it we were abruptly awakened in the middle of the night by a loud crash. I went running into the hallway in the dark and stepped right on the frame which had broken apart. After returning to Ikea to buy another frame and try it again, it once again crashed and broke. This isn't even a heavy piece...it's a drawing of the bridges in Porto. I think the paint on that wall must be averse to anything hanging on it, and now there is a chunk of paint missing as well. Maybe I just need to paint a picture on that wall.

The biggest event in April in Portugal is Dia da Liberdade which falls on the 25th. This is a national holiday celebrating the 1974 revolution that ended fifty long years of the fascist government and re-established democracy in the country. It also commemorates the first free elections which took place exactly one year later on April 25, 1975. Known as the Carnation Revolution, it was a bloodless, leftist, military led coup. Four people were killed when PIDE (government thugs) opened fire on a group of protestors. The revolutionaries didn't resort to violence; instead, they persuaded the Army to join them. At a square in Lisbon, a waitress and a flower vendor handed out red carnations among the crowd who in turn placed them into the rifle muzzles of the now cooperative soldiers. This ended the longest running authoritarian regime in Western Europe. It's been fascinating for us to learn about the history of our new country. Under the Salazar regime which started in 1933, there was no freedom to speak in opposition to the government, no freedom of association or thought. Women were not allowed to vote and couldn't travel without permission of their husbands. In fact, they were under the thumb of a husband, a father or a brother depending on their situation. Journalists who wrote in opposition to the government were often jailed, beaten or murdered. If any of this sounds somewhat familiar just remember that history often repeats itself.

The evening before, there was a huge celebration in downtown Porto that began at 10 p.m. A huge stage was set up in the square and a great band performed for the first 1.5 hrs. We loved the music although we had no idea what they were singing/saying. There were lots of red carnations in the crowd. At 11:30 a choral group from Universidade do Porto performed. Just before midnight they started singing a beautiful song and suddenly the whole crowd began singing along (I posted a video on Instagram). At midnight fireworks erupted. We later learned that the song everyone was singing is considered one of the national anthems of Portugal called Grandola Vila Morena, written by a Portuguese folk musician who was banned from Portuguese radio at the time. The leaders of the military coup used two different songs as signals leading up to the overthrow. First, they took over a radio station (which were all controlled by the government) and played one song that signaled the military troops to begin their advance. The second song, played 1.5 hours later was Grandola Vila Morena, which signaled the military coup to begin taking over strategic points of power in the country. Residents were encouraged to stay indoors however they fled to the streets instead and suddenly Lisbon was filled with residents cheering for the change. We watched the movie about this called "April Captains" on YouTube (also on IMBd tv). While most of you probably don't have any interest, two of my friends on this distribution list are childhood friends who are Portuguese so, Barbara and Judy, if you haven't seen this movie, I hope you will.

Yesterday we took a bus to Guimaraes with my sister and BIL, which is a town less than an hour away. Guimaraes is considered the birthplace of Portugal (in 1128) and is a well-preserved medieval town definitely worth a visit. It's easy to walk around the historic center and see all the historic sites. We toured the Palace of the Dukes of Brangaca and the castle next to it where a major battle was fought. Later we happened upon a large crowd dancing to accordion music in one downtown square, much like what we saw in Braga last year. It appeared to be a rather spontaneous event and went on for a few hours. Before leaving Guimaraes last night we encountered a darling young woman named Joy, originally from Kentucky, who married a Portuguese guy she met in college. They chose to move back to his hometown of Guimaraes thirteen years ago where she now has a pottery studio and conducts classes. Hearing her switch from her Kentucky accent to speaking Portuguese beautifully was a treat.

It's been fun having Bonnie and Randy here to show them the sights in Porto. Tomorrow they will travel down to Lisbon and spend time checking out the sights there and in Cascais and Sintra before returning to Porto at the end of the week when we will then take a tour of the Douro Valley.

Finally, here are a few more things I've learned since living here: stick deodorant is almost non-existent here. I just recently found two but they were men's...nothing for women. And steel cut oats...no one has ever heard of them. And google translate often throws out some strange translations ... I was trying to read the quarterly statement from the condo association and one sentence translated to ... "Vido eats robo after good kick."

I've attached some recent photos. In the one with Nick, Bonnie and Randy at an outdoor cafe, we were enjoying our second round of a drink called Porto Tonico. This is a relatively new drink that's only been around for the last two years and has become wildly popular. Bonnie is definitely hooked on it. They are very refreshing, however two of that size are potent! Unfortunately my videos of the crowd singing and the dancing on the square yesterday are too large to attach here but if you're on Instagram you can see it there.

Adeus, abraços e beijos,

MaryLou

Mary Lou's Portugal Journal #10

Greetings from Porto,

March has been a difficult month for us, as we were supposed to move into our new home on March 1st which didn't happen. Nothing was ready, mainly because the contractor didn't send workers who were focused on just our job until 3 days prior to our move and then they did a rush job (i.e. sloppy). After spending three nights in the lovely little hotel I mentioned last month, we finally moved into a semi-finished place. They were still working on the bathrooms and getting our master bedroom finished so we slept in the guestroom for the first few nights. I had to reschedule the furniture deliveries that were supposed to happen the first week of March, since we didn't want deliveries in the middle of the mess we were living in.

Vodafone was supposed to install our internet/tv service on Feb. 28 but that didn't happen until March 14th ... two weeks without internet ... think about that. Their excuse had to do with some construction issue in the area that was preventing them from getting our fiber line to work. Our contractor has been operating as our go-between because of the language barrier when trying to call Vodafone on our own. Once it finally was installed and working we still couldn't get our new television delivered for another 10 days. Fortunately we could watch some things on my Mac. When the TV was finally delivered ... I couldn't believe my eyes. The two delivery men were dressed in European cut suits. I thought maybe they were going somewhere afterwards but no, that is how they dress to deliver and set up televisions ... I should say that is how El Corte Ingles (a very nice department store) delivers them. I told these gentlemen that this doesn't happen in the U.S. which surprised them.

The custom dining room table we ordered in November was supposed to be delivered on March 10, however that morning I received a call from the company telling me that our table was destroyed in a warehouse fire the night before. Seriously. The following day I received another call from them offering to deliver a substitute table from their showroom, a gesture we greatly appreciated. That same day our new sofa arrived and the following day we received our dining room chairs. Our bed and new area rugs, my desk and a few other items were delivered shortly after we moved in, so we were starting to feel like we could get settled. But then the backsplash that we had the contractor install started popping off ... yep, just another kink in this story. The problem with our kitchen is that we have exposed pipes running up the wall above the sink and there is very little room to put a backsplash behind them. (See photo below). We thought the solution was a PVC material that we found at Ikea. Unfortunately the lead guy on our construction crew had never installed this before (which we learned as he was doing it) so he managed to chip two pieces in the process and cut one piece a bit too long which then popped off a few days later. Nick and I finally tore off the backsplash and had to mud the areas that came off in that process. Then we repainted the wall in a darker color and are now considering what other options we might have, if for nothing else, behind the stove top. The kitchen actually looks much better now. And the shower in the master bathroom was still leaking after two tries by the construction crew to caulk it. As we started to assess our situation and look carefully at all the issues, with the painting in particular, we decided that enough was enough. All the overpaint on the woodwork ... we'll fix it ourselves. Our former landlord Nuno again came to our rescue and arranged for a plumber to come over and fix the leak in the shower, which just needed a better job of caulking than our crew had done. At some point we would like to remodel the bathrooms but definitely with a different contractor.

The month wasn't a total disaster however. We attended a lovely event called "Candlelight Vivaldi" one evening. A string quartet played surrounded by candles. It was beautiful. They hold various candlelight events throughout town and we look forward to attending a few more. And we returned to Luca, the restaurant that features Fado dinners/music that we attended in February with our friends John and Mary Lou. This time however it was French night. This is a small venue and there were probably 40 people packed in there, many who we recognized from our last visit. It's a neighborhood joint that tourists don't know about but is frequented by locals. The music was beautiful and the singer spoke Portuguese and engaged with the audience and often the audience was singing along with him. At one point he started speaking English and said that he wanted to sing a piece for the Americans in the audience ... a piece written by Paul Anka and recorded by Frank Sinatra ... My Way, but in French. As he was talking all eyes turned to us and everyone was smiling. Afterwards, a woman at the next table started talking to us and told us that as teens growing up in Portugal they always listened to French music which explains why they know all the lyrics and sing along. We look forward to going to Luca often. The food is delicious and the wine never stops, although this time I put my hand over my glass each time the waiter came by.

Last week we attended another expat event at a local gin distillery called Scoundrels. A Brit owns the distillery and makes both gin and rum. We bought a bottle of their award winning gin and will return for more. While there we started chatting with a woman and her two teens who just recently moved to Porto. Her husband is still in Boca Raton but will be joining them soon. Chala is the daughter of a diplomat and has lived all over the world. Her daughter was born in Turkey and I'm not sure where the son was born but they are very international. As we were talking with them we learned that they are attending the same school that our friends from Little Rock just settled on for their two teens. We're planning to meet up for dinner in the next week or two. On Saturday our friends from Little Rock are coming over to see our place and then we're planning to walk over to the big park nearby to have lunch at one of the cafes there, weather permitting.

Tuesday night we attended our first meeting of the condominium association ... held in the garage late in the evening. Being the first to arrive at 9 p.m., which was what time it was supposed to start, we learned from Carlos, the gentleman in charge of the meeting that in Portugal a 9 pm start time really means 9:30. Once the meeting did get started we realized that we couldn't make out anything that he was saying so we departed early. This is a very difficult language to learn ... have I mentioned that before? Thankfully these meetings only occur once a year so maybe next year we'll be able to understand some of it. Fingers crossed.

I'm still going to physical therapy three days a week but it will be over soon and it has been helping so I'm pleased. Nick had his first dental appointment a few weeks ago with the same dentist that I found and he was thoroughly impressed with the staff and with the very modern equipment. We both got our National Health Care numbers finally as well, so we can now use both the national health care and any private healthcare via our supplemental plan. Life is good.

Here are the latest things I've learned about living here. Under European Union rule, a retailer must repair, replace, reduce the price, or provide a refund if the goods purchased turn out to be faulty or do not look or work as advertised. Consumers have the right to a minimum two-year guarantee at no cost, regardless of whether the goods were purchased online or in-person. In Portugal, a seller may offer the consumer a commercial warranty that is longer than the two year guarantee period; however the two year warranty is free and guaranteed. The manufacturer has 30 days to repair the product, if it can be repaired, otherwise the store will replace the item with a new one or provide a refund in full. Also, as of 2035 new cars running on gasoline or diesel will no longer be sold in the EU. They are committed to moving to zero emission vehicles. In the meantime, they will be implementing rules for car manufacturers to reduce emissions by 55% beginning in 2030. Yes, Portugal observes Daylight Savings (why?) so we sprang forward on March 26. And yes, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in Portugal and I'm sure that it was particularly boisterous in the Algarve where you will find an Irish bar/pub on every corner.

Attached below are a few shots of the Candlelight Vivaldi, the view from our balcony, and a peek at our kitchen.

Adeus, abraços e beijos,

MaryLou