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
