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.
