I hope you are doing well and enjoying nice weather. It's been lovely here, even though we had a couple of hot days (86) at the end of May/beginning of June. Now we're getting back down to the 70's which is more typical for this time of year in Porto. Our new ceiling fans are keeping us cool inside, thankfully.
Update: I started writing this update earlier in the week. Today, June 7, we woke up to above average heat with a projected high of 85 degrees. Upon leaving the house at 9:30 this morning to attend a language workshop it was already 75 degrees, which is hot for us, especially in the morning. Now, at around 5 p.m we're having rain, thunder, lightning, and hail and the temperature has dropped from 85 to 74 degrees. Climate change is real and certainly makes for crazy weather. This reminds me of Dallas weather.
On to my first bit of news ... I passed the language test (2nd of 3) that I took at the end of March. It took quite a while for our results to be shared with us for various reasons. Basically I got 90% on the written test and 15/15 on the oral test so I was quite pleased. My elation was short-lived, however, because now we're getting slammed with so many new things to learn and it's become much more difficult ... and, we're still only learning present tense. Our final exams are scheduled for June 19 however, Nick and I are heading to Italy on Sunday, June 9 (happy birthday Patricia) to meet up with my daughter and grandkids and we won't return until June 23. Our itinerary includes Rome, Pompeii, Positano and Florence, all places we've visited before however, this is their first trip to Italy. Make-up dates have yet to be announced, but it will likely be near the end of June or early July. Our oral exams are scheduled for June 25. This means we get to study while on vacation. 😬
I've mentioned before the very sweet young Portuguese couple who live in our building, Daniel and Diana. They can't do enough for us and we enjoy hanging out with them. Recently we ordered a heavy metal shelving unit for our garage space. The day it was delivered Nick was down in the garage starting to unpack the box and Diana happened to see him and told him that she would help him put it together later that morning. Sure enough, she texted him an hour later and he met her in the garage where she basically took over and didn't let him do anything while she put the piece together. No, that motorcycle in the background isn't ours, nor hers.
I don't think I've ever mentioned the popularity of yogurt in Portugal. I finally decided to take a photo in the big grocery store near our home. The photo you see is only the first aisle ... there is another aisle that looks the same ... both sides filled with yogurt, including the end caps on each aisle, which are also filled with yogurt. Maybe I just don't remember seeing this in the states?
Last night we had dinner with the couple from El Segundo, CA that I've mentioned before. We first met Eric and Andrea in October 2022 here in Porto and discovered that Andrea was best friends with Nick's niece when they were young, and we marveled at what a small world this is. They recently bought a place here in Porto as a second home and are in town getting furniture deliveries, etc. On this trip they brought Adrea's mother Judy with them to show her around Porto. Dinner last night was like old home week for Nick who had such a great time chatting with Judy and Andrea about so many of his old friends and memories. We dined at a great fish restaurant in Matosinhos, kind of a suburb of Porto, where all the fresh fish come into the area. While the four of them shared a huge grilled robalo (seabass), I decided to try grilled sardines and I must say they were amazing! My father was a fisherman on Cannery Row a number of years before I was born, and I couldn't help but think of him as I enjoyed my meal.
Wishing you a nice start of the summer. Tomorrow we start packing!
Adeus, abraços e beijos,
MaryLou