Ola friends and family,
I know that by now you have all heard about the big power outage over here. That truly was the strangest day I've ever experienced. Just as I was heading out the door for an appointment, I saw a headline flash on my phone screen saying that the power was out in Spain, Portugal and France and literally one second later, my phone died, our lights went out, and there was an amazing quiet in the building. We knew nothing other than what I saw for that one second. Some friends from CA were due to arrive the next day, and I had planned to go downtown to the Mercado Bolhão to pick up some cute canned fish for them following my appointment. Suddenly, I had to make new plans. The buses were running but, with no way to check the bus schedule, I just headed down to the bus stop to wait. Once downtown I found it packed with people; every cafe was filled with people sitting outdoors because it was a beautiful day. Businesses and schools had closed. ATMs weren't working. As I walked up to the doorway of the Mercado, they were shutting down completely and it was only around noon. Walking back to the bus stop a few blocks away I saw a little wine shop with canned fish in the window and their door open so I ventured in to find a bunch of people in the dark doing a wine tasting and having a grand time. After making my purchase, which had to be calculated on a piece of paper and paid in cash since card readers weren't working, I headed back to the bus stop.
The Metro system is electric, so everyone who was riding the metro that morning suddenly found themselves having to walk along the tracks (some in tunnels, where the tracks go underground) to get out. Suddenly taking the bus was the only option, so I waited with a large crowd for my bus to arrive. Once onboard, we were packed in like sardines, however everyone remained calm and it was all very orderly. Later, Nick and I were sitting in the living room talking when we heard this very strange, loud noise for just a moment. Up to that point, our water faucets had been working but, as it turns out, the water system in the building is electric, and it had just coughed up the last of the water. Remember last month when I said that we were warned to have water, food, flashlights, etc. for any potential disaster? Well, we hadn't done that yet and we only had abut 1.5L's of drinking water. By that time, all grocery stores had completely sold out of water and were closed. I remembered seeing one last bottle of tonic water in the pantry and, I didn't want to waste our ice, not knowing how long it would last, so I started drinking gin and tonics. That was the first alcohol I'd had since mid-January when I decided to take a break from drinking. We still had a bottle of champagne in the refrigerator so Nick popped that open to keep hydrated.
Fortunately, he'd been to the store earlier in the morning and bought fresh salmon for dinner and, since we have a Weber charcoal bbq on the balcony, we knew we could fix dinner regardless. As the sun started setting we lit candles and Nick lit the charcoals. While he was cooking outside I went around to some of our neighbors to see if they wanted to use our grill. The hallway was very dark and required a flashlight to go up and down the stairs. Our neighbors Daniel and Diana had a camp stove they were using. Daniel was able to give me a little update because he had gone down to the garage and turned on his car to listen to the news ... that the government expected to get the power restored later that evening. No one parked in the garage could get out that day BTW. George, next door, did take us up on the offer and brought over some fish for Nick to cook. Around 9 p.m. we started to see some lights come on way in the distance ... then a few more ... and then suddenly our lights came on. You could hear everyone in the building cheering. And yes, we now have lots of bottled water stored in the pantry, more candles, more tonic water and of course, lots of wine. We still need to get a portable radio and some board games!
The mud-slinging started immediately as to who was to blame, why the government wasn't more prepared, etc., etc.. Elections are coming up in two weeks as well, so that is now one of the main topics. There has still been no definitive explanation, other than it definitely started in Spain. Officials in Spain have eliminated the idea that it occurred due to some weird phenomenon, or that it was because of unstable renewable energy sources. They still haven't ruled out a cyber attack, or other failures in their system. Now the EU Network of Transmission System Managers is conducting their own investigation, while the Portuguese government is conducting one of their own and looking into ways to decouple from Spain's grid. I look forward to hearing the final analysis.
In mid-April our good friends Ed and Rhonda finally returned to Porto for a visit. It was great to see them again. With them was a friend of Rhonda's, Patty, who was scoping out Portugal for a place to live. She will be moving from Oregon, hopefully later this year. We had a great chat with Patty, giving her an overview of our experience here and what she can expect in making the move.
Next, former neighbors from California, Heidi and Jere, arrived on their cruise of the world that departed the U.S. in early January. I actually watched their ship from our balcony as it sailed in that morning. It was so good to see the two of them and spend the day together. We were treated to a day on the cruise ship while docked and enjoyed a delightful lunch, lots of walking around the ship and afternoon tea with entertainment. Fortunately, they arrived the day after our blackout.
This past Friday we, along with 12 other people, got to take a private tour of the Mercado Bolhão with one of the members of the architectural team responsible for the two year renovation. I've posted many photos in the past of this place, which is a combination of produce, meat, fresh fish, canned fish, plants, candy, olive oil, etc. I should mention that this building is one block long and one block wide ... it's big. The building itself was first built in 1914 but the market had been operating since 1839. It's a gorgeous place which seems to be included on every walking tour for tourists these days and includes 79 vendor stalls and 10 restaurants. We learned about the history of the original building and the extraordinary measures they took to make it better than it had been previously, while maintaining the look and feel of the original. One of the shops on the outside corner of the building, a plant and seed shop, still has original features inside. Other shops around the outside of the building have been allowed to make whatever changes they wish on the inside to accommodate their needs.
The most fascinating part was the basement, which I think many Portuguese residents aren't even aware of. They designed and built the basement during the renovation. Then they actually built a road one block away that goes underneath shops across the street and leads into the new basement, allowing for delivery trucks to bring in all the produce, etc. rather than blocking the streets around the Mercado. In addition to parking areas for trucks to unload, there are big refrigerated rooms, lockers for vendors, and storage for supplies needed for big events. The whole basement had to be planned and constructed based upon the pillars holding up the building. There was also a stream running through the middle of the original building, which had to be redirected elsewhere. It was truly an interesting tour. Following the tour we had a private olive oil tasting with one of the vendors, a delightful young man who is operating the same booth that both his grandparents and his parents ran for the past 75 years.
Just a note, as some of you may have seen on FB, Nick's sister Sarah passed away on Easter Sunday in CA. Nine days later, my brother Jack passed away in AZ. Sarah was 93 and my brother was 80 and both were in hospice care, so we were prepared for the news. Nevertheless, it is always sad to lose another family member.
On a happier note, I will be returning to CA in late May and staying with a friend for a few days in Monterey before heading to the Bay Area on June 2nd to attend my granddaughter Zoe's high school graduation on the 3rd. I will fly home late on June 8th. If anyone will be around during that week, I would love to see you. Let me know your availability.
Finally, I continue to be absolutely appalled at the destruction of democracy in the U.S. and the blatant disregard for the rule of law, as well as the lack of morals of almost every member of the GOP. What a shit show and what an embarrassment. I truly don't see how the country can survive four years of this madness. It sickens me daily to see the headlines. A few days ago we had a lovely dinner at one of our favorite little restaurants downtown and were served by a charming young Portuguese man who recently completed his MBA here in Porto. He's been offered an internship in CA and isn't sure he should take it, given what's going on over there. He asked our opinion and, sadly, we told him not to do it because he could easily be sent right back to Portugal, or worse. He's been keeping up with the news and is very aware of what's happening. I don't think he's going to take the chance, even though he told us that working in the U.S. has always been a dream of his but now he thinks it's too scary to take a chance. Later, on the bus ride home, a young Portuguese man sitting in front of us heard us speaking English and turned around to chat with us. The first thing he brought up was the downfall of the U.S. due to the current administration. He's been to the states many times and has many friends there but he too thinks the country won't survive four years of madness. Everyone reads/watches the news and they aren't stupid. Only his supporters are stupid. I honestly don't know how they sleep at night. As I've said in the past, I refuse to be silent about this. Also, I want to thank all my friends and family who have been marching and protesting regularly. You make me proud.
Adeus, abraços e beijos, MaryLou
