Changing plans

Happy Holidays, Boas Festas, Merry Christmas, Feliz Natal everyone.

Tis the season and Lisbon sparkles! However, not everything goes our way and we are experiencing a minor disappointment. We will be going home at the end of March instead of April 30 as we had originally planned.

We came to Lisbon on October 1. Our apartment was guaranteed through the end of January with an option of keeping it through the end of February. That's because we had decided to find a permanent apartment to occupy through the end of April. Unfortunately, apartments in Lisbon cost as much as Airbnbs when one adds the costs of utilities, cable & internet, and housekeeping to the basic rent. In addition, most of the best apartments were unfurnished and we estimated a minimum of $5000 to furnish a residence we would likely only use six months of the year, but pay for 12 months.

Also, just prior to leaving the US for Lisbon, we learned that we can only be out of the country for 6 months or risk losing our Medicare HMO coverage. So we were faced with the need to return home in February or March for a short visit to fulfill this requirement.

Ana, from whom we rent the apartment on Martim Moniz, has guaranteed us this apartment for six months beginning November 2019 thru April 2020 at a very reasonable price, plus we can store our belongings in a locked space in the building basement. She has booked this apartment for March and April, so we have booked another Airbnb for March and will return home March 30.

We had looked forward to reunions with several cruise friends who will be on ships that stop in Lisbon in April and we are disappointed to miss those reunions. But this is really the best plan for us.

So, if anyone was planning to visit us in Lisbon in April, sorry. As much as we would have loved sharing this amazing city with our friends and relatives, sorry. Maybe next year.

Enjoy a little street music 

Observations

If you want to go to the top of the hill on which St. George Castle rests, you could pay a taxi or TukTuk, you could stand in line and ride the famous Tram 28, or you can walk. Here are a few options for walking:

1. Walk up the winding, narrow streets of Mouraria - the oldest area in Lisbon. Enter on the west side of the hill, via the Fado wall of fame - a tribute to the famous Fado singers - and just keep going up. There are churches and interesting neighborhoods along the way and, of course, lots of places to stop for a coffee.
2. Walk up through the Alfama district on the east side of the hill. Again, you'll walk through narrow, winding streets but, again, you'll find lots of interesting places to rest - including several miradouros (overlooks) with fabulous views of the city, the river, and the April 25 bridge.  
3. Take the open-air escalator about half-way up and walk the rest of the way. This escalator is across the square from our apartment and was opened in October. Plans call for it to be extended all the way to the top. We haven't taken it, yet. But plan to soon.
4. Take the elevator - free - about half-way up, then walk about a block to the next elevator - tucked away in a grocery store. This one will deliver you to a miradouro with a fabulous view and just a short walk to the entrance to the castle. Last week we did this, had an over-priced lunch, and walked back down. We stopped at the various miradouros along the way but walked all way back home. 

After much exploration and unscientific observations, I have decided that these are the most prevalent merchants in Lisbon:

1. Pastalareias - coffee shops. These are so numerous that I suspect it must be the law to have a minimum or one or more on each block. They all serve coffee, tea and other bibidas (drinks), pastries of various sorts - including the ubiquitous Pasteis de Natas (egg custards). Most also serve meals -- omelets, sandwiches, soup, etc.
2. Shoe shops! What's not to love about a city where shoe shops stay open until 10:00 p.m. And they're good, well-made, leather shoes at incredibly low prices. Portugal still has a tradition of manufacturing shoes, although Spain has usurped that segment in recent years. Other shoe shops with more regular hours sell higher-priced shoes of excellent quality, including brands with which we are familiar like Geox.
3. Eyeglass stores. This one befuddles me because nearly every meal served in restaurants here includes carrots so one might think that everyone has perfect vision. ;-)
4. Fast fashion. H & M and Zara are everywhere. Sometimes when we want to go to the Chiado neighborhood and don't feel like walking up Rua de Carmo, we enter H & M via the Baixa level and take three escalators up to the store's 3rd floor where we can exit at the top of Rua de Carmo.
5. Building art. The city is filled with interesting art, including these two pieces rendered in scrap metal on the sides of buildings;

Raccoon on side of building near museum of contemporary art in Belem

Fox on side of three-story gutted bulding. That's me in the lower left.

      6. Preservation - one reason Lisbon remains so beautiful is its attention to its history. That means that for most renovations the building's facade must be preserved while the remainder of the building can be completely rebuilt. I believe the same building regulations apply in Paris and Rome, which is why those cities remain beautiful. Here is an example of what happens when an historic building is being renovated;

Notice the bulding no longer has sides or a roof. Just the front.

 

It's Christmas season in Lisbon and the city is aglow - literally. Here are a few photos:

Chiado santa

Along the Baixa (center)

Tree with inside access at Praca do Commercio

At the monument to the Restaradores (Restorers of Portugal's sovereignty)

Rua do Carmo

Inside the tree in Praca do Commercio

A line at the glove store - the smallest retail space in Europe - waiting to buy the most amazing leather gloves - their only merchandise

Happy Thanksgiving from Lisbon

Of course, there is no Thanksgiving in Lisbon, except for our gratitude that we are able to live even temporarily in this wonderful city. As usual, we enjoyed a quiet morning before heading out to explore another new neighborhood. This was in Saldanha - a lovely, tree-lined boulevard about halfway between the center (Baixa, pronounced "baisha") and the airport to the north. We had already looked at an apartment in this general area but hadn't had time to spend wandering more. So, today, we made up for that earlier oversight.

And we liked it until the rains came. Generally, in Lisbon, rain is light and short-lived. This rain, however, was a downpour and lasted longer than usual. Luckily we found a coffee kiosk near the Metro entrance where we stopped to allow the rain to let up a little while we enjoyed an afternoon coffee. Then home to decide what we wanted to do for Thanksgiving.

The winner was Surf and Turf at the TimeOut Market. The food is to die for, the staff is friendly, and the setting is casual - we sit around the open kitchen and can interact with the chef.

Enjoying Thanksgiving dinner in Lisbon

Our Thanksgiving dinner chef slicing octopus

                                                            

                                                           Photo from Facebook page

After the pork and shrimp spring rolls, we had a plate of roasted octopus (for which we got the recipe) with black tapioca beads and duck, followed by a ceviche with fish and pork. All unbelievable! Dessert was, of course, chocolate. I have no idea how the surf and turf were incorporated, but it was delicious. 

As we walked home we passed Praca do Commercio, which is scheduled to light up for the holidays this coming Saturday - 11/24. One part, a 4-story Christmas tree, was already lit. My photo misses the colorful lights, but you can get an idea of the size of this display. It's totally man-made, but beautiful nevertheless. 

Praca do Commercio tree.

Hope everyone had a delightful day. We did.

An app for parking in the city

One thing I forgot to mention in yesterday's post - Lisbon has a parking app! Marta, the real estate agent we are working with, was putting money via an app to pay for her parking on a city street.

Residents can download the app and register their automobiles. Then, when they need to park, instead of using a nearby machine which, according to Marta, are frequently out of order, they open the app and authorize payment. Think ezpass, without the up-front deposit and the transponder, for parking.

Just when we think we're so advanced technologically, there's this in Lisbon.

Lisbon wanderings

We are shopping for an apartment in Lisbon. Somewhere we can spend six-months as well as drop in from time to time. We're hoping that Ana, who owns the apartment we have now, will make a reasonable offer to allow us to stay here, but so far we are only confirmed through the end of February and then we're homeless. On Friday we looked at a wonderful apartment in the Saldanha part of town. It was very modern, large and clean. We also liked the neighborhood. However, there was no view. The living/kitchen area looked out at a depressing scene of the backs of nearby buildings, none of which were even picturesque. The good news is that while exploring the neighborhood we met Marta - a sharp real estate agent with ReMax. She showed us a variety of options on the computer that were within our desired price range and preferred neighborhoods. We expressed interest in several and she is making arrangements for us to vistl.And then the adventures began.

We had two appointments to look at apartments today (Monday, 11/19), so on Sunday, we went looking for the addresses to scout out the neighborhoods and make sure we knew where we were going. The first apartment - three bedrooms, three baths - is in a lovely area called Campo Ourique. The tree-lined street flows into a lovely park, the Jardim de Estrella (Garden of the Stars). This building looks promising. It's relatively new, has a lift, and best of all has a chocolate shop on the ground floor.

Great potential neighbor!

After this discovery, we went looking for the second apartment on our agenda for Monday. It is billed as a two-bedroom, two-bath near Avenida Liberdade. So we hopped back on the Metro and rode to the Avenida stop where we found the street immediately. After what must have been a half-mile up a hill that seemed to be at a 90-degree angle, we finally found the apartment. We almost also died of the exertion. And after all that, guess what - the apartment is actually closer to the Principe Real area than to Liberdad. Principe Real is a lively neighborhood with lots of designer clothing shops, bars, and restaurants. This cheered us up immensely as we were afraid we'd be unable to handle that hill every day. So, having confirmed the location, we strolled along the Principe Real street until we came to Gin Lovers bar, where we stopped for a well-deserved martini. It was excellent.

Note two martinis in progress at Gin Lovers. This place boasts over 30 varieties of gin. 

About a block further on, we stopped in for dinner at Tapisco, a lively little tapas restaurant, where we met a young couple from Jacksonville, FL. Ironically, Jacksonville's Jaguars were playing the Steelers at that exact time. It was the third quarter and the Jaguars were leading 16 - 0. This morning I learned that Pittsburgh came back and ultimately won the game 20 - 16. 

As we walked down the hill through Chiado, we caught our first Christmas lights. Lisbon is spectacular at Christmas and most of the decorations are in place ready for the official lighting on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day at home). However, one building is already lit, giving us a preview of what is to come.

This three-story shopping center in the Chiado district offers a preview of what is to come city-wide.

This morning we were up bright and early to visit the two apartments. First stop was the chocolate-shop neighbor. The apartment is very nice and very spacious, but probably too spacious for our needs. Then we WALKED to the second apartment. Turns out it is very close to the first apartment and we didn't need to climb the mountain again to reach it. The building it's in was built in the 30s by a famous architect. It was totally modernized in 2015 while preserving the character of the original -- wood parquet floors, facade. This looks really promising. Only trouble is it's only technically a two-bedroom. There are two very nice baths, but the room that is being labeled a bedroom is nothing more than a small office space that can contain only a small single bed. Fortunately, there is a nice 5-star hotel just a block down the hill. 

As we wandered back down the hills we passed a fun building that further cements Lisbon's reputation for quirky building art.  

Just adding to the fun of this amazing city.

Drivers, dogs, push and pull

Here are a few observations about life in Lisbon:

1. Drivers here, even those who drive public transportation vehicles like buses and subway (Metro) trains, love to drive fast. No matter how narrow and twisty a thoroughfare, cars, trucks, buses and even the electric trams seem to barrel down them at top speeds, braking at the last minute every block or so for a crosswalk (pedestrians have the right of way in white-striped crosswalks) or traffic signal. In the Metro, the trains come into each stop at top speed, yet somehow manage to stop in just the right spot to allow for passengers entering and exiting.
2. In this busy city with lots of traffic, I am amazed to see so many dogs unleashed. They are always with a human and under total voice command. Last week we were in a coffee shop in Principe Real, sitting next to the door, when I saw a dog of indeterminate breed trotting down the sidewalk untethered. A young couple stepped into the shop and called to the dog, who immediately returned to the shop door where he waited just outside until they had finished their coffees and were ready to leave. 
3. Some Portuguese words' meanings are similar to their English counterparts. For example, the Portuguese for "right" (as in left or right) is "direita." However, for the words push and pull, that is not the case.. If you see a swinging door with the word "puixe" (pronounced "push"), don't. Puixe is Portuguese for "pull." You only push is you see the word "empurre." Some shops add the English translation under the word, but many do not. So I sometimes find myself pushing on a door when I should be pulling. 

We have traveled to Caiscais (pronounced "caishcaish") this past couple of days. It's a beachside community about 30 kilometers west of the city. The train there costs about $3.00 each way and takes about 30 minutes. It's a lovely ride along the coast, past the April 26 Bridge, Belem, and the many small communities that dot the shoreline. We were looking at apartments there in case we are unable to come to a satisfactory resolution to our desire to keep the apartment we are in past February.  The town is very pretty with lots of high-end shops and restaurants. It has become a popular place for retirees from all over Europe and beyond. After two days of exploration and a visit to one apartment that is available, we have decided that living in a small town with lots of other old folks and a 30-minute train ride from the city is not for us. The search continues. 

Last night, while standing in line outside a popular restaurant, I was almost pickpocketed. A young man came up next to me, ostensibly to look at the posted menu, then jostled me a bit to peek inside the restaurant as if he were considering whether or not to get in line to dine there. Luckily, as he was looking in the door, I turned in time to see another young man quickly draw his hand away from my purse. He had opened the main zipper, but, since I keep my wallet in an inside zippered pocket, had been unable to access anything more valuable than the folded shopping bags I always carry. (Portuguese grocery stores charge for the plastic bags, so we always carry a couple.) I glared at him and told him I would hit him if he tried that again. (Imagine this non-violent, 72-year-old woman making such a threat. I doubt he was very frightened.) Then John grabbed him by the lapels of his coat and almost did hit him while shouting at him. Meanwhile, his accomplice, the "distractor", melted into the crowd. 

Lisbon is a very safe, low crime city except for the pickpocketing. There are signs on the trams and in many public places, in English, warning people to watch their valuables, pay attention to their surroundings, and beware of pickpockets. Even Rick Steeves published a column about the high incidence of pickpocketing in Lisbon. On the train to Porto last month we met a woman from South Africa who had not heeded those warnings. She and her husband had been robbed and she was not leaving Lisbon with very fond memories. Of course, crimes like this are common in any major city anywhere, but the phenomenon is relatively new here in Lisbon.

Pickpockets or not, Lisbon remains my happy place. 

Exploring new neighborhoods

For the first time since our arrival, there was no line for Tram 28. So we took advantage and hopped aboard. As we wound our way through the twisted streets of Alfama, we met a couple from Amsterdam who took advantage of cheap air-fares (200 Euros round trip for two people) to enjoy the relatively warmer weather of Lisbon.

At the end of the line in the neighborhood of Campo Ourique we had a delightful lunch in the Mercado. Established in 1934, this market has evolved into something similar to the TimeOut Market at the Mercado Ribeiro near the river. In the midst of stands selling fresh fish, meats, fruits, and vegetables are stalls serving various types of meals. I had a delightful carpaccio wrap sandwich while John had a delicious grilled cuttlefish. Oh, and it was accompanied by a bottle of white wine. We finished with a pastel de nata for John and a chocolate for me.

After we left the Mercado, we retraced the route of the tram on foot. After all, we needed to walk off that lunch. We explored a nearby park where we saw some men sitting outside what looked like a kiosk selling coffees. But, no, it was a kiosk offering books and newspapers gratis. What a nice idea! See photo below: Linda Evans, you might want to consider this for Buhl Farm. ;-)

A bit further down the hill, into the Estrella neighborhood - an area we like very much - we found another small park across from some beautiful apartment buildings. We were across the street from those buildings and noticed, behind us, a tall, thick concrete wall. As we tried to peek inside the gate, it opened and a policeman emerged. When we asked what was behind the wall, he told us it was the residence of the Prime Minister. Oh, hello!

On the back side of the residence is Portugal's parliament building where we were in time to watch the changing of the guard. It's not as precise, nor as ceremonial, as that at Buckingham Palace, but still nice to see. I think the crowd size numbered four, including us!

From in front of the Parliament building, we had a magnificent view of another of Lisbon's hills with multicolored buildings winding their way up. Lisbon was recently named among the top nine cities in the world for building graffiti and we saw one interesting example at this location. I doubt my photo does it justice.

At the river, we saw a gigantic cruise ship pulling away. Lisbon recently completed a major cruise port renovation that can host up to three cruise ships at a time. That means thousands of additional visitors on almost any day - even in the offseason. Tourism in Portugal has increased about 150% in the last three years.

We logged 6 miles of walking yesterday.