Lisbon, Setubal, Process of Elimination

We've been in upper Lisbon for a couple of weeks now. The boys, as I call them, have been awesome hosts. They are quite funny, especially when they want help with some English word they've struggled to pronounce or understand. We end up laughing more than learning. Our Portuguese is coming along very slowly. I find I do better if I translate from Spanish, because the language is closer… like 'Bom dia' is closer to 'buen día' than 'good morning.' Other words are the same in Spanish but mean something entirely different, like sobremesa… in Guatemala it means 'on the table', here it is dessert.

Carnival, the time of gluttony prior to Ash Wednesday, is celebrated in a big way all over Portugal. It's not quite as big as Brazil, but still pretty crazy. We avoided it as much as possible. During the days before Ash Wed, especially on Fat Tues, the children dress up like they do in the States on Halloween. That's pretty cute. But the tradition of every man dressing like a woman is really weird to me… but the woman don't dress like men. No one I asked had an explanation for this tradition.

We went to our new church, Riverside International Christian Church (English speaking) last Sunday. It was awesome. To be singing worship songs together with a band felt so good. English is the common language for most people at this church, but it doesn't mean they're from English-speaking countries. This congregation was from all over the world; from the States to Korea to Denmark. The pastor said he would've gone around the room and asked people where they were from, but it would take too long, so he asked if there were any Portuguese there. Three people raised their hands. We all applauded and welcomed them… it was pretty funny.

We did find another pool. It's actually further from our place, but it's near the red-line metro. We just hop on the metro a couple of blocks from our pad, then we get off at Oriente Metro stop. This stop is worth knowing about because it's a metro and highspeed train station combined and it has a large shopping mall connected to it, plus there's a university there also. It's an intense hub of activity. The hard part was climbing the 100 steps and the five minute walk to the pool with all our gear. We arrived tired but victorious for the 11:00 swim-time. Then Joe realized he'd forgotten his swimsuit. We had 45 minutes to get back to the mall, buy him a swimsuit, back up the 100 steps, and the walk. We made it, barely. This pool actually gives me thirty minutes to shower instead of twenty, which is good because all the ladies in the pool are in the shower room at the exact same time.

It always amazes me when people go right past me on stairs or a steep hill while I'm gasping for air. It just pisses me off when they can do that while smoking or carrying some heavy burden! The other day a guy went straight up a hill with a box bigger than himself—RUNNING! Seriously… the guy was running.

I decided to follow my sister's advice and download one of those step-counting apps to my phone. So far I'm averaging about 5.5 miles a day. I'm sure I'm still gaining weight though.

There are so many cathedrals and ancient churches here in Portugal, we can't see them all. But I was determined to see the cathedral that survived the great quake of 1755. It's nestled up in the Alfama, a neighborhood that wasn't leveled. We also went to the Pantheon and the Saturday street market next to it. That was an experience. One of the few times we watched for pick-pocketers.

We're on a mini excursion from Lisbon right now. On the map, Setubal looked like it might be a pleasant place to live, so I booked us a three-night Airbnb in a tiny-house. It's a cute little place for a couple of nights, but it is not very functional for our needs. You can only run one appliance at a time or the electricity goes out. The shower is itty-bitty and has a long shower curtain, that you basically stand on, instead of a glass door. After listening to Joe complain about the process, I decided I'd rather be dirty. I'll take a shower when we get back to Lisbon. It doesn't have an oven or clothes washer, plus you'd have to hang your stuff out in the street—at street level. Not going to happen. 

Setubal is a very industrial fishing community. We haven't seen the families out and about like we're accustomed to seeing. The shoreline is all large fishing boats. They only have one little beach. It's been a disappointment to me, and I can't help feeling like I wasted our time and money coming here. Joe insists it is part of the process of elimination. I suppose, but I'm still disappointed. So far we've narrowed our search to Carcavelos, Santo Amaro, Sesimbra, and someplace in the Algarve. We now know we want to be near an ocean beach (not a river, lagoon, or bay beach). We want to be around a mixed crowd of young and old. We know we don't want only tourism or only residential.

I downloaded the Fork app, so I just made a reservation for Taberna Grande for 30% off. I've never used the app before, so hopefully it will work out. This restaurant is known for its traditional Portuguese food, but not fish, which is a little unusual because we're in a fishing town. It's nice because I could make the reservation with a couple of clicks. I'll report back after the meal. Yesterday we had Choco Fritas—fish and chips for you Americans. They use cuttlefish and it has a very firm texture. It was good, but I doubt I'll order it again even though it's on every menu.

I'm sitting in front of a local café with a glass of wine filled to the rim for one euro. A pigeon keeps sweet talking my shoes. Three ancient round ladies sit to my right. One is swinging her legs back and forth like a six year old… mainly because her legs are as long as a six year old's.  She was there yesterday too. Joe is drinking a bottle of stout beer for 1.20 Euros and reading my book, Bringing Apollo Home. Life's good.