Our past two weeks have been so full that I haven’t taken the time to capture our experiences here. I’ll try to rectify that – at least in part – with today’s post.
We finally had the opportunity to meet our first landlady, Melodie when she returned from her six-month stay in Guinea Bissau. Through her texts, phone calls, and the experience of living in her home for four months, we were quite certain that we would really like her when we met. We were right. She is a delightful woman, slender and attractive, 40-something. Her nationality is French, but she grew up in Africa and considers herself more a citizen of that continent than of Europe. She taught herself Portuguese when she moved to Lisbon a few years back, and, despite her claims to the contrary, she’s pretty darned good at English, too. She is friendly, intelligent, funny, and also compassionate and kind. We all felt as if we’d known each other before. She’s in France for a few weeks on a family matter now, but will return in three weeks. We’re eager to continue our new friendship with her.
A couple of days later, we found ourselves in Lisbon for a great, albeit, too-short visit with our friend Wendy. She had arrived in Portugal prior to leaving on a cruise. Tim and I had lunch with her, and then Tim returned to Setubal. I ended up staying over in Wendy’s lovely hotel so we could extend our chat time. She hired a tuk tuk driver to show us the city, and we had dinner with her family that night. It was surreal to be sharing face-to-face conversation with one of may favorite people from home, and I’m really glad I had this chance. It only makes me miss her, and other friends and family even more.
After spending a couple of weeks getting our house decorated to something close to what we want, we knew it was high time to begin thanking people who had made our transition to Portugal as easy as it’s been. We invited Melodie, Ken and Jo over for dinner. Although we have more folks to thanks, our table size and inventory of plates and glasses limited us to three guests plus ourselves. What a nice evening we had! Conversation flowed easily, and we all became better acquainted through the stories we shared. Because every day is a “weekend” in retirement, our guests were able to stay late, doubling our enjoyment of the evening.
We took the following day to invite Mike and Helena over. Helena was detained at their Air B&B because a guest was very late checking in, but we had a nice visit with Mike. He announced that he and Helena wanted to take us to Cascais (Cash-KYSH) on Saturday if we were available. Yes, we were!
True to the plan, they picked us up Saturday morning and made the hour drive to beautiful Cascais. This is an upscale suburb of Lisbon that sits on the Atlantic coast. It’s a favorite spot for expats from all over the world, and it was easy for us to see why. We wandered around the gorgeous city center, admiring the expensive shops and fine dining. We walked onto one of the area’s pristine beaches, and navigated the Easter crowds to have lunch at a fabulous Brazilian buffet. It was a perfect day of bright sun and brisk breezes, making every one of the thousands of people we passed happy that they were in Cascais at that perfect moment.
Then M and H drove just a couple of kilometers outside the center to two different neighborhoods that the Portuguese call “social housing.” These are similar to what we call subsidized housing or “projects” in the States. At one time, these areas had been shanty towns where people lived in makeshift shelters of cardboard or tin. The poverty was intense and crime and despair were rampant. In the 1970s and 80s, new government initiatives launched innovative reforms that changed the fate of these neighborhoods and the people living in them. What we saw on our visits were clean, well-maintained apartments, painted sunny yellow. We saw cheerful neighborhood schools, playgrounds, a social activities center, and inspiring street art. The first place we went had a handful of huge murals that depicted the joyful spirit of the place. As we drove to the second one, Helena explained that in 2016, the government had awarded grants to local graffiti artists to create art in this place. Over the course of a single weekend, 21 artists converged here and created 21 robust, inspiring, four-story high paintings on the sides of apartment buildings. The four of us set off on foot, determined to see every single one. For over an hour, we explored the neighborhood, with each peek around the corner offering hope of seeing yet another masterful example of street art. We were not disappointed. If we were so inspired by what we witnessed, I can only imagine how proud the residents are to have such images adorning their homes. Be sure to check out our photos at the end of this post, which can’t do justice to the real art.
Helena had one more surprise in store as she asked Mike to drive along the coast and into the huge natural park. At every curve in the road, I was reminded of the rocky coastline along Route 1 in California. The cliffs, waves, secluded beaches, and a setting sun took our breath away. We watched surfers being pulled out into the choppy sea by huge, colorful kites, and children playing tag with the surf. High above, the roadway was dotted with restaurants and ancient forts converted to four-star hotels. What a fabulous way to end our first visit to Portugal’s coastal area. I stretched my eyes as far west as they would go, and bid a silent hello to the far away California shore.
When Mike and Helena brought us home, we invited them up for an impromptu dinner, compiled mostly from the leftovers of our parties earlier in the week. Again, conversation was fun and easy, and lasted long into the night. And what was even better, they invited us to join them for Easter dinner the next night! Helena made the best lamb I’ve ever tasted, and we enjoyed a fourth dinner with friends in one week.
This week, Sandy and Jerry, new friends from home, arrived in Lisbon ahead of a garden tour they’re taking. We took the train to the city once again and enjoyed a perfect day sitting at a sidewalk cafe having lunch, and walking around the area of their hotel. They were gracious enough to be willing to take the train to Setubal the next day, and we were delighted to show off our little city. These recent visits with folks from home have warmed our hearts and made us look forward to future visitors who make their way to our corner of the world. Come one, come all! We have the space and we’d love to see you! Until we can show you the sights in person, I hope you’ll enjoy these photos.
Mosaic mural 
“Where love can’t be found, don’t linger.” 
