Things have slowed down a bit — a good thing — as we’ve hit many of the sights and sites. So we’re doing a good bit of random walking through the neighborhoods, admiring the tile facades and enjoying the still-flowering flora (again, a separate album for that).
Ben hit up a couple of entrepreneurship networking events that led to follow-on meetings. A great excuse to get out and explore the neighborhoods where the meetings take place.
Friend Pam introduced Kathy to a group of expat women who do weekly hikes and they walked through a park in Algés.
There is no shortage of parks, all of them wonderful. We visited Tapada das Necessidades, Jardim da Estrela, Jardim do Príncipe Real, and Jardim Botânico de Lisboa, the last of which is the only one charging admission. The jacaranda trees are in full bloom all over, with spectacular purple flowers. Bougainvillea are also out in force, along with oleander. The African lilies are coming into their own, and we even spotted a century plant in full bloom.
We’ve seen plenty of birds, especially in Tapada das Necessidades, where there were ducks and ducklings, chickens and chicks, parakeets, and white wagtails, among others.
The Museu do Oriente is too large to take in all at once so we visited twice. The temporary exhibit of (mostly) prints by a group of artists keeping old methods alive was really great.
We’ve had dinner with two different expat couples we met last year. Meals have been a mix of eating out and cooking in, as well as our traditional chef’s salads for most lunches. Ben is learning how to cook with the local ingredients and finding which markets have what.
The music scene here is also quite good. There was a free concert at the Teatro Romano — the Seven Hills Pickers performed a set mostly comprising traditional bluegrass, but they threw in an original or two, as well as Dave Grisman’s EMD, an old favorite of ours. We also went to an intimate classical concert in a church near Cais do Sodré. The guitarist was excellent, though he played a few too many popular pieces adapted to classical guitar for our taste.
And we took our first electric scooter rides (Lime) along the river. Fun, but not actually a great way to travel, we thought.
On Sunday we walked over to El Corte Ingles, which is an enormous department store at the top of Parque Eduardo VII, think Harrods on steroids. Six floors of clothing and household goods, a whole floor of makeup and perfumes, and a basement with a huge supermarket and a hardware store, each occupying a floor. On the way we happened upon the Basilica da Estrela, which offered a 115-step climb to the rooftop for more spectacular views. In the Praça Marquês de Pombal we saw the tail end of the pride parade, with lots of happy folks, many in costume.
All in all we’re leading pretty easy lives here.
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