Lisbon with Friends

Lisbon

John: In February of last year Barb and I began telling our friends of our intentions to rent our home and live out of the country for twelve months, we refer to it as our Adventure. When we were discussing our plans with our dear friends Ryan and Melissa they said they were planning a tour in Europe late in the Fall and we should plan to meet. Melissa and Ryan are The Moon and You, an incredible duo. While we loved the idea of spending time with them in Europe, or anywhere, our Adventure was in its early stages. At that time, we expected to leave in June, initially traveling to Central or South America, returning to the States for the wedding of our friend’s daughter in December and then to Europe. But that didn’t prevent us from the exciting thoughts and communications of the improbable meeting. As our Adventure evolved we ended up traveling to Europe first since Sits were more prevalent. That made our distant meeting unlikely but now we’d be on the same continent.

Barb and Melissa would occasionally contact each other to communicate changes in schedules. At some point Melissa posted her music itinerary so we knew where and when they’d be in our part of the world. Now that we knew the area of Europe they would be the hopeful reunion was dependent on the location of our Sits, relative to traveling and timing to satisfy the brief overlap of schedules.
Before leaving the States we had purchased our tickets for our return flight home for November 29^th from Oslo. That turned out to be fortuitous because that placed more constraints on Sits we would be able to apply for. We also had been living in the homes of strangers for 82% of our time there and wanted a little time to visit places of interest to us. Also, as our available time collapsed we had less opportunities for Sits but Barb managed to secure jobs through the middle of November, our final commitment would be Carlisle, England, and Ryan and Melissa were going to be in Lisbon after that date. Since we loved Bilbao, Spain and Portugal was “mini-Spain”, we decided to meet our friends there for Thanksgiving.

For me, while Portugal temperatures were welcome after being in the cold fall for a few months, and it would be a new place to experience, I was more interested in seeing Melissa and Ryan. The plans to stay at the home of a friend dissolved and our arrival dates in Lisbon didn’t coincide so we got a hotel close to old town. It was centrally located within a third of a mile from a town square with a daily open-air market. We were also one block from the Tagus river. Ryan and Melissa were traveling with a friend, Sarah, and planned on meeting Melissa’s cousin, Loren, so their plan was to get a place together. They found an apartment in Old Town.

My first impression of Lisbon was their impressive airport. It was modern, bright and comfortable. We secured a taxi and one of the first features I noticed were the pedestrian walkways. They were made with small porcelain black or white stones called “Calada Portuguesa”, Portuguese stones. There were patterns by sections depending on their location, town square, sidewalks or a fountain area. The stones were square shape flat on top arranged in images or patterns. They looked fantastic on the sidewalks but the open spaces of the town squares were sometimes breathtaking.

The first night Melissa and Ryan were going to meet us near our hotel. Barb and I decided to get some dinner before meeting our friends. So, we went to an outside restaurant and ordered fish thinking Portugal is near the water and there were many fish entrees. We don’t know what type of fish we ordered but it came with French fries and it was quite boney and didn’t have much flavor. But we were outside in November and the atmosphere was pleasant and within moments of finishing we spotted Ryan sneaking up behind some strangers to surprise us. It was a wonderful feeling when we saw their smiling faces. We ordered our first carafe of wine and drank and talked easily until some late hour. We also made plans to take a train to Sintra and perhaps prepare a Thanksgiving dinner at their apartment. While Barb and I were ready to find another bar for more wine the wisdom of our younger friends prevailed and we ended our memorable night with hugs and made our way to our respective places to sleep. Talking with Melissa and Ryan was most enjoyable because of the easy flow of conversation. It has always been that way when the four of us are together and not a moment was lost with months and thousands of miles from home. Up to the moment we saw our friends I had not missed being home but suddenly realized the pleasure of talking to loved ones with common references and interests.

Our hotel had a football theme and was partially owned by a famous Portuguese football player, Cristiano Ronaldo. As I walked in the hallway to and from the elevator I heard a constant muffled sound, similar to a TV in a nearby room. On one of the trips to the elevator we noticed the stairs were open and the wall facing the stairs had 18” X 18” images of football fans with decorated faces covering the entire length and width of the wall. The sound I had been hearing was the roar of a stadium of football fans at a barely audible level. Our room had ambient light controls, red, green and blue. The ceiling was painted black and the panels of a soccer ball in white. It was compact but had everything we wanted with some nice extras.

On the mornings I awoke before Barb I walked the streets around the hotel. The open market was an easy walk passing people and businesses along the way. There were bakeries and coffee shops on almost every section of the streets I walked. I enjoyed getting a pastry and coffee for €2 ($2.25). My favorite was called “Pao de deus” or God’s bread. There are sweet rolls infused with a barely perceptible taste of lemon, filled and topped with coconut mixed with egg whites. Absolutely delicious! I had one each day, sometimes a couple, at different bakeries and each was scrumptious.

The market had Portuguese music playing from a CD, vendors selling prepared and raw ingredients, beer, sangria, charcuterie, cheese, jewelry, clothes and other things. I estimate there were 30 vendors. It was busy enough to give it a nice energy but not too crowded so we were able secure seating and moving through the area was comfortable. When buying a beer and thanking a female server saying “Obrigada.”, she explained males use the masculine ‘o’ and females use ‘a’. I thanked her, with the appropriate male ‘o’. Barb opted for one of the different varieties of sangria and we shared a charcuterie board. The vendors smiled and accepted my attempt at Portuguese with politeness or pleasure, making me want to experiment with more complicated phrases.

Ryan and Melissa came in and we all shared a drink and made plans for our Thanksgiving dinner for later that afternoon. Melissa had a list of groceries and we divided them up and agreed to meet at their place later. Barb and I walked across the street for a coffee. While enjoying our coffee at the outside table the vendor from the market greeted us with a smile as she passed by. There was a food market a couple of doors down so after enjoying our beverage we walked there to get the supplies on our list.

With their address in hand we hailed a taxi, pronounced the address then showed him the written text. He responded with “Muito Bom”, very good. As our taxi approached the address the roads narrowed to the point his vehicle could not travel down some. He stopped and began speaking in Portuguese and we discerned our destination was up the street he was pointing but his vehicle could not get us any closer. We thanked him, paid our fare and walked the steep incline to the address.

The apartment was small especially considering there were four adults living there. But we all fit, drank wine and the conversations flowed effortlessly from topic to topic. Melissa was the lead chef with all of us taking on some task. Ryan and I did go out for another couple of €2 bottles of wine, “2-euro-Cleto” doesn’t have the same appeal as “2-buck-Chuck”. The dinner consisted of duck, delicious gravy, mashed potatoes, fresh dressing, apple sauce and salad.. It was delicious and especially since I never expected a taste of Thanksgiving in Europe. We finished the last two bottles of wine and with a full belly and sleep coming over the group we called our Uber and exchanged hugs and made our way to the drop off place from that afternoon.



The street corner was quiet and we intently watched each occasional passing car for signs they may be looking for fares. At one point a car stopped across the intersection and I approached the driver asking if he was an Uber driver. He politely told me he wasn’t. Barb sent a text to Uber but after no response for ten minutes we realized we’d have to walk the mile or so back to the hotel. The streets were well lit and Barb had a good idea of the direction so we made our way through the steep and narrow streets of old town to a main road. After reaching the main road I noticed Barb was in discomfort from her knees so I had her sit on a bench beside a four lane road and talked her into have a hot chocolate while I opted for a coffee. We passed a small green booth with people close by sitting at tables with dishes so I assumed I could get our beverages there. There were two men inside the tiny building busy cutting vegetables, making coffee and taking things out of and placing other things in a small oven. Once they noticed me I placed my order and paid him the requested amount. As I waited for a moment he told me he’d bring the drinks to us but I told I was happy to wait, not wanting to take his time. I kept an eye on Barb and noticed the tall full trees lining the road just beyond the bench. The trees were lit up by the street lights and from the headlights from the passing vehicles. Some people walked quietly by and the diners talked quietly in their small groups. As I gave Barb her hot chocolate she pointed to the town square we had been to earlier that day so we knew exactly where we were relative to our hotel. The temperature was cool but pleasant and we talked of our day, time in Lisbon and the fast approaching end to the first part of our adventure.

I returned the empty cups telling the man “Obrigado” and hurried back to Barb. In minutes we were at the town square all lit to assist the many people congregating, coming from a “Les Miserable” theater production and coming and going to bars and restaurants. The town square was vast decorated with Calada Portuguesa in white with the black stones forming wave patterns over the entire area. It was a memorable sight! We walked between to sections of buildings that opened into the now quiet open market tent.

Within ten minutes we were unlocking our room door. We set the ambient lights to blue and quickly fell to sleep. My thoughts were of the music from the market, the chatter of easy conversation at dinner and the beautiful night walking with my best friend in a beautiful city I never thought or desired to visit but hoped I could return.

Sintra

Barb: The six of us decided to take a short train ride to Sintra which Melissa had heard was a town not to be missed.

Sintra was just beautiful, maybe the prettiest place we have visited on this Adventure. We decided to take the walk from the small train station to town. Melissa and Sarah “procured” some beers for our walk and we headed up hill to town. Along the way were sculptures, artists selling their craft and amazing views. When we arrived in town, we stopped in a cafe and then decided to head towards a castle up the road. Again the walk was breathtaking and we arrived at the castle in awe of the area. John and I sat out exploring the grounds, instead people watching while the rest of the crew explored the tunnels and grounds.

We all met up and headed back to town wanting to grab some dinner. We arrived at a restaurant which was empty. We looked around for a table that would accommodate the six of us. When Ryan asked if we could pull a couple tables together we were told a flat out “No”. We all looked at each other in disbelief and decided to head out. We found the perfect little cafe. We ordered wine and food and thoroughly enjoyed all over great conversation. It was one of those times that just seemed perfect and you just know it won’t ever be forgotten.

Amsterdam and Oslo

Barb: We had a few days between our departure from Lisbon to are takeoff from Oslo back to the States. Amsterdam has turned into one of my top cities. We thought it would be a great place to spend a couple of days before we headed to Oslo. To sweeten the pot, Ryan and Melissa were playing a show in Amsterdam. We decided to surprise them and showed up for their show. Listening to The Moon and You brought back memories of home. The feeling watching our friends on stage was warm and comforting. It was great to see them one more time.

We planned to spend two nights in Oslo. Originally, we had wanted to spend five days. One person after another would tell us how expensive Oslo was but it wasn’t until our niece Dena, who lives in NYC, told us Oslo is “obscenely expensive” did it finally sink in. we decided to cut the stay and spend some time in Amsterdam.

Oslo was expensive, obscenely expensive. A cheeseburger and fries at the airport cost $50. We did not eat a cheeseburger and fries at the airport. The city center where we stayed was clean, cold and exciting. We walked around and took in the sites. There was an outdoor concert just outside a mall and plenty of restaurants and stores. We saw a couple of bars but after paying €2 for a BOTTLE of wine in Lisbon, paying €13 for a GLASS of wine in Oslo was just too much.


We saw snow for the first time on our adventure and it seemed perfect for Norway.  Their airport is state of the art and their trains are impeccable. We enjoyed our short stay in Oslo and glad we got to experience a little bit of Norway.

Cheers!
John and Barb

The Moon and You are a fantastic duo from Asheville NC. To hear their music and learn more about Melissa and Ryan, visit their website http://www.themoonandyou.com/

If you would like to see more photos of Lisbon and Sintra, Barb's photo's can be seen HERE