We made it! After much talk (yes, I think we broke the news that we'd be moving out of Seattle at some point almost two years ago), but little planning, we have arrived in Lisbon (somewhat illegally!). We don't yet have any paperwork, work visas, drivers licenses, etc. But have no fear, we have adopted the Portuguese way of life and are perfectly content to just see what happens and hang out at the beach! Jeff led the charge and arrived in Lisbon on April 11th. He had managed to secure a fabulous apartment on a previous trip (see link) and moved in almost immediately and reported to the office for work the next day! I arrived in Portugal, with my stow-away (Kirsten!) on April 20th. Unfortunately, Kirsten's luggage did not arrive with us. Somehow the 9 suitcases that Jeff and I packed all managed to make it safely and without getting lost. So, we hit the mall within the first 40 minutes of Kirsten's arrival to pick up some essentials. Although I had not lost any luggage, I too managed to make my first Portuguese purchase! 
Note my new leather jacket and Kirsten's 'big panties.' Kirsten, being the fantastic guest that she is (no pressure for the rest of you!), also brought us tulips, direct from the Amsterdam airport. Our first Portuguese house-warming present! We settled right into our furnished apartment. Did I mention that our furniture won't be arriving for 6 - 8 months? Patience is the first virtue that you'll learn in Portugal! Luckily the owner of our apt agreed to let us use their things (pink couch, psychedelic Brady Bunch bedrooms and all) until our sea shipment arrives. We hit our patio as soon as we had finished shopping! 
Kirsten ended up being our tour guide during her stay, which was fabulous for us! We'd had no time to plan a tour of Lisbon while focusing on the move, but Kirsten was a fabulous sport. As the result of absolutely no planning, poor Kirsten ended up having some interesting experiences (flooded shower, figuring out the grocery store, appliances and Portuguese roadways. She also survived some extremely gross meals!). Here is a shot of Count Dracula and Susie Homemaker trying to figure out the oven. 
I took the week off to settle in and to research where to find the best sunglasses in Lisbon (Kirsten was on a MISSION to find a new pair of shades after she realized she looked like a mouse in her sunglasses). Have no fear, she found the PERFECT pair during one of her last days in Lisbon. Mouse glasses (at Praia do Guincho) 
Non-Mouse glasses: 
Kirsten's visit also fell on two different Portuguese holidays - 25th de Abril and Labor Day. We spent the holidays in Sintra (30 min. drive from Cascais) and in the Algarve (Central Coast of Lisbon and popular vacation destination for Europeans). We're LOVING the European holiday schedule. Before we hit the road for the holidays, we made a stop at the local Starbucks.... 
Actually, there is no Starbucks in Portugal (gasp!). This is a little coffee shop not far from our apartment in Cascais. The Portuguese consume 20 million espressos a day. There are only 8 million adults in Portugal and thus EVERY adult is consuming, on average, over 2 espressos a day (Jeff is having 4)! Ok, enough math for me, but what this means is that Starbucks cannot compete with the Portuguese price points for coffee. We do not know how to speak Portuguese, but we do know how to order our coffees: We spent the 25th de Abril (the Portuguese Revolution) in Sintra. Sintra is 30 minutes from Cascais and was the summer desination for the royals in Portugal. Kirsten, Sintra and the Moorish Castle 
The gardens and Palace Regalitao. The Palace R had some of the most beautiful gardens that I have ever seen! 
One of the many garden castles.... 
The King of the Castle, on his throne 
Jeff and his new smart phone. I remember the days when Jeff was making fun of Tony for checking his emails during social events. And now look at him!!! And only a week into having the damn thing. 
On the way home from Sintra, we stopped at Cabo da Roca. It is the most western point of Europe (and the windiest!). Yes, this is the closes we'll be to the US during our stay abroad! 
Kirsten and I also spent several days in Lisbon. We caught the early train with all of the work commuters and hit the tourist track. We went on a fabulous walking tour (my favorite thing to do in big cities), shopped, explored, and indulged in lots of coffee and local cuisine.... For some reason I was anti-picture taking in Lisbon, but will post as soon as I get more of the pictures Kirsten took! It didn't take long for us to find the local Irish pub. There's actually two of them just down the street from our apartment. It turned out to be a good choice as the male to female ratio was in our favor! A rugby team from the UK was also drawn to the pub (home sweet home for Brits and Americans alike!). We had a great time watching them fight over Kirsten! We felt that it was our cultural duty to introduce them to car bombs.... 
In turn, they felt it was their cultural duty to introduce Jeff to a UK fashion trend...showing a bit o' chest! 
In true European form, we decided to end the month of April with a holiday to the Algarve! Coming soon...May blog! See our May blog for a recap of the trip to the Algarve, a wine tour and a visit from the one and only....Jolene Cramer! |