Sunday Oct 18, 2009

Hello again,
We have been offline for a few days and that is our excuse for skipping a few days. We have been having a good and busy time.
These may be a bit out of order but all have actually happened...

Yesterday we went to the walled city of Obidos again only this time with Nina and Kati. They were not as impressed as they should have been but it was good. We also went on to the beach town of Nazare. This time we went up to the high town at the north end. Very high cliff and a spectacular view. Also some bargain shopping. Nina got a beautiful wool hooded shaw/poncho thing for about 1/2 what we have seen them priced. Nazare was definitely off-season but the weather has been unseasonably warm and sunny and it was great.
We had lunch (seafood) on the sidewalk like real Europeans. We were joined at our table sort of because of the crowd by a couple celebrating their 1st anniversary. They were Portuguese professionals and were so gracious. We even shared some of their food (delicious clams) and had a very pleasant conversation. Great memory.

Last week, I had a couple of "mini-victories". I met my butcher on the street and he recognized me and we spoke. A car stopped by me to ask directions and I was able to assist accurately, I think. A couple of the guys at the "pastelaria" where I buy bread (frequently) and a treat (sometimes) finally admitted to being able to speak English and said I needed to keep working on my Portuguese. I complimented them on their English and we decided that they would practice their English on me and I would practice Portuguese on them. They are really nice and work very hard at a very popular cafe. Nancy and I went down there today to get some fresh bread...it is so good, we eat too much sometimes.
Speaking of eating, Nancy and Kati broke down and ha
d a McDonald's on Friday. Nina and I disdain such food. We went for some other stuff that we can't really name or even describe accurately. Imagine egg, pasta, carrots, meat(s), salad, with a dressing poured all over it sorta like a chef's salad. It was great.

We are having our first company over for dinner on Tuesday. Since we have very little that we can cook here due to lack of a controllable stove and necessary familiar ingredients (okay, and limited culinary skills), it will be an adventure. Last week we finally bought a new skillet (quite expensive) but after burning 10-12 different things, it was time to step up. Having a good camera makes for better pictures and having a better pan makes for better meals as well!
Mike