Can it really be six months since we published our last blog post? Well, when you relocate from a furnished apartment to the blank slate of a larger, unfurnished one, it’s not unusual to disappear down a rabbit hole for a while! Sarah and I consider ourselves quite fortunate to have found the perfect flat after looking at only one other place; the lease was simple and straightforward; and Pedro, our new landlord (his mother actually owns our flat) has lived upstairs in our small building for fifty years—it was built in 1910–and he helped us with setting up utilities and with any other minor questions that arose.
Our new neighborhood is part of the Saldanha/Avenidas Novas area, and we’re only a half block from Avenida da República, one of the major boulevards in the city center. With relatively few tourists here, the vibe is much more local and cosmopolitan, with offices and apartment buildings supporting the many sidewalk cafes and restaurants. All four metro lines are within a short walk so access nearly anywhere in the city is simple and fast (and free since we’re over a certain age), and, yes, we’re only a lovely stroll to our series of symphony concerts at the Gulbenkian, a real treasure for us!
So, how did we go from a furnished apartment to larger, empty space with virtually nothing, to a livable flat on relatively short notice? Can you spell IKEA? While I had usually–okay, always–viewed a trip there as an excruciating form of purgatorial torture, it turned out Sarah and I actually remained friends following our four or five hour final confirmation trip after we had made a number of tentative online selections. We also found great help using IKEA’s free online design service for helping us put together five sizable wardrobes for different rooms. (Remember, we went full Portuguese with our new flat so it had no closets, no overhead lights, and no heating or air con!) Anyway, IKEA came through for us with the basics so we could start to move in. Well, that is, once we connected with a couple of young fellows who did a wonderful job of assembling all our new furnishings for us!
Once we got the basics set up, we began the more engaging task, thanks to the guidance of friends who have lived in the neighborhood for years, of filling in with some older, local pieces from the many thrift shops nearby, especially down the hill toward Arroios. We also discovered a wonderful quiosque on Saldanha Circle where a young couple specializes in selling prints and originals by local Portuguese artists and others who have come here to study.
We have now settled into our new flat and new neighborhood, where we have expanded our friendships since so many expats live within easy walking distance. We love the more relaxed, languid sidewalk cafe culture here and have so many inviting new places to explore. We’ve also become regulars at the two tiny shops right across the street from us where we buy our fresh bread and our coffee beans. Dava, the bakery, also sells lovely local cheeses, and O Perola da Chaimite also stocks fabulous cookies and biscuits in addition to a great selections of coffees and teas. And yes, we made it through the cooler months with help from a couple of gas fired space heaters. But we did break down and buy a portable air con unit when we had the two weeks in July of high 30’s C temps (high 90’s F!). But most of the time, the breeze is cool and summer is quite delightful with the average high at only 28C/82F.
While we’ve been focused on our new flat and neighborhood—and continuing to study the Portuguese language—we haven’t totally neglected a bit of ongoing discovery of our new homeland. We’ve dined on fresh dourada escalada grelhada (grilled sea bream) looking out over Atlantic from the beach at Ericeira, a top spot for serious surfing; we’ve walked the charming lanes and the castle walls at Óbidos, a marvelously preserved medieval town filled with bookstores and art shops and ginjinha stalls (rest assured we will do a retrospective post about that trip plus we’ll be going there again over the Christmas holidays); and we’ve toured the summer palace at Mafra where the last Portuguese royalty lived before fleeing to Brazil in the early 20th century. But we have SO much more to see and do!
We did return to the US for a few weeks to see family and friends and to finish cleaning out our storage space. Well, not quite. Oh, and to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. Indeed, some people think Sarah deserves a medal!
But in the mean time, we continue to thoroughly love our new Lisboa home sweet home. Next up, how about a couple of concerts in Paris? But that’s another story, right?
So nice that you’re now in the best neighborhood in Lisboa – too bad about some of the other residents, of course …
LOL indeed, especially any of those residents who play guitarra!
Happy 50th! Looks like you two have found an exciting, adventurous life in Portugal. Doug and I were there once, years ago, and had some amazing delicious seafood. Sarah, I sometimes think of the times we spent with SSC and G’burg Childrens Choir. Your talent and connection to kids always blew me away. I do miss you. If you ever come back for a visit here in the states, please let me know!
Thanks so much, Susan! Sarah loves those memories as well and you were always such an important part of her career growth! She sends her love!
Loved the update but not sure about eating barnacles! Now I can visualize you two in your new space until we can visit.
When you come over next year, we promise not to make you eat barnacles! All best to you and Paul and hope to see you here in 2023!
Hello to you love birds. Happy anniversary. 50 WOW
Love your story and travels.
Thanks so much, Nancy! Great to hear from you!
So wonderful to hear from you David. Lovely flat and I’m still drooling at the amazing food you post. Please send my love to Sarah!
Thanks much, Leona. Sarah says big hugs back your way. Come visit any time!
Really missed your blogs!
Just a fyi: PHS will celebrate our 55+1 (due to Covid) reunion. The date is October 8, 2022.
I was hoping to hear from you, knowing you could not come: wanted you to know.
This will be our last planned reunion. Maybe not our last impromptu get-together when out of town peeps pop in. Locals are always up for restaurants!! I’m the volunteer class secretary along with John Newsome and sometimes Tony Lavinder and keep the lists of deceased if known , not found classmates, classmates with addresses. Please send your address. Your new digs sound lovely! Love your picture and Happy Anniversary!
Send your email, too!
Thanks so much, Barb! Great to hear from you. Sorry I won’t be in the States in October, but I think of so many of our classmates and it’s fun seeing comments on Facebook. I’ll email you my email, etc via pm. Hope all is well.
Actually, I *DO* want to know just how little you paid for that lovely piece! WOW that is nice.
Since it’s you, Bill, I promise to not only tell you the price but to show you the thrift shop!! Até já!
I need to know about this thrift shop too! I’ve done some thrifting at Remar, sort of the Goodwill/Salvation Army outlet of Portugal, and thought I had a lovely carpenter from Sintra designing a hallway piece for me, but he seems to have disappeared like my first Sintra carpenter. So I might be looking again.
Love the blog and the photos but of course really don’t like the apartment. Way too small and terribly uncomfortable. You and Sarah are okay, though.
Be glad to show you and introduce you to both shops we’ve used. Of course we learned about them from others who’ve lived here longer! Sorry you feel so cramped when you visit us! We’ll try to do better once this lease is done in another decade! Muito obrigado!
❣️❣️❤️❤️Love this post, David. Love to you and Sarah🙏💕💕
Thanks so much, Carol! Looks like you and Gerry are loving life!
Love your new apartment and the refrigerator! We must go to the symphony – I’m looking forward to tagging along to a couple of symphonies! Love the blog
Patti
Thanks, Patti! Yes, we will let you know our symphony schedule and we’d love for you to join us a time or three this season!
I love watching and learning and enjoying through your adventures and your beautiful photos and words, David! Jim and I now have 3 granddaughters and 1 grandson with another granddaughter on the way! And we live in Florida!
Thank you for your story!
Carlyn
Thanks so much, Carlyn! So great to hear from you and all best to you and Jim. Enjoy life in Florida!
Amazing post David! What a great overview of your new home, new life, the neighborhood, some trips that you took, how you furnished that giant, gorgeous apartment of yours (Sarah is a great model in the photos). I loved your phrase “going full Portuguese” about no closets, no A/C, etc….having seen firsthand what the after “look” of your place now, you did a spectacular job! Very impressed with so many of the pieces that you got at IKEA
We have a trip coming up to Obidos when the tourists are pretty much back home. We will talk to you about the guest house that you stayed in there. It looks super charming.
Such great photos relating to your anniversary too!
Keep up the great job on your posts…I really love reading them!
Thanks so much, Julie! We love our place but if only we had a rooftop terrace with a view over the city to Principe Real it would be perfect 😉 Look forward to chatting about Óbidos any time as we love it there.
I thoroughly enjoyed your blog.
Eating barnacles! Are the same barnacles that are such a nuisance on our boat? We pay a diver $100 to scrape them off the running gear every month and they love to stop the intake of water to the air conditioning lines.
Ted and I have bought a 53’ yacht, so we are hating barnacles and would love to eat them. Sort of a revenge.
Love your new place. Wish we could visit again.
We also visited Obidos. Quite charming.
We’ll eat some for you! Hope you guys really enjoy your life on the water! Where are you harbored?
In Savannah, GA but we have purchased a slip in the inner harbor of Baltimore. We are going to Stuart, Fl for this winter.
Good for you folks! Enjoy!
Looks like a dream! No need for cars!
Sarah, I am in my 3rd year of 2nd grade. I sneak in music and movement. We have done some brain dancing, Down the Rivering, and Ickle Ockling amidst the Math, Reading and Writing. I have also picked up ukulele. Tom and I started a YouTube Channel, “Songs by Tom and Betty”. It’s got some parodies, some holiday songs,… Still teaching voice at the community college. Take care, I love seeing your smiles.
Great! Sarah sends big hugs!
Love to see you are still loving Portugal! It’s great to follow your adventures! How’s the Portuguese coming?
Thanks Jennie! Slowly but surely we’re making progress!
Hi David. Remember me?
Just wanted to say that, by my standards you are living a life to be envied. Well done. Best wishes to you and Sarah…. Mike
Hey Mike, of course I remember our times working together! Thanks for your kind comments, we are very fortunate and very happy. Hope all is going well for you.
Wonderful post and photos. Really love your blog. Our condo is just a few blocks from you I think. Congratulations on your new place. Would love to know which Saldanha quiosque has access to Portuguese artists. Also, I wanted to let you know about an upcoming concert at the gulbenkian. On 1 October., the Afghan National Institute of Music ANIM ( youth orchestra) is supposed to have a Concert. I’ve been in touch with the Director and am getting details. They have recently relocated from Alison’s to Braga and things are a little hectic as I understand.
Hope we can meet soon, Joyce ( and Mohammad)
Thanks so much!