Our first day back in Lisbon featured beer, semi-aimless wandering that took us to some of the tourist must-see spots & a great dinner (every dinner has been great). Just getting from the Metro station to the apartment we walked through a plaza full of restaurants where people sit outside to drink a cafĂ© or ginginjha (I think I just spelled that 3 wrong ways). Lisbon’s modern history starts with the big earthquake in 1755. The heart of the city was destroyed: earthquake, tsunami, fire. They probably tried prayer & fasting like Tennessee’s Governor just called for. Then they rebuilt with wide straight streets and lots of open plazas and parks. I tried to get into the lager mindset & enjoyed the vinho verde & the house into, but it was great to find a craft brewery tasting room just around the corner. Jan was the most grateful of us This elevator thing is visible a few blocks away when we step out the door of our lodgings. We might wish it was attached since it’s 5 flig
I wrote that I wanted to say more about the BnB in Odeceixe, but I find it isn’t much, just this: it was run by a mother & daughter, the mother is 92, she put a pot of some kind of fruit tea on the table & pushed Bruce & me to have some, ascribing her longevity to it & a mixed fruit dish, and she made these covers for the water & juice glasses: Of course, my dad lived to 96 & was still moving pretty good past 92 & he liked to get up in the middle of the night and have split two hot dogs with cheese & mustard with his dog. So what does she know? Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnets are pretty overwrought & full of poetic devices that detract from the sincerity of the message, but they get better as they go along. I think Dad would have been able to recite the most famous one from memory even a few weeks ago: XLIII How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For