Somewhere on a narrow street in Lisbon, there’s a little café with two empty chairs and a table just waiting for us.
At least, that’s how we like to imagine it.
This spring, mi amiga cubana Oni and I are heading to Portugal for an extended adventure. Oni is the only one I would consider for this trip: a trained nurse (I’m old…shit happens), an enthusiastic traveler, and family in all the ways that matter. As her favorite guncle (a distinction I intend to defend), we are looking forward to what promises to be a wonderfully unpredictable adventure.
I can’t begin to relate all the laughter and tears, the moments sublime and escapades ridiculous we have been through together, but that and so much more let me know…this trip will be memorable! We’re saving for bail money just in case.
This is more than a vacation, though. I am testing the waters — a feasibility study if you will — for possible long-term retirement. You’ll have to ask Oni why she signed up for this gig. I hope to keep me grounded in reality. I know none of you ever succumb to grandiosity. All that to say, we’re not planning a whirlwind tour of monuments, museums, and obligatory photographs in front of famous landmarks. I mean, sure, there will be some of that. But mostly we’re going to settle in for a while, get to know Lisbon, and see what happens when we stop being tourists long enough to become familiar faces at the neighborhood café.
For my plan, Lisbon seemed like a wonderful place to begin. There are buildings covered in beautiful blue-and-white azulejos, grand plazas, narrow cobblestone streets, and famous yellow trams rattling through neighborhoods centuries old. Seven hills, each apparently determined to remind us that comfortable shoes were an excellent investment. There are castles, cathedrals, museums, gardens, and viewpoints overlooking the Tagus River. Markets to wander through, neighborhoods to explore, and enough history to keep us occupied considerably longer than we’ve planned.
And then there’s the food.
I’m particularly interested in developing a close personal relationship with Portuguese coffee and the occasional pastel de nata. Oni probably has her own culinary interests — although rumor has it she shares those two as well — some of which involve creatures that once lived underwater. We’ve agreed, at least in principle, that she may eat them as long as they remain on her side of the table.
My plan is to stay for a full two months. I hope that will give me a true picture of “living” in Lisbon — finding my way around, discovering the places that I find god, as well as those where It seems absent. Já estou ansioso por tomar um café e desfrutar da tranquilidade no Jardim da Parada e no Jardim da Estrela, por explorar o Mercado de Campo de Ourique e por descobrir a comida fantástica dos restaurantes de bairro, longe das multidões de turistas. Oni is joining me for the first month. In addition to an amazing adventure, she offers a gentle landing for this stranger in a strange land.
Our adventures will take us beyond Lisbon, too. We want to visit Sintra in the earliest part of spring, with its extravagant palaces and fairy-tale gardens in the mist. We’ll take more than a few day trips to Cascais and the surrounding towns, with their seaside promenades and Atlantic breezes, and at least one trip north to Porto, with its riverside neighborhoods and famous bridges. The country is our oyster and we’re diving for every pearl we can find. We’re even discussing at least one trip across the border to Valencia, Spain. That’s part of the appeal. We don’t intend to schedule every afternoon or turn the experience into a checklist.
There is a huge difference between “planned” and “intentional.”
We will share photographs, stories, discoveries, occasional mishaps, and whatever else seems worth remembering in future posts to this blog. There will undoubtedly be wrong turns, questionable translations, and moments when one of us wonders why we thought this was such a good idea (see earlier reference to “seven hills”). If you know the two of us, those may turn out to be the best stories. For now, there are maps to study, a little (a LOT!!!) Portuguese to practice, and plenty of anticipation.
And somewhere in Lisbon, perhaps behind the warm glow of a café window, two chairs are waiting beside a small table. Maybe we can find three if you care to join us along the way.
Lisbon is waiting. And we’re on our way.