Skip to main content

Will You Be My Porto Valentine?

Image
By

 Valentine's Day is quite well advertised in Porto, in many shops and restaurants, as a Day of Love.  

About 9:30 we took metro to the João de Jesus stop at the El Corte Ingles department store for some shopping then meetup with expats in the restaurant: about 15 men at one table, and 25 women at another table!  I met Ron, who started the group–I added my number to his whatsapp group.  Also there was Bob and Victor, from church.  A nice mix of newbies and old-time expats, discussing visas, property, and general topics.   Barb met with the women.   At noon we took the 903 bus many many stops west to Arabbiada Shopping Mall, for the long walk down narrow streets to the riverfront village of Afurada.  We found the FCPorto Afurada restaurant!  Cooking fresh fish over charcoal stoves outdoors – dourada and salmon, beer and wine and salad and bread, totaling $40. 


Afurada is very picturesque fishing village, but completely remote from public transport.  We walked along the riverfront a ways, then took a Bolt back home so that Barb could join her bible study group online at 3pm.

We went to Jazz at St.James, 8:30-10pm! performance by Brazilian duo: singer & guitarist/trumpeter (unnecessarily amplified), then wine & snacks afterwards – we helped clean up.  Bolt car both ways, as the bus schedule is too unreliable.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fleeing Trump, Americans go to Portugal

By
  Fleeing Trump, Americans go into exile in Portugal. “I'm afraid to go back” Not only minorities feel threatened by the Trump administration. Three couples, a mother and an academic tell us why they chose to live in Portugal. Some say: the American dream is over.      The above is today's headline article in our favorite trusted newspaper in Portugal, O Publico .  It's a centrist newspaper, owned by a big supermarket corporation.  Let's combine this with the recent news that Portugal's Air Force is now shifting away from its planned purchase of F-35 jets.  Even though Trump has not even mentioned Portugal in his various diatribes against former allies, Portugal and the rest of Europe are reeling from the attacks.  We hope it has the ironic effect of freeing Europe from American dominance and improving the chances for centrist leadership (against Trump-like parties that have been gaining prominence).  The original text follows: Em fuga de Tru...
Post a Comment
Read more

EUA: tanto estrago em tão pouco tempo

By
 As part of my effort to learn about Portugal, both the country and the language, I'm subscribing to the centrist newspaper, O Publico .  There are plenty of newspapers: conservative tabloids, and socialist and communist-sponsored daily papers; I find O Publico to be most sober, with consistently interesting columnists and opinion pieces, in addition to some local (Porto) news, with just enough sporting news to keep me chatting with the taxi driver.   Today's opinion piece sums up, I think, European pundits' view of the U.S. government.  As the title puts it: so much damage in so little time.  I shudder at the rank incompetence and corrupt behavior, demonstrating a cynical attitude toward public service, showing indeed that the cruelty is the point. What scandal, what damage will be the tipping point to collapse this government?   And what will it take to recover from the damage?  Who will be able to trust the US government again, ever?   Only ni...
Post a Comment
Read more

Seoul Lantern Festival 2014

By
The Seoul government spends a lot on cultural and tourist events, to the great joy of locals and foreigners alike -- and to the businesses that sell to them. The Lantern Festival has grown into an art display: no longer small lanterns floating on a stream, but rather large hollow paper sculptures lit from within by electric lights, fixed to the streambed. Thousands of people flock to the ChangyeCheon stream  (a waterway analogous to the San Antonio Riverwalk in that it was renovated into a public walkway) to see the dozens of sculptures on a cold November night.
Post a Comment
Read more