Last Day in Lisbon

Brenda took off for France today so I was on my own in Lisbon. Did a little eating, did a little shopping, did a lot of walking, and now I'm packed and ready to take the train to Albufeira tomorrow morning.

pasteis de nata - the pastry of Portugal

crostini with procuitto, roasted pear, and cheese sauce

More Lisbon

Today, Brenda and I spent the day exploring Lisbon by foot and tuk-tuk. Turns out Southeast Asia doesn't have the market cornered on this particular mode of transportation -- one can tour Lisbon by three-wheeler. We rode up and down the hills with our super-nice guide, bumping along the cobblestones, taking in the views, meandering down the narrowest of streets, and stopping for stupendous gelato (thank you Phil Rosenthal's travel show on Netflix), and exploring this really lovely European capital.

After our tour, we killed sometime wandering around the city center, got our nails done, popped in a few shops, and had a nice dinner before heading to a waterfront park to watch a bit of Portugal vs. Uruguay in the World Cup soccer match. There appeared to be approximately one jillion people in the park and we could barely see the giant screen, but we stood with the teaming hordes for a while and saw the crowd go wild when Portugal scored to tie the match. We left before the match ended but I just checked the score and sadly, Uruguay won.

Sintra

Pena Palace

...when your seatmate on a transatlantic flight isn't only not deeply unpleasant, which is really the most a person can hope for these days, but has actually become a friend by the time you land. 

Quinta da Regaleira

Lisbon

The trip got off to a rough start (short connection between SEA and ATL, missed flight, Atlanta Best Western, arrived a day late), but once I got here, took a nap, got settled, and saw some sights yesterday, I knew I'd really like Lisbon. I'm in a charming neighborhood a little off the beaten track, there are cool old buildings along with cool new art, and until it started raining just as I was ending my day today, the weather has been wonderfully cool but not too cool -- warm but not too warm, and I spent the day in the lovely hill-town of Sintra with my new friend Brenda, whom I met on the flight over.

Belém Tower - 16th century

This bridge looks really familiar. 

Roadway near where I'm staying.

my neighborhood, the apartment where I'm staying is in the middle section. 

Couple of Weeks in Portland

My pal Emily is away for a few weeks and I needed to get out of my house, so I came to Portland to keep her cat, Blinky Palermo, company while she's gone. Emily lives very close to downtown, walking distance to Powell's City of Books; no other reason needed to hang out here. 

view from Emily's living room on game day

walking through Washington Park to the Rose Garden

 

Street Art: Sacramento

 

 

  

 

Hamilton

Eighteen years ago, I read Dave Eggers' tongue-in-cheek titled memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Two days ago, I saw Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical, and that book title from long ago kept popping into my head. This piece of theater is IN FACT, a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. The performances were astounding, the detail of the single set was impressive, the acting, singing, and dancing were all top-notch, but what I kept (and keep) coming back to is the astonishing intellect of Lin-Manuel Miranda who conceived of and so fantastically depicted the early history of America, from the Revolutionary War to the Constitution, through rap music, hip-hop dance, and the use of a multi-cultural cast. Lin Manuel Miranda won a MacArthur 'Genius Grant' in 2015, I think he should have won two.

The single-piece set.