July 9. Running, Working, and Planning

Instead of planned 6am I woke up at 8. So there was no reason for Dan to join me on a run to protect me from the alcoholics and Lazy Beggers (here is more about them). I ran to Estrella park to check it out for the kids to go to with Irina. There are few enough playgrounds in town and finding one is a special treat.

Running to Estrella is probably an exaggeration. Within three minutes of getting out of apartment to follow the route of the famous tram 28 I reached a 60 degree drop down the narrow walkway covered with slippery tile. It would be easier to run on the road if not for the train. So I walked. Within 5 minutes the drop had reversed. As much as I wanted to run, my body just said are you kidding me? And I walked up as well for another 5 minutes. There was a Portuguese older man at the top who gave support to my red face and panting with some claps.

 

Granadilla

Estella park is very nice – complete with excellent children’s and adult’s playgrounds, shady meadows and ducks and ponds. 

After Georgia did her reading and math, we threw everyone out of the house and did some work. For lunch we rejoined everyone at the Starbuck’s mall and had some salmon pasta and lasagna at Capri in the food court. Incidentally Capri is owned by Walk the Wok – one of our favorite Asian eats in Vilnius. It was excellent and they even gave us a real Zip-quality plastic box to go.



In the evening we went up Avenida do Liberdad to find another playground and to have dinner at the Bocca restaurant, critically acclaimed by Michelin just this year. Final block to the playground near Anjos was another one of those 60 degree walk ups again. We decided to skip. Bocca was a disappointment too – it seems to be out of business. We were really hoping for their desert specialty: celery ice cream with caramelized pumkin, cream of carrots, and another vegetable I cannot remember.

The view looks a bit like Rio

At least we managed to find a playground in the Park Edwardo VII. It is behind tennis courts. And it comes with watchman who locked the door right in front of us at 7:30pm even though the sign said it is open until 8pm. At least we know it exists.

Finally, we arrived to El Courte Ingles mall and headed to Maison do Tapas in the food court. Can I say 4.5 stars? 4.5 is because I know that I had that glass of warmish red immediately upon arrival and my judgment may have been impaired. But everything – crispy bread with manchego, soft lightly grilled octopus, thin rare pork chops wrapped ham, seared tuna, and other stuff tasted absolutely amazing.

 

Kids dove for it, which too was unusual since normally they subsist on pasta and French fries, especially Isabella. And they were sober for sure. So it must have been that good. We finished at 9pm and walked over to the hypermarket for do some grocery shopping. Kids must be doing some private endurance training because at 11 we crowded into Haagen-Daas downstairs from our apartment to give them ice-cream promised in a moment of weakness. At last, they were asleep at midnight and we could do some planning for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be really neat – we are planning to work out of Belem.