August 7. Excuse me!!!

I could only load a few pictures for August 7th - connection is way too slow.

We had a nice day in Seville. Kids woke up before we did and spent some time playing nicely together. That was pleasant and rare. So we pretended to be asleep a while longer to enjoy some of it.

We walked outside and stopped by at the beautiful tiny St. Jose's chapel. It is like a gem with richly carved and decorated altar. I am sure that Cathedral has many more like that but they are all in one place.

After having our breakfast at one of four Starbucks in town and a bit of walking around the area near the Cathedral we headed out to Seville Antiquarium, interesting modern construction on top of the ancient city. We wandered around the beautifully restored foundations of buildings and workshops that covered over 1000 years of history starting from Phoenicians, to Romans, to Visigoths, to Moors,  to early Spanish rulers. Some of the mosaics were startingly clear and color rich.

Next we took the elevator up to the viewing platform and had lunch at a coffee shop there. The bartender was very friendly. He offered drinks but I’ve asked for food. So he got out of one counter and showed me the options at the other station – potato salad, salsa with shrimp, and gazpacho with pieces of jambon. We got them all and they were all great – especially combined with the views. When we were done he brought out the final dish – thinly sliced pieces of smoked ham from the contraption that contained the entire leg of the animal including the hoof. It was even better than the rest.

After lunch we walked around pathways winding through the viewing platform like the rails of the roller coaster. It was not as high as the Cathedral tower but had plenty of interesting points to look over.

Next we did the Macarena walk. Not the slow version of the dance J but rather a walk around of the neighborhood by the same name that is to the west of Santa Cruz we visited yesterday. It is an interesting area that also showed strong Muslim presence.

Unfortunately the churches and monasteries we passed were operating on the old Spanish time line and were all closed, or at best under repairs. There was one spot we wished a bit more luck in – at the monastery of Saint Ines monks sell sweets through the ancient rotating window. Someone forgot to lock the door of the monastery when the lunch “hour” started and we were able to get in and see the rotating window but monks never showed up to work even after we came back later.

We found an area where all local alcoholics aggregate. We did not see any today outside of that area. So it seems to be a stick to that, unless they were having a special convention. We also figured the reason why they all aggregate there. See the pic.

It was a day Isabella made us laugh. We took a break near St. Mark’s church and were eating some peaches. All of the sudden Isabella switched all over. We looked at her in alarm and she explained “flies.” And then did it again. I guess you kind of have to be there and see it. But watching it after the explanation got a whole lot funnier. 

When we came back to “town center” Isabella went to sleep. We spent a comfortable hour at the air-conditioned Starbucks. Georgia did her math. It was hotter than yesterday but what’s interesting is that when you are in shade it is very comfortable and you can walk for hours if that , and when you are not, it is noticeable very quickly. What’s missing is a cool Lisbon breeze J

After she woke up, we transferred over to the Tapas place on the street facing the Cathedral tower. We don’t remember the name – Tapas restaurants line the entire street. This one had bull torsos mounted upon the walls with accompanying plaques on when that each particular one was dispatched and by whom.

 The waiter was very friendly again. And by the time we washed our hands the food  had arrived. There are real advantages in having tapas instead of formal dinner when eating out with kids. First off dishes are very small and inexpensive so you can try several different things. Secondly as an “appetizer” kind of meal it is designed to be prepared fast (or parts of it are) so the service is fast.

In the evening we walked around Triana neighborhood across the river. It is pleasant and quiet but is not that interesting.

As we walked back to our hotel, rollerblader passed us and screamed “Hey” for us to clear the way. It felt a bit rude especially considering that you could roller blade out of the way. Then an old guy walking ahead of us started to wander into our path. Dan tried to warn him but nothing in Spanish came out – his brain went through “Excuse me,” “Disculpe,” and ended up with “Hey” that was ultimately what helped to prevent the collision. It is harder to move stroller loaded with two girls and stuff and weighing over a hundred pounds we still did felt bad. Next time we will try to remember “perdoneme” or “permiso, for favor.” It is hard to keep some basis phases separated between Spanish and Portuguese.

We thought that people get so used to the “excuse me” phrase in their language that they respond to it automatically and do not respond to it being screamed behind their back in another language. As a clinical experiment we waited to one of two girls walking and talking ahead of us to start wandering into our path and then screamed “Excuse me.” She did not respond. Bicycle bell should work generally everywhere. Don’t know if we will be traveling with the stroller again but would be a helpful addition.   

Onto Gibraltar tomorrow!!

August 6. Seville

The ride was very nice. We covered over 300km is less than three hours. The girls were practically perfect.

We had pretty low expectations considering Spain’s poor economic state. We also did not build up huge hopes for Best Western. AS they say in SNL “lowered expectations.” So far everything was great. Hotel is maybe a few blocks away for the busy town life. We parked in the underground elevator garage of the hotel. We did not get into the room until late in the evening but once we did we saw that room is very large, it is actually a triple, and clean.

The city is much cleaner then Lisbon. We saw only one alcoholic and one snorter (at the playground). And the smell is incomparably better. There are fewer run down buildings, and generally everything seems to be in better shape. Finally, the food is much much better.

We wondered whether it would make sense to stay here for the summer rather than in Lisbon and the answer is still no. Even though some roofs in the old town streets are covered with sheets to give the streets below some shade, it is still very hot as soon as you get out of shade even at 8pm. And we got the sense that today was a relatively cool day with barely a few digits above 30 Celsius.

First girls and I unwound from the trip at the local bakery shop with some pastries and cappuccino. Dan unwound in his favorite way as well.

Next we went into Cathedral, the third largest Christian church in the world. It has a multitude of chapels. A feast for the eyes though after a while you slow down on digesting of the information. Some of the particularly memorable areas are the central chapel with virgin statue and some five year old wooden carving with facial expressions like they’ve come from today. In some ways the humankind really did not get that far in that time. There is also a tomb of Christopher Columbus. Georgia said it is was a bad thing because he caused deaths of all those Indians. Indirectly yes. But if not for him, five, ten, fifty years later there would be someone else. Possibly with even better weapons and more deadly diseases. Discovery of something new sometimes goes through the horrible abuse process until people figure out what to make of this new knowledge.

Anyway, there was also beautiful oval Renaissance chapel with some parts copied over from Michelangelo’s. Spatially it was a weird place to be – it felt somehow wrong. Finally, we really enjoyed the climb up the tower. It was the first tower that had inclined walkways suitable for a stroller. But we did not want to wake up Georgia and so we took turns. Georgia up with both Dan and I. 

Next we went to the royal palace and garden. Both are great. Other than Dan being knocked off the stairs with the stroller by the girl who was running down, there was no particular incidents. Dan scraped his elbow but otherwise he and Isabella were OK.

Kids got so used to the portable potty that they hardly ever think about declaring that they have to go – right now, whenever the moment strikes. Yesterday we spoke with Georgia and asked her to give us a little warning. It is one thing to set up the potty in a middle of the street for a two year old, doing that for a six year old can be a bit uncomfortable. So today, in the garden she said, very calmly that she has to go. And it is number two. We asked when. She said in a minute. I know the king does not come here a lot but I was not ready to set up the potty in the royal garden surrounded by the tourists. It was kind of funny after the mad rash through the park to find the bathroom. 

Another funny moment was when we got inside the maze made out of some tall bushes and got stuck with the stroller. We tried to find the exit this way and that, and kids started to get nervous. So we had to get out using some brute force, entertaining the people around.

Next we took a stroll around Santa Cruz neighborhood. The clean, well lit buildings, even in the narrowest of passageways are a treat. We saw the famous backyard that inspired Washington Irving. Only it was locked up. Dan took a picture by sticking the camera through the bars above the gate. Did not inspire us. Maybe they invited him in for a drink and that did the trick.

After a passable tapas and paella dinner (Georgia tried everything, Isabella bit into every bread bun on the table) we walked along Paseo De Las Delicias along the river to Parque Maria Louisa and took some many pictures near the beautiful Palace there.

After that we walked home via excellent Avenue de Constitution along the way. It was wide and filled with people. Families were strolling with strollers, people were having dinner, rollerbladers and so on. In addition, there were services going on at the Cathedral and they were allowing people in for free. We glanced inside and saw some tourists taking advantage of the opportunity. 

We saw not one, not two, but three Starbucks stores and a Dunkin Donuts all within the sight distance of each other. Nothing can beat coffee served in twelve once cup.  

Spain used to be famous for its four-five hour lunch. Stores would just suddenly close at noon or 1pm until the dinner time. Streets would go dead and only bewildered looking tourists would be walking around in heat and asking why. That’s how it was in 1999. Nowadays it looks like Spain has started the shift toward the global standard of the working hours. So far it looks like there is completely random pattern of opening and closing stores, not in any way resembling the posted hours. But in the end you get some stores open throughout the day and others in the morning and evening. That means so far, it is the best of all worlds.

Almost forgot. Garbage cans are very modern – they look like mini-incinerators. You put your garbage in, close the door and turn the handle, and then when you open it again – the chamber is empty. Very cool! We tried a few times to make sure.

August 5. Algrarve



Moment later someone will

appear at the end of the bushes



First we had our breakfast at the apartment. Next we had our second breakfast at the little coffee shop in town with amazing views of the beach. We noticed runners around the paths running through the cliffs. And then we noticed a lady doing a number two at the end of the large grassy area below the coffee shop. There were bushes behind her so she apparently thought she would be safe. Instead, she was in the broad view from the coffee shop. It was too funny.

So the fortress it was, as per the information guy. Actually it was awesome. Starting from the view of amazing cliffs on all the sides. It was like being in a grand canyon with water all around as a bonus. The fortress had excellent infrastructure for visiting – there was a long path bounded by some proper railing that runs around the entire perimeter out to the edge of the cliff. You can run around it or cycle aroud it.

Falling of the cliffs breaks hearts

We saw some local fishing enthusiasts fish from the cliff. I don’t know how it works – it is over a 75 meter drop.

There were also buxom beauties in different colors lying around. Kids wanted to pose on all of them. We must have spent two hours there and really enjoyed it.

The next stop was the Cape of Saint Vincent. The pictures are actually as it is. The coolest thing about this location is that from the same point you get to see both Mediterranean and Atlantic ocean. The actual place was less interesting than Sagres point because they do not let you walk over to the lighthouse. But we enjoyed the frontier look with several food and goodies trucks. We stopped by to have lunch.

Next we drove to Vila de Bispo to take a look at their church. Very interesting and different design. The ceiling is not an arch but rather a series of angles. There was a town event going on and church was filled with kids and adults. A girl was speaking from the pulprit.

Next was Praia do Amado (Amado Beach). The parking lot was bursting. There were regular vehicles but also a lot RVs. It also seemed to be a very surf-centric type of place with lots of surfers in wet suits dragging their surf boards around. The beach was even nicer than the one in Sagres. In addition to also being bounded by the cliffs it was possibly three or four times longer. There was a very wide path of wet sand – very convenient to take the stroller around because Isabella went to sleep.

Georgia splashed around and we followed to the right and left edges of the beach picking shells and colored rocks. The cliffs on the beach came in a rainbow of colors: we saw bright green, red, yellow, black and any combination of that. We got treated to the view of a naked guy playing ping pong with his topless female counterpart. Not a prime specimen but a first naked guy at the beach for me to see so as far as dubious checkmarks are concerned that counts. There were plenty of topless women here too. I am thinking back to the more Portuguese beaches up North and it was rare to see that, and I also did not see any kids Georgia’s age without the top for their bathing suit. Here it was far more common. Possibly it does show heavier foreigner presence.  

We woke up Isabella hoping she will get out to play in the water as well but she did not want to. So we went back to the parking lot to get in the car. We noticed that some people in the RVs are getting together for some meals – some had portable grills going, others were already working on their meals. We wondered why, if you have an RV would you eat at a dusty parking lot. But this seems to be more of a local custom. We sometimes notice families who got out of their cars to have a meal at a table set up by the edge of the road. There are also local camp grounds which resemble more gated trailer park communities. These could be setup next to some shallow muddy river, half a mile from a really lovely place, and people would have hanging out there – having barbeques and all. Maybe you are not allowed to congregate and eat at the nice places?

On second thought you do see this a lot in the States at the games. And also you may not want to pop the camping ground right in the middle of the most beautiful site. So it makes sense.

We drove to Aljezur next. We were not planning to drive up to the castle but accidentally got on the one way road and had to take it forward and upward. I’ll have to check online what is the maximum grade to safely scale with your car. Because I think we hit it. The castle was not as interesting as some of the others we had seen but it was a nice diversion from the beach.

By that time it was already 6pm and we did not get to go on Henk’s boat but we were busy enough J And, at that point we were starving mad. We stopped at the Marche hypermarket to get something quick for the kids and food for tomorrow. Just like yesterday, there were crowds of people inside buying their food and supplies for their stay. In that sense this area resembles Poconos or Miami.

We had dinner at Lagos again. Indian seems to be our favorite recently. At least Georgia can eat everything and Isabella can have Nan, rice and mango lassi and that is better than French fries.

Green pimple mountain

Georgia and Isabella spend so much time together that sometimes they act like and old couple. On the way home Isabella ran up the stairs first, screaming “I am first.” And then Georgia said that she was first. Isabella said “You are a nagging old wife.” Not something she hears a lot at home. So my mouth dropped. There is a lot more of that throughout the day. Most of the time it is really funny.

We had a great day and are very happy we stayed. If we had to make plans again we would choose to stay in Lagos and take day trips from there. Like one day trip :)

Onto Sevilla tomorrow.

August 4. Sagres

We drove South for about three hours. Kids fought in the back and so it made it seem longer. Towards the end of the trip the landscape gets grassy and the vegetation somewhat sparse. There are huge areas featuring the old olive trees. The South seems sparsely populated too.

Our first stop was Lados. Algarve is the summer vacation area for Portuguese and also many other Europeans. It is less overdeveloped and has lots of nice sports activities: surfing, swimming, cycling, and more. It is also relatively cheaper than corresponding areas in Italy and France. Don’t know about Spain.

After being in a couple of other resort towns in the North,  Lagos did not seem overwhelming. It is a nice little town filled with restaurants and souvenir shops. We heard a lot of British English and locals we spoke with also speak with the British accent.

After lunch we walked around a bit and then drove on to Sagres. I picked Sagres because it close to the most South-West point in Europe, and Henry the Navigator picked that place over Lagos. And also I assumed that Lagos will be too touristy. I was wrong about the last one. In comparison, Sagres was plain dead.

The attack of the snails

But let me start from the beginning. We checked into an apartment hotel Sagres Time – lovely one bedroom, brand new furniture and equipment, great place. After kids took a swim at the pool on premises we headed out to find the beach. Incidentally, there was a thermometer floating around - it showed fifteen degrees, it did feel like it. It was also very windy.

We passed a large plot of undeveloped land with some intense snail colonies, a few abandoned hotels, a few “Point-Pleasant in winter” looking houses and after some more circling did find the beach. The beach, surrounded by the beautiful cliffs was very nice. Only the kids, again, braved splashing around in icy water and cold wind.

There were a few people at the beach here and there, and mostly RVs parked in the parking lot. It did not look particularly inviting for a two day trip. We felt sorry for the French family who checked in until next Saturday.  

I went to the tourist information office and a very bored attendant who was watching a movie, took a second break to say that we can check out the fortress, Amado, and Vila do Bispo. He did not look excited about those either.

At the hotel, the lady at the reception said, no, we cannot cancel our stay tomorrow night. She suggested to hire a guide with a 4x4 to take us around some beaches. I did not see Isabella being very excited about that.

On top of that we could not find anything open for dinner and drove back to Lagos to eat.

The food makes everything better. First off we had the most amazing tapas at 2 Irmaos Tapas and Wine bar. The best so far. Second we found this guy Henk who takes people around on a small sailboat. And so we decided to give it a try and stay.

August 3. The last day in Lisbon

The last day was mad rash. We tried to finish the work and then pack for our final week in Europe. On Saturday we were going to Algarve for two days. On Monday we were moving to Seville for the following four days and were planning to take day trips from there. Kids went to the Maritime museum in Belem with Irina.   

We usually don’t care much for the dress-up statue performance but we saw one near Baixa-Chiado that defied all imagination. He was dressed as a fallen angel – dirty corset, and flowing long skirts, wings made from real feathers. He was perched up on the wall of the train station – about a foot thick. A wrong move and he is tumbling down into the subway, five sets of twenty two stairs. As additional decoration there was a pile of books, candelabra, and some music playing. We got a mobile pic, I’ll upload later.

We got a bit of a scare picking up our car from Europecar. When making the reservation, I’ve explained that there will be two kids, two duffelbags, and a stroller. What we got was a new mini waltz wagon. Not even a stroller would fit in. We panicked and the very helpful, grumpy lady Manuelle let us have Ford Pinto that could fit all we needed. It just came back from two other renters and was not cleaned but that’s not a lasting state with the cars we rent anyway.  

In the evening we went back to the Indian restaurant in Bairo-Alto. The first time was better but it was still OK. In retrospect – should have tried something new J Thoth was going on again, for the last time. We really enjoyed our time here and were very sorry to leave. We also had much easier time working and enjoying ourselves thanks to Irina who missed her daughter for a month while she was taking care of ours.

Traveling. Final Entries

We may make a few more entries but Internet connection is really random here so it may have to wait until we are back in US. We are spending a few days in Algarve and then a few more in the South of Spain.

August 2. Zoo

Irina and kids went to the zoo. It was really nice. Here are a sampling from some 200 pictures. Seems that no animal was left behind :)  



After seeing a first few pics like below I asked why did they go to the cemerary and why are all dead people named something like Cuca. And then it kicked in. The zoo has a giant pet semetary. Row upon row of mausoleums, gravestones and such:









A few more quick notes. In the evening we went to Amorino for some ice-cream. Kids got cones with multiple flavors arranged not with the balls, but rather like flowers - with each flavor "stuck" to the mini ball in the middle like petals. Of course Isabella started from the center of the flower. The staff had great fun. Eventually a few of them came out from behind the counter and gave us wet wipes. Unfortunately the camera was stuck in the charger after the zoo adventures and we could not take a picture.

As we passed through neverending array of street statue performers (?) dressed like soldier, golden man, copper woman, another (pewter?) woman, Dan and I thought of a way that this boring entertainment type can be made more interesting and bring better return to performers.

How about putting on multiple layers of pants - say several sets of tights, sports pants, jeans, dockers... however many a person can handle and putting out a sign "will take off my pants for 3 euro." It is different enough that people may just chip in to see. Thereby a person would take off his pant (a bit of a show would be nice too). And replace the amount with 5 euros. Once the audience catches on, they may stick around and wait for that final pair of pants. For the next to final pair pants the performer can put out a sign "100 euros," and "Crowdsourcing OK." Since the tourists change everyday, this could be done for a few weeks before moving on to the next town :)

We enjoyed a few minutes sitting on the pier and watching the kids have fun on the stairs. Georgia did a mini performance herself. The Isabella fell in the puddle and we left. Thoth was performing again, today's theme was Eastern European Tribal Baroque. Just awesome!!

August 1. Nothing broke

As the title states, today was a pretty uneventful day. Kids and Irina went to Cascais. Dan met with another friend. After work we ran like mad to the Central Bank some twenty minutes uphill. We were two hours late. It’s like in that joke about the train.

We decided to take a different route back home. Though some weird spatial arrangement after forty minutes of brisk walking we ended up two blocks from the bank. It was kind of funny. For myself, orientation is not one of my virtues. Dan is very much the opposite. My theory is that Dan must have angered someone somewhere and now we are dealing with the consequences. I guess we just have to find the right sacrifice to make to appease whoever it is that’s pissed. As a finishing touch, as we approached our building we were showered by some plaster from the neighboring building. The kids upstairs said “Sorry.”  

After kids and Irina came home we all went to Sukothai restaurant in Bairro Alto. Another five stars. And that’s not even because we like Thai. They served the first dish so fast that we thought it was those little appetizers they give you prior to serving your meal pump up the bill and stave off the hunger whilst they take their time. We almost refused it in disbelief. The rest of the dishes followed shortly. Everything looked and tasted great. The food was flavorful but not spicy but they gave us a little bowl of liquid fire. Dan would have loved his cooked in but I liked it this way because it was more controllable.

As for desert we went for the chocolate lava cake and lemon sorbet at 560. We were the only ones there. They’ve brought out deserts and then the chef and his assistant watched as Isabella did her usual number: try and spit. They laughed. Eventually she warmed up and ate a bit too. It is one of those perfect contrast deserts: sweet and sour, hot and cold.