If my move to New York had worked out as planned, I’d be putting my North Carolina house on the market right about now, and scheduling movers. But Jill and I seized an opportunity to buy a reno-worthy 1939 bungalow on a perfect street in the city of Plattsburgh, I sold my house in two days, and life accelerated.
The house, to put it kindly, is a project. But, it’s on a perfect street. Location, you know. And it was a bargain.
Jill and her dad worked miracles to get it ready for my arrival. By the time I touched down in P’burgh, the heating system was sorted, scary electrical problems dealt with, and some surfaces saw new paint for the first time in ages.
First major project: Refinish the hardwood floors, which had seen years of abuse and neglect. This meant living in the basement and great room for a couple of weeks, and while we navigated this with little disturbance, I do not recommend it to anyone.
But, voila!
Let’s go to an illustration of before and after. Our living room, in its post-purchase glory. Ouch.
And after paint and floor refinishing:
Next up: Replace the water line into the house. We don’t touch or even look at the galvanized pipe that’s way past its expiration date, so in a week or so we’ll have a trench across our yard, a new section of sidewalk, and shiny copper pipe that’s ready for the next few decades. Until then, fingers crossed.
People who know about this house know about the cats. That’s a story for another chapter. But until then, here’s a taste.
Many years ago I attended a Divine Llama wine tasting at a friend’s home, but until last weekend I’d never visited the winery itself. The visit was long overdue. We had a perfect Sunday afternoon to sit in the shade and sample wine, then walked through the farm to visit with llamas, ponies, and chickens.
A long weekend with miles of walking, interesting sights wherever we turned, and delicious food from Toloache, Oscar Wilde, Milk Bar, and Juniors. Next stop: The North Country.
The idea to go back to Portugal started with a half-baked idea to spend part of December working in Ireland. After Jill and sis-in-law Amy signed on, the destination changed to Portugal, the idea of working while there went away, and I dropped tentative plans for a weeklong motorcycle trip.
This post is all about week one of the two-and-a-half weeks I spent there. In this chapter, Jill and I landed in Lisbon where we spent three days, drove up to Nazaré and the Douro Valley for three days, then came back to Lisbon. We had zero plans other than a couple of dinner reservations, and our time could be summarized like this: low stress, high joy.
We saw a lot.
We walked a lot — including many hills and miles — and ate a lot. I’ll give you the greatest hits:
Best dining experience: Oficina do Duque. We climbed a lot of stairs in Lisbon to get there and it was worth every step. The wait staff danced and sang songs and fed us delicious food and wine. Recommendations: The oxtail — wow. And if it’s on the menu, the tuna with whipped root vegetables. It was so good we went back on our return trip to Lisbon. Be sure to glance at the framed Bukowski quote in the bar — it served as a motto for our trip:
“For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula, the big answers don’t remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”
Runner-up for best dining experience: Tasca da Esquina. Stellar food — I loved the creamy cheese that was waiting for us on our table, and the octopus. And the port. Yes, the port. It’s only a runner up because we couldn’t stumble down the stairs, stop for a ginja at the bar at the base of the hill, and wander through the Christmas market on the way to our hotel after eating. Location is everything.
Answering a question: Time Out Market or LX Factory? On my previous trip, a local scoffed at the Time Out Market and said to go to LX Factory. Jill and I went to both. If you want food, there’s no comparison, IMHO. Jill and I ate croquettes, sardines and tomatoes on toast, and pastel de nata, and drank cheap and delicious vino verde at Time Out. Amazing food, and a bargain. Two meals at LX Factory restaurants were mediocre at best. But LX Factory is worth a visit, if only to check out my favorite shop, Ementa. I loved their skate wear, and had to buy something because the woman running the store was so friendly and curious about everyone who came in, and retail needs more of that.
Brunch, anyone? In Lisbon, check out The Folks Sé. I’m obsessed with their syrniki, tiny pancakes made with farmers cheese.
Surprise dining experience: Swagat, in Nazaré. The best Indian food I’ve eaten, and no one else was in the restaurant. We went back two nights later and repeated the experience — great food, amazing hospitality, and a criminally empty restaurant. We appreciated them leaving a bottle of rum on our table the second night, and giving us the green light to empty it (we didn’t).
Stunning vistas and sleeping dogs. We took a day trip up to Miradouro de São Salvador do Mundo, in the Douro Valley. To get there, you hop off the N222 and take a winding, narrow road that ends in a small parking area. Walk up to a chapel, and there’s a stunning panoramic view of the valley. When we were there, an inversion filled the valley with fluffy white clouds. We watched the valley for a while, then went down the road for lunch at São Leonardo, where we ate an okay lunch while enjoying a spectacular view of the valley. Bonus view: When we exited the motorway before heading up the mountain, we came upon a pack of dogs sleeping in the roundabout. I’ve never seen this before, and wish I had video. I know Jill does somewhere.
The 100 Foot Wave. It’s a documentary on HBO about big wave surfers in Nazaré. Watch it — I’m addicted. And Nazaré was a great place to hang out for a few days. We had an apartment overlooking the ocean, plenty of beach to walk, and an out-of-order funicular that forced us to drive up to the vantage point for big waves (there were none — the waves were maybe 15′ when we went). It was a great jumping off point to visit other beaches along the coast.
Final thoughts: Portugal is gorgeous, Lisbon is charming, the people are warm (though a bit chillier to the idea of tourism these days), and it’s an inexpensive destination. Go. You won’t regret it.
