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The next day I am alone. The girls have decided to take a tour of the Douro Valley. Maybe I should have gone, but city-hopping in Italy wore me out a bit, and I’m content to explore little niches of Lisbon. I decide this will be the day that I visit the cathedral and theContinue reading “Exploring Alfama”

By the second day in Lisbon, Phoenix and Avalon needed a break from their itinerary, so I went out to run errands, then Phoenix and I got pastries and coffee while Avalon lingered at the apartment. We wandered over to check out Castelo São Jorge. I was worried the 10€ entry fee would not beContinue reading “Peacocks, Puro, and Piña Coladas”

I read somewhere that when they found Ghislaine Maxwell, she was hiding away in a rural farmhouse on a 156 acre property that she had purchased in New Hampshire. She had wrapped her cell phone in aluminum foil, thinking that that would put FBI agents off of her trail. Silly, silly Ghislaine. If she hadContinue reading “Óla, Lisbon!”

On my last morning in Porto, a black cat gazed past me with half-mast eyes and a glazed expression that clearly said, you don’t even deserve to be in my line of sight, traitor. All I had done was say hello to the dog that was barking eagerly at all the cats in the courtyardContinue reading “Last Day in Porto”

Do Laundry – Check Round 2 of Pastel de Nata and coffee from Castro (before and after souvenir shopping) – Check Take skycab down to the river – Check Get lunch at a cute little all-you-can-eat vegan buffet in the mercado – Check BONUS: RUN INTO YOUR FORMER 3RD GRADE STUDENT WHOSE FAMILY MOVED TOContinue reading “A Checklist”

I’m sharing an Airbnb with the adult daughters of a friend I’ve known since high school. Which means I’ve known Phoenix and Avalon since they were little sea monkeys in Mama’s belly. It’s worked out perfectly because Phoenix has planned a packed itinerary for them, so I get to do my own thing during theContinue reading “Porto Ramble”

It’s like Russian and Spanish had a baby and named it Portuguese. I attended Mass at the Cathedral in Porto yesterday. In Italy I could strain and get the gist of the service, but in Porto my brain is mush – it is stuck in a holding pattern, oscillating between trying to translate the soundsContinue reading “Third Day in Porto”

2:54 am. David and I are scrambling to catch the 3:00 am taxi for Fiumicino airport to leave Italy, and it occurs to me that I should take a screenshot of my ticket information. At the top of my inbox, I spot an email that was just received a few minutes before. My Italian citizenshipContinue reading “Gentile Signora”

David is sleeping in at the hotel and I go two doors down for pizza and beer. I’m sitting at an outdoor table and an older woman sits at the table next to me. She is limping along with a forearm crutch. She sets a beer on her table and looks at me. “It’s tooContinue reading “There’s No Place Like Rome”

We caught the train and ended up in Florence. I could tell you about how the last time I was in Florence with my son, we got ripped off by a cab driver, and even though this time the cab driver was a grandma, she ripped us off too. I could tell you about howContinue reading “Florence”