Tuesday and Wednesday we did chores and routine shopping, and got Gerrit's bank statement translation software going. It's now installed on Pat's laptop, so she can easily convert statements from our Portuguese bank to Quicken and keep track of all our finances in one place. He has offered his software services on a couple expats forums, for no-charge custom interfacing from Portuguese banks to Quicken, too. Now that he's been through it, variations will be relatively easy.
We got our first full month's bill from Vodafone, the one-stop connectivity shop here which provides TV, internet, and phone, including 10 GB per month of data. The bill included those few days we were in England downloading roaming data for Google Maps as we wandered blindly around. The bill is quite detailed, showing both national and roaming voice call time and data volume on a daily basis, not just a total, similar to what we saw in the US. For the whole month the total was €73. In the US we had Xfinity for cable and internet at about $200/month plus AT&T for phone and cellular data at about $170/month, so our connectivity cost here is about 22% for the same service and quality.
On Thursday (today) Gerrit got a haircut, this time at the local barbershop about a block away. It was a very nice place with two friendly barbers and no waiting. His barber didn't speak any English, so Gerrit asked for "sort of long on top and short on the sides and back" in at least comprehensible Portuguese. The barber did a great job, very careful and meticulous. You can see his handiwork on the left. The other barber spoke a little English and his client spoke it very well, so Gerrit and they all had a nice mixed conversation afterward.
Pat has been shopping for a beautician and for a shorter haircut which she'd like. Stay tuned for pictures.
Then we drove to the
Bolhão market in
Porto for lunch and to shop around. It's a big famous market, popular with the tourists, and we had lots of fun.
Half the fun was driving around the streets of Porto getting there, too. We had to find a different parking lot from the nonexistent one which Google Maps sent us to, which took us through several blocks of restaurants, shops, stores, and hotels in old historic buildings. Wrought iron fences and balconies are found everywhere, and many buildings have colorful tile exteriors. People thronged the streets and shops.
At one point Gerrit accidentally pulled into the entrance of a private parking garage and of course couldn't figure out how to raise the gate to get in. After pushing random buttons for a while a voice came on the intercom saying "Olá? Olá?" and then "No parking! No parking!". By this time two cars were waiting in line in the narrow alleyway behind us. Gerrit sheepishly put Pérola (our new car) in reverse and nudged backward a couple centimeters to let them know we needed to back out. The drivers obligingly backed out and let us out. As we drove off apologizing and waving to them they waved back, smiling, and said something cheerful in Portuguese. What a nice place this is!
Our lunch at the market was great: monkfish and shrimp in a spicy tomato rice bed with a bottle of vinho verde. The market had fresh fish, meats, vegetables, flowers, sweets, and many other goods, sort of like a bit smaller Pike Place Market in Seattle.
Afterwards, we made the pilgrimage. Yes, the renowned Manteigaria ("butter shop") pastelaria was just a few doors from the Bolhão market and on the way back to our car, and they are the ultimate Pastel de Nata pastry shop as recommended by our expat friend Susan. That's actually all they do is make the Pastel de Nata pastry, and they have been doing it for ten years. They ring a little bell on the street when a new batch is ready to be tasted. We stepped in, got two Pastel de Natas still warm from the oven, and the angels sang as we tasted our little bit of heaven. These pastries are indeed to die for, and it's a good thing we were sitting down when we tried them. Ahh!
And apropos of nothing, here is a snap of a giant strawberry we keep passing in a roundabout in Porto. It's kind of a landmark to us, as we make our way home from the ocean side of the city (which is not where we were at the Bolhão market). You could make a lot of milkshakes with a strawberry that size. I would want a riper-looking one though.
(As usual, you can click on any photo to enlarge it, scroll through them all, and click in the black area outside a photo when you're done.)
