Christmas II

This is our second Christmas in Portugal.  A year ago we were in our apartment in Vila Nova de Gaia, and now we're in our home in Ponte de Lima.  Much has changed, but much is similar too.  We hope you all had a good holiday too!  

Pat has been beading more than a dozen Christmas ornaments for gifts.  It's a tricky and exacting job, but she loves it and the results are beautiful.  Since this post will appear after Christmas, we won't be blowing any surprises by posting a photo here.

Here is our wee tabletop Christmas tree and a cozy fire at home.  Pat strung some nice icicle light strings along the balcony too.

On Christmas Eve we drove an hour or so south to Porto and checked into a beautiful hotel which Pat had found, just a kilometer or so from our friend Bernardo.  He had invited us again to his consoada, or Christmas Eve dinner get-together, the peak of the season in Portugal.  We checked in to the hotel and hopped an Uber to Bernardo's place.

Most of Bernardo's family was there: his mom Lígia, brother Pedro and sister Rita.  His dad, the good-hearted doctor, had agreed again to take someone's shift at work, so we missed him.  Some other guests were there too: Carolina, Bernardo's Uruguayan girlfriend who had just earned her Masters in Fine Arts, Natalía, a Uruguayan friend of hers, Martín, a fellow tour guide and colleague of Bernardo's originally from Macedonia, and Ann, an American from, incredibly enough, Seattle!

Bernardo met Ann when he helped her find an apartment about a year ago, in his role as a real estate agent.  Some time after that she was diagnosed with colon cancer.  Bernardo visited her in the hospital.  The cancer spread and she was pronounced terminal.  She is shortly leaving for Seattle to say her final goodbyes to her family there.

Bernardo, our friend with the heart of gold, invited her to his place for this, her last Christmas.  She is weak and barely able to stand.  He and his brother picked her up in their car, and literally carried her up three flights of steep winding stairs to his apartment.  She was a joy, proud of the life she has lived and facing her final goodbye with quiet courage and a sense of humor.  We had a great time talking about Seattle and Ellensburg with her, and her love of dogs and horses.  We had some wine and, courtesy of Rita, Carolina, and Natalía, an excellent meal of Bacalhau à Brás, salad, and a Uruguayan dessert cake.  Then Ann grew very tired.  Bernardo and his brother carried her back downstairs and, along with Carolina, drove her home.

Natalía, Carolina, Ann, and Lígia

Ann and Lígia

Lígia, Pat, and Martín

Our hearts were full, and our admiration for Bernardo and his family was boundless.

Pat had baked her delicious shortbread as gifts for everyone, and we had bought little jars of local Ponte de Lima honey to share some of our new home-town pride.  We distributed gift bags of all this, and other gifts were exchanged all around.  Pat got a luxurious warm scarf, and Gerrit got a cool simulated-sunrise alarm clock.

Then some of us played a board game from the Azores called Marralhinha (photo Board Game Geek) while others drifted into conversations.  The game was fun and fast-moving with quick reversals of fortune, and Bernardo's siblings were aces at it.  Gerrit started to get it after a while and had a great time too.

Finally, about 1 AM (way too late for us), we said fond goodnights and Bernardo's sister gave us a ride to our hotel.  We collapsed into the cozy bed for far too few hours of blessed sleep before we awoke at our normal time.  As usual.  Welcome to old age.  We took a coastal route home, took care of some chores, Gerrit had a little siesta, and we did some Christmas Day family calling.  When it works, video calls are astounding.  It's just like sitting in a couch across from your loved ones, but you're thousands of miles away.

There are three suspicious things about the solar panel system right now, too, things which don't seem right.  Gerrit is spending hours investigating and wrangling with the vendors, who deny everything.  Probably nothing will happen till a while after Christmas.

(As usual, you can click on any photo to enlarge it, scroll through them all, and click outside a photo when you're done.  Also, you can click on the bold underlined phrases to play the audio.

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