November Musings
It’s November and I’ve spent quite a bit of time trying to think about things other than US politics. As a result, I’ve got the makings for anyther musings post. This time it’s some thoughts about our move to Portugal.
I think I’ve commented on how nice Portuguese people are. Some folks have blogged that they are a bit stand-offish. I think those bloggers misread the Portuguese. They, like Ann and me, pretty much leave others to themselves. And while they may look at you with a bit of curiosity and a straight, if not stern looking, face (if you’ve never traveled overseas, you’re likely to be surprised that most cultures think we Americans smile too much), if you approach them with a question or a hello (“Olá, bom dia!), they will usually open up and bend over backwards to help you. Even if they don’t speak English.
Other than our contact at Ei! Ana, the person we’ve had the most interaction with is Sr. Gomes, our landlord. I use that term loosely because we’ve had other Portuguese tell us, “He is not your typical landlord!” How exactly did some other Portuguese come to see our landlord? Well, this summer when the living room couch was being delivered, Sr. Gomes stopped by to check if everything was fine (“Tudo bem?”) And to give us a bottle of port wine. “Who was that guy?” the younger delivery guy asked, “Oh, that’s our landlord Sr. Gomes.” His comment above immediately followed.
Sr. Gomes is an incredibly nice person, as is his wife. Once this covid thing passes, he promises to drive us around to show us the sights (which will undoubtedly include an incredible dinner somewhere). I’m sure we will have a great time. Until then, we simply enjoy his periodic visits.
And, of course, the various bottles of wines he sometimes drops off. Like the one above, which he said, “Save this for a good dinner!” Which we did (probably one of the best lasagnas I’ve made). I texted him the image and thanked him.
Whenever I’ve lived overseas, the fact that you’re away from “home” really settles in during the fall and the holiday season. While we had some color change here (we’re still having it, but it’s not as substantial as parts of the US and add to that the fact that we have not managed to get out as much as we’d hoped to see the colors change) there’s not that much of it, so that “Fall is here” feeling hasn’t totally hit home yet. And while you know from the previous postings that we really aren’t into the “let’s decorate everything for each of the Fall events” (call us curmudgeons), there has been a sense of “what are we going to miss that we enjoy over the holidays” feeling growing in us.
Face it, the list of things we’re going to buy (or eat) once back in the US is growing and while there are sometimes competent replacements for some of our favorite things (think: food), there isn’t always. This is the long way of saying that Ann and I both thought about the fact that this is about the time Trader Joe’s would get their Panettone in. Now lest you say, “Duh! Panettone is Italian. You’re in the EU. Of course they’ll have Panettone!” please let me respond that there have been several things we’ve looked for that we’ve learned are not really “Italian, or English, or German” or at least that what’s sold in the US is something very different than the real thing sold here in Europe.
Long story short, Ann and I had nothing to worry about. Lidl (a German grocery store and the closest thing to a Trader Joe’s we’ve found here) to the rescue. Plus, to sweeten the pot, Lidl has introduced us to Pandoro al limone.
Yes, they’re both as tasty as they look.
I guess Ann and I worried for naught.
I think I’ve mentioned a few times our Alessi espresso makers. Over the years we collected several of them. We’ve got a couple of different sizes for home use (one good for a single person, the other for 2), and a spare smaller one for Beast, which will go into the Bimobile when that finally happens. It’s dawned on me that I’ve never actually showed you the pot that I’m so fond of.
When Ann and I were dating, she described to me this really great espresso pot she had where the handle pulled out and the pot opened up to be cleaned. (Yes, I married into my first Alessi!). Well, it’s easier shown than explained.
Pull out the bottom handle and the thing comes apart. And that argument that stovetops only make bitter espresso? Not this machine (and yes, I’ve had and used several other designs in my time - the screw on ones do produce a bitter espresso). So imagine, something that is beautiful and functional at the same time. What a way to appeal to my inner designer (I couldn’t design buildings to save my life, but I know good when I see it!). Beauty and function - that’s Alessi’s approach to problem solving. I may not always appreciate the design aesthetic (they are an Italian company with lots [but not entirely] of Italian designers, which can be a bit over the top on occasion), but I always appreciate the products.
One of the nice things is that one of the smaller shops downtown that we frequent carries Alessi products. If we need a little something for the house, we’re more inclined to check out that shop than go to a mall to find it. So when we decided we needed something to keep the bananas from going bad, it was time to check out Alessi.
And, of course, they had a very elegant solution to the problem.
Unfortunately, Alessi products aren’t what you call cheap. But when it comes time for an anniversary present (in just under a week from now), why not get Ann an Alessi decorative bowl for the dining room table?
While it’s simply a sheet of folded metal, the reflections it produces are stunningly beautiful!
I’ve been thinking a lot about descriptions of Portugal as a “comparatively poor” country. In several respects I have to agree. One does not have to be in Germany for very long (a day and a half in our case in January) to see the many signs of the wealth disparity between EU countries. While Portugal is a European country, it, like Italy and Greece are by far not the wealthiest of countries. Portugal is a far cry from Iraq (despite all of its oil) and certainly way above Liberia. Simply put, Portugal is a modern country, a democracy that is focused on providing its people a dignified and decent living, despite not being an economic powerhouse.
One of the first things that really got me wondering about whether Portugal is wealthy or not (in addition to the number of dwelling that are uninhabited and in disrepair, the construction projects that seem half-completed and the seemingly slow pace of construction when it is happening) is the amount of labor that is manual than is otherwise automated in the US (and Germany I suspect). Things seem to be more manual here than in the US. But that isn’t necessarily a given, because the banking system here blows the US away in terms of its integration and the services it provides (pretty much every bill you get in Portugal, if you haven’t already put it on an auto-pay system, allows you to pay it from an ATM and as for ATMs, I never have to pay a service fee for using another bank’s ATM - pretty much every Portuguese certified bank is on the shared Multibanco system). But in addition to lengthy paper receipts and official documents needed for pretty much everything, a lot of things are simply less automated here.
The one event that drove home the fact that this is indeed not the wealthiest country was when I saw our friendly neighborhood street sweeper come by. Yes a street sweeper. A person. He comes by weekly
I guess there’s a reason all of the streets in Braga are clean - to include ours. It took me a long while before I managed to be in a position to photograph him as he made his way down (or up) the street, but early last week I finally managed to get a photograph of him (with a bit of help from Ann, “Dan, the street sweeper is coming down the street. Didn’t you want to take a picture of him?).
He got me thinking about why Portugal would have human street sweepers and I think the answer is simple. Jobs. While not the most efficient means of keeping streets clean, it’s a means of creating jobs for people when there isn’t a totally robust job market out there. Portugal’s recession 10 years ago was much worse than the US’s and while the economy is building, particularly in certain tech sectors now, it’s still not what Germany’s is or even France’s. Plus it’s a job that increases everybody’s quality of life. So I say good.
One can also say “comparatively” because there are reasons to argue that Portugal is a very advanced country, and in ways besides banking. The EU has recognized Portugal’s innovative approach to dealing with Covid 19 cases. Portugal has one of the lowest ICU unit per capita capacities in the EU. While the health care system is highly ranked, it doesn’t have an excess of bed space. Making a mistake in treating the Corona virus could lead to a very rapid overwhelming of its health care system. So Portugal took aggressive measures early and implemented its public health measures to require masks and social distancing in public places and tweaked its health care system so that most people are treated at home, thereby keeping hospital beds available for the worst cases. Despite not having the best of records regarding Covid 19 case numbers (that is unless you want to compare it to the US instead of the rest of Europe), Portugal never exceeded 65% occupancy of its ICU beds. The purpose of public health measures are to ensure that the health care system is not overwhelmed. And they’ve largely done that.
That said, like so many places around the world (Europe included), the end of summer travel (with Portugal being one of the top vacation countries) and a return to schools and social activities has lead to recent spikes in reported Corona Virus cases. So a few weeks ago the country raised the Corona Virus response level to a “State of Calamity” which imposed some further restrictions and a plethora of recommendations to help slow down the spread of the virus. This Monday, many municipalities have been raised to a “State of Emergency” with even more restrictive measures.
About a week ago I looked out my office window one afternoon and saw the health care system in action. Up pulled the mobile healthcare unit. Then one of the team members ended the rear cabin and started getting dressed in PPE (see the blue leggings in the photo below). Shortly thereafter she closed the door and reemerged in full PPE. She then entered the house.
A while later, she and the other medical person came back out. She entered the rear cabin and closed the door; he hopped behind the wheel and drove away. The house has been pretty much in lockdown for the past week, with nobody leaving the house (no leaving for work in the morning, no coming back from school - both of which I usually see while I’m working). There were, however, people dropping off bags of stuff (food I suspect), and it seems like a doctor (at least he looks like one) has stopped by on a near daily basis. It’s the system in action, and its good to see, despite the implications. It’s going to be a long winter and it feels good to have some confidence that the system can work.
Last, I guess “comparatively” is definitely the word to use. As much as one could argue that Mercedes Benzes, BMWs and Audis are probably cheaper here in Europe, and thus more prevalent here than in the US (they are), that does not explain the fact that the Agere trucks (read: garbage and recycling trucks) wear a Mercedes symbol on the grill. Yes, Portugal is a European nation.
You knew you wouldn’t get away without at least one shot from our food excursions. Actually, this is more about Braga than eating, but eating is a good entry to it. A couple of weekends ago we went into town to get something and decided to try and grab lunch. We walked across town only to find that the place we wanted to eat at was closed. It was a good feeling that we knew of another place to grab a quick meal - that sense of familiarity that you get when you feel that a place is becoming home - without having to do a google search.
We wound up at the coffee shop that was near our vacation rental when we first arrived. What can I say, they had Ethiopian coffee and we supplemented that with pancakes. Not bad for lunch!
That afternoon, and a couple of other times recently, we’ve come to enjoy that downtown Braga is a comfortable city to walk around in. It doesn’t matter whether something is “on the other side of town,” walking there is not a problem. And we’ve found a couple of decent areas to park (a couple of main garages and a couple of side streets that always seem to have spots available (at least if you get there before 2:00 pm). So we figure out where we need to go, and park at the closest location, knowing the walk won’t be too far. Then it’s go do your shopping and then wander around a bit if we feel like it.
It’s pedestrian friendly (for the most part) without having huge pedestrian-only areas. Lots of interesting views as you walk around and an old city feel without feeling like you’re in a museum.
We’ve concluded we made a good pick with Braga.
And last, but definitely not least (because I keep saying it), we’ve come to admire the skies we get here. We’re a long way from exploring Portugal given the virus situation and definitely a long way from photographing, but we are paying attention to the weather and the skies (wet weather gear will definitely be needed). And the skies do not disappoint.
Whether we like it or not, we won’t have our Bimobile for another year and a half, so there’s all of next year to be photographing locally. Hopefully, next September through November we’ll be able to be out and about a lot to capture these incredible storm skies. Who knows about the spring? We like everyone will just have to see what events have to offer us.
Until then, we continue to settle in and bring back those things to our lives that led us to come here. All in all, I think we made a damn fine choice!