Another beautiful day in Paradise. Downtown Lisbon is a loud, busy city. We've been spoiled with the quiet at sea and then at Cascais. Here we have sirens, trains, bells, whistles, dogs, horns, airplanes, you name it.
Yesterday I finally went for a meal. At this vintage pastelaria, I had a coffee with milk and toast, but not like toast I'd ever had before! The shop had been there for many decades and served the community as a caterer with the photos to prove it. Fancy Portuguese cuisine at its' finest. It was very laid back and I enjoyed the copy of the Washington Post that the good doctor kindly brought for me on the same day it was published!  I wandered the leafy streets of the city, mostly in the central district feeling very safe, if a little lost. I searched out the Mercado de Ribeiro, which is closed on Mondays, but all the stall owners are there washing and cleaning their spaces. The place is impressive and will supply all our fresh food needs while we're here. I also found an internet site at the British store (?) and said hello to my loved ones. 

After that jaunt, I was ready for lunch. I took a vintage tram, like the older ones in San Fransisco, to the other side of the ship because I'd seen some fine looking restaurants while sauntering over there earlier.  I had thought I'd return to the same place I'd had coffee, because I'd been sitting in a position to look into the kitchen through a small window and the inner sanctum was spotless- that I could see. That's one of those attractive things for me, a shiny kitchen. I was distracted reading menus, finally one in English. I thought I'd seen "garoupa", could that be grouper? Well, sure enough.  The St. Anasta cafˇ became my restaurant of choice. I didn't cruise the place for ambiance, but the owner, I think, directed me to a private table among the other single diners and an older couple. The businessmen in blue suits were scurrying in and out the door, gulping at the bar, talking on their phones and oblivious to others, sort of like watching a hive from a safe distance. My waiter reminded me of a friend from Nova Scotia named Ambrose who operated a gasthaus near us. Estevan was gracious and patient with my fractured Portugese and my meal was excellent. I had grilled grouper steak with boiled long beans, potatoes, peasant bread and cheese, water and coffee for 16 euros. It was a big meal, but I'm very glad it was the middle of the day and not bedtime.
The Pingo Doce market was open for business on Monday, so I was able to bring some fresh fruit home to the boat and made supper from the roast I had cut for me by Vigilante-swear! I asked him to cut a piece 2 kilos and it tallied at 1.97K. He touched his chest and said," I am Vigilante and I work every Monday." What a country.
Love to you all. HK


 

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