The Rest of 2023

In the fall, we had AFPOP meals from both the Lagos and the Silves sections, several short trips, garden club meetings, and a nice visit from an old work friend and his wife. In November, British friends living in Praia da Luz invited us to an authentic American-style Thanksgiving dinner. And they totally nailed it! They got a fresh turkey from Apollonia that was moist and full of flavor. Mentioning Apollonia reminds me that we also went to a pantomime production of Cinderella by our local Algarve Theater Group, and it was hilarious. We respect the players’ request not to take photos, but here is a shot from their website with the Ugly Stepsisters portrayed as a couple drag queens.

December was a blur of events, starting with the Lagos AFPOP holiday party at the Tivoli. We welcome any opportunity to see old friends wearing their holiday best.

A couple days later, we were off to Budapest to follow through on another planned trip that was scrapped due to covid, and to check out their Christmas Markets. The weather was bone-chilling cold with wet sleet for the entirety of the stay. We stayed at the Alta Moda Hotel, newly remodeled, having a fantastic staff and breakfast, and easy walking distance to tourism sites and the city Metro. Budapest was fabulous, and I wouldn’t mind going back during a warmer time of year. Among the highlights were a trip down the Danube, a Renoir exhibit at one of the city’s art museums, several visits to the Central Market, Tosca at the Hungarian National Opera House, and lots of great meals.

Sadly, the Christmas Markets were disappointing. The two main ones featured food more than anything, and at first, I thought that was a good thing so I could try out a lot of things in one place. But there was virtually no place to sit and eat. And the larger fair, in a plaza in front of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, was so packed that not only couldn’t we sit to eat, but we also couldn’t even stand. I was afraid to drink Glühwein for fear that the jostling throng would make me spill scalding wine on some little kid.

Another cool thing about Budapest is that they have the largest Chinese population in Eastern Europe. Because most came from northern and central China, most of the Chinese restaurants are Szechuan rather than Cantonese. And because this Chinese migration was in the late 20^th century, Budapest’s “Chinatown” is on the outskirts of the city. We enjoyed a couple terrific Chinese meals. For one, we took a city bus ride through a sleeting blizzard to have probably the best Szechuan meal we’ve ever had and also to shop at a huge Asian supermarket.

After Budapest, we were looking forward to a garden club holiday party, and a holiday party from the Silves AFPOP section. Unfortunately, Soo came down with a really nasty cold. I went to the garden club luncheon and sat with a friend whose wife also was home with a cold. Soo’s cold lasted into a second week and started to worsen. On the night of the AFPOP party, we made an emergency visit to the clinic, and the meds eventually got her back to normal. Since that time, I have talked with about a dozen people who had or knew people who had colds that lasted two to three times as long as normal.

Our last adventure in December was a trip back to California. We started with a couple days in Lisbon, joining friends to attend Cirque du Soleil. We went up a day early to check out Lisbon’s Christmas Fair, and to take in some fado at Povo on the Pink Street.

The Christmas Fair was in the park across from our hotel. Despite the clear blue sky and the moderate temps, we still managed to get into the proper spirit. The Fair had lots of food and drink, so I sampled a ginja and a medronho to really get into the proper spirit.

That evening, we headed down to Povo, a fado club that nurtures young singers through residencies lasting several months. We were surprised by the remodeling and an updated menu, which further enhanced our enjoyment of a wonderful young fadista.

The next day, we spent the morning shopping (mostly looking) at El Corte Inglés, one of the last truly great department store chains in the world. After a late lunch at Maria Peixeira, we headed up to Altice Arena for the five o’clock Cirque du Soleil show.  It was our first Cirque du Soleil as well as our first time in Altice Arena. We enjoyed the show, though once is probably enough. Altice looks like it would be a great basketball venue, though I doubt they could fit a hockey rink in it.

Driving back to the hotel we saw Lisbon all decked out for the holidays. This is the view of Praça do Marquês de Pombal from our hotel window.

Finally, the following morning, we were off to the US. We have taken this same routing, Lisbon to London to LAX, on British Air at least a half dozen consecutive times now.  Like most of the others, this one went off without a hitch. In fact, we got through passport control and collected our bags so fast that we caught the earlier bus to Santa Barbara. The same thing happened on the way back in Lisbon! Normally, we spend the night in Lisbon and catch the morning train home. This time, we tried out taking the evening bus instead of spending for a hotel and it was just fine. I doubt we’ll ever again spend the night in Lisbon before or after our flights.

Bob and Soo