Today we were awakened by church bells ringing at 8:30 am and then every half an hour to call us for mass at 10:00 am. I only knew this because I had read a sign about mass schedule on our street. I thought about my dad, how he would find the mass schedule everywhere we went to make sure he could go to mass on Sunday.
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| Plaza Largo do Carmo |
We decided to take it easy because last night everyone said they were tired from walking around different cities. The kids will have to get used to this lifestyle. Gregory and I walked to the grocery store to get food for the 2 more days that we have left in Lisbon, came home and found the kiddos in pajamas. It is a gorgeous day outside but I guess we need a day like this, plus it's Sunday and many cafes and stores are closed. Portugal is a very conservative and Catholic country. Again, it reminds me a lot of Mexico. We had lunch at home: chicken rotisserie and salad and of course a yummy pastel de Belem. After catching up on emails. Gregory figuring out our ride to Sevilla, our next destination, we headed to downtown in search for boba tea. Sunshine did her research and found a place but it was Gregory who guided us. The owners were really nice and the kids were happy to have their treat. I got a new frozen yogurt flavor made of charcoal, it was delicious, it had no milk nor sugar and it was tasty. We sat outside where the breeze was and enjoyed ourselves. We did more walking and shopping.
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| Mommy and Sunshine shopping day! |
Even Sunshine felt like shopping and we went to H&M for denim shorts. We walked in downtown, full of tourists. In every corner we found different kind of people singing, playing instruments, students from Porto doing a traditional dance. Gregory and I were really enjoying ourselves but the kids were ready to go home and mostly go to the bathroom. You definitely have to change plans when you travel with children. Gregory found an antique bookstore, I could tell he was in heaven so I took the children to Benetton and pretended that we were looking for something in particular, we went to the third floor and guess what? No bathroom! We went back to another restaurant, where you could only use the restrooms if you were a customer. My American children pointed to the sign and were embarrassed but my Mexican culture and especially my mom instinct told them to follow me and be sure of themselves. The lady in charge of the bathroom let us in without any questions. All you have to do is be sure of yourself to get almost anything in life! We went back to the store and found some amazing old books.
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| Gregory in heaven! |
I looked at a very ancient Bible. I had to ask permission to touch it! I also found a lot of amazing postcards and pictures of people around the world. I thought about collecting one from each country. Maybe find one that represents the place or that only says Portugal but here they were expensive, from 5 to 20 euros per postcard while at the flea market they were 1 euro each. Oh well, the kids were ready to go so we continued our walk through downtown. Gregory took us home taking different alleys and cute plazas. We stopped in another one that reminded me of France. I just love the way people spent their Sundays walking, drinking coffee or just sitting on the sidewalk chatting.
We made it home and I suggested movie in on our laptop with popcorn like we use to do it on Friday nights in Encinitas but then everyone got busy on their own devices, me cooking dinner -- well, putting pizza in the oven -- and we forgot about the family movie night. It didn't matter because we sat at the table and had a wonderful dinner. I have noticed that we have spent more time eating meals together and sharing more adventures. I'm sure this is something they will remember when we go back to our rushed breakfast and hectic afternoon days!.
At night, Daniel said that he wanted to go home and that he missed his friends. It kind of aches my heart to hear him say things like that after all the effort we did to make this dream come true. One time, he actually said that it was the parent's dream but not his dream. I think it's too soon for him to appreciate what he is getting from this experience. Anyway, we took it easy today because tomorrow we are going to the city of Tomar, a Knights Templar city that was recommended by a Freemason that Gregory met a few nights ago.
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| Beautiful tile buildings all over Portugal. |
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