Returning to Sevilla!

Sometimes the best moments are the unexpected ones and this is what Sevilla is becoming to us. When we visited Sevilla a couple of years ago, we toured like tourists do, visited the Giralda, Plaza España (there is one in every city in Spain), the Cathedral, Plaza de Toros, Parque de Maria Luisa, el Alcazar de Sevilla and many other sites. 

Besides all the history, Sevilla is also the Andalusian home of flamenco and tapas, it's a blend of roman and moorish architecture, it's a beautiful and energetic city, We fell in love with Sevilla then! 

Saturday after we checked in at our Hotel Melia Lebreros, tired and hungry we found ourselves next door to our hotel in an American restaurant. After almost a month of traveling being in a familiar site with a familiar menu met our desires that day. It was like being at Planet Hollywood. It may be the same chain with a different name here. 

Sunday we walked and walked like the spaniards do, especially on Sundays, with their fine clothes along the boulevards at a low pace enjoying the scenery. Ed and I found ourselves passing people many times as their pace was too slow for us. We walked from our hotel which is located about 15 minutes walk from old town. From Calle Luis de Morales to Avenida de Eduardo Dato to Ave de Menéndez Pelayo that took us to Avenida de la Constitution, ( yes...all the street names are long and most of the time combined two last names) walked in front of the outstanding Hotel Alfonso XIII, Cathedral La Giralda, Archivo de Indias and delighted in the sight of the many horse carriages all painted in black and yellow, crossed parks and roundabouts, saw a girl danceing flamenco on the street while searching for our Moroccan restaurant. After many turns and wrong turns in this maze-like historical old town, we found it. It looked unattractive from the outside, we opened the double doors and were greeted by the owner asking if he had reservations. Oh no....after a few exchanges he said he would sit us. What a relief as we were extremely hungry. We had an amazing lunch in a very traditional Marroccan style.

                                       

After we left the restaurant we walked by the streets we were familiar with, stopped by the hotel Doña María, next to the cathedral where we stayed last time we were here, and reminisced a little about our last tríp. We knew then why we love Sevilla so much, it's a spectacular city, traditional and at the same time multicultural, amazing architecture, friendly people and beauty everywhere, I can't help it but we are falling in love with it again.

                                

We will be centering our days here walking around the city, living like the locals and enjoying their diverse cuisine. 

Detour welcome!

Changing plans! Our trip to Tarifa and our anticipated ride on a high speed ferry ride to Tangier, Morocco is not happening. There is heavy rain in the forecast during the next few days plus heavy winds; therefore crossing the ocean to Africa would have to pass. Better safe! Also skipping the white towns on the Sierra. The good news is that no reservations were made, we were doing these trips on the go, so nothing lost!

Now, getting ready to leave and we welcome the detour. We did laundry today at a laundrymat, remember....no dryer at the apartment. So why bother to wash clothes at home. Again, nice facilities like in Portugal. This is a German company that is selling franchises and just getting established. The one we visited has been in business for a year only. Many people walked in asking how to operate the machines. Laundry €6 and dryer €3 soap and softener included and automatic. All done in an hour, very efficient.

A little gossip, every night we listen to the neighbor's conversation thru the walls when they go to bed and in the morning when they get up. This time the mother was lecturing the daughter to get up and do some chores before thinking of going out with her friends Friday evening. Life is the same everywhere.

After doing laundry, we went to old town to The Caleta beach. This is a very unique beach, it's a bay which has a castle, Castillo de San Sebastián, on one end a forte on the other. To get to the castle we walked at least half mile with ocean on both sides, it was super windy and cold, but we endured the cold to see it.  Here are a few pictures:

  

                         

                           

Like in any beach town the waves bring the surfers and wind surfers, no difference here despite of the cold weather, beautifu site. 

We have two more days here, but my mind is already in Sevilla where we will spend 5 days and we will relive some great memories. It's time to move on and I can't wait! 

We were planning to leave Sunday. Just got back to the apartment and trying to get the heater on and came to the conclusion we run out of gas....so we will spend the night and will leave one day earlier. Renfe train is waiting, the ride from Cadiz to Sevilla is 1hr 20m, it's a beautiful and very comfortable seating with a folding table to write in front, tons of space to recline if we choose to. Snack car and WCs, what else do we need? I am ready!!!!! Now to pack.

We left Saturday instead, Renfe train was waiting....😊 good bye Cadiz!

Cadiz, City of Light!

Cadiz is the oldest city in Western Europe, 3000 years past with Phoenician, Muslim, Roman, Medieval, and now Christian times. Like most towns in Spain, it has the old town which has been preserved with the old architecture and the new town which is modern more in line with the XX century. Cadiz is a long and narrow peninsula, about 3.5 miles long from end to end and approx 1.5 mile wide. It's known for having more than 3100 hours of sun light which represent about 300 days of sun. Also known by getting a constant breeze from the ocean which makes very pleasant summers. There is a long and wide promenade along the ocean side (we have not gone to the bay side yet) all along the coastline about 3 miles long. There are restaurants, hotels and apartment buildings on the side. It's a place to walk, bike or roller skate. It's my observation that spaniards love to walk especially on Sundays when the whole town is out with their fine clothes and shoes, with kids and dogs all making a great parade. What a sight! Also worth mentioning is that ALL stores are closed on Sunday including supermarkets, only restaurants and a few coffee shops open in the morning.  The beach is super wide and the ocean has been calm.  I just imagine this beach during the summer when the beach chairs and umbrellas are covering the sand and the sail boats ride the waves. For now the full view is sand and water with very few people walking on the beach. 

At the top you can see the beautiful promenade in Old Town, to the right is the beach and alongside the promenade in the atlántic side, plus a couple of sites in Old Town.

                                    

These pictures were taken in old town too.

Our flat is in the new town, but we have walked to the old town along the promenade...about 2 miles and taken the bus back in the evening or viceversa. The old town is history everywhere. Among the many interesting things this city offers in old town is what they called "Tourist Lines" which are color lines painted on the street creating a route of different parts of the city. There are four lines to make your walks, blue, yellow, green and purple.  Each line has its own characteristics. The Blue line is the Cadiz Constitution, the Yellow line shows you castles and bastions, the Green line is the Medieval District and the Purple line shows the shippers to the Indies. What a clever way following the lines with a map that tells you places of interest while doing some shopping and enjoying restaurants in the city. Something very peculiar, that every time I have come to Spain I quickly forget....the city goes to sleep from 2pm to 5pm. "Everything" is closed with the exception of the restaurants that are serving "almuerzo" or lunch. Then the restaurants close from 4pm to 8pm, so dinner starts at 8pm but more realistic is after 9pm when people eat dinner.  With that said, the day here doesn't start until 9am for the  coffee shops and "pastelerias" which are packed from 9 to10 am with working folks and retirees start showing up after 10am. We are with the last crowd. The super markets open at 9am and 10am is the norm for the rest. Also, like in Portugal, they use the military time to display hours of operation, so we are getting used to signs indicating open from 10:00 - 14:00 and 17:00 to 20:00. Needless to say, we have to implement "siesta" time too as there is nothing to do, but still can't eat a big dinner that late. We found out today that Cadiz is a favorite destination for Germans, we saw menus in three languages, Spanish, English and German. Who would have thought!

Life in general is a little backwards. Here are a few observations: 

- as in Portugal, it doesn't seem that clothes dryer are the norm, we observe a lot of clothes hanging from the windows. Some apartment, like ours, have a large atrium or courtyard so clothes are not visible from the street, but they are hanging on lines from window to window.  

- I already talked about the heaters, enough said. 

- Something that bothers me, people take their dogs for a walk on the streets to do their business and 1 out of 10 pick up! I remember this in Paris and Madrid, but this time because I have Charlie, I am more conscious. 

- There is no trash pick up, you need to bring your trash to the trash and recycle containers placed around the city, they are conveniently located and properly labeled. 

- Prepaid phones reign, many mini-stores everywhere selling phones and prepaid cards, but you have to show your ID fur local or passport for foreigners to buy. Internet cafes are popular too, a sign that not everyone has Internet.

- A cup of café is 1€, but pastries are more in line with US prices €2 and up. 

- Bus rides are around 1.25€ each way, but the service is excellent and frequent to all directions, cars are very small and not everyone owns one, people walk a lot instead of driving everywhere. - Gasoline is €1.19, I clearly remember a few years ago prices for gasoline around €5. 

- People seem to love McDonalds and the facilities are nicer than the ones in the states, always packed.  However, most people do not place trays and trash in the trash bins like we do in the states. Hair cuts are €10-15 with color €25-35, huge price difference with the states. 

- Life in an apartment is the norm and the walls are paper thin so that you can listen to the conversation of the neighbors. The windows have a roller blind outside the glass that you roll up or down from inside. 

- People from this area are very loud. They remind me more of people from the Atlantic coast of Colombia who are typically loud too. 

But, can't complain....so far people have been courteous and nice to us. I can not say the same thing about the owners of the apartment, not business oriented I guess.

Enough said! Every day there is a higher appreciation for what we have in the states.

Spain challenging our expectations!

OAbout two years ago we spent a wonderful vacation visiting Madrid, Córdoba, Sevilla, Valencia and Barcelona. Then, we traveled with my sister Ivonne, her husband Orlando, and their son and daughter Raphael and Christina. We have wonderful memories of that adventure and we promised ourselves to come back and explore Spain some more. Well, here we are. This time we are making our base in Cadiz, the city of light, door to the Mediterranean in the southern tip of Spain. There is a lot of history in this city. Cristrobal Colon (Christopher Columbus) and his tripulation sailed to American from here, or should I say discovered America but had another destination in mind, India.

         

We rented a flat in Cadiz, this one is bigger than the one in Portugal and it has two bedrooms and a nice size bathroom......but when we checked the beds underneath the bedspreads, nicely ironed, it seems they forgot to make the beds??? We checked the closets and found many sets of linens, all sizes, "ironed" including pillowcases, bedspreads, towels and even the kitchen towels. At least we found cleaned and ironed linens to use. As we continued to explore the apartment, and like everything in life, we found things we liked and others that we didn't. It's all about expectations. Let me start with the likes:

- location, two blocks from the beach. 

- a large kitchen very well equipped including some supplies such as species, teas, coffee, sugar, etc.

- building, nice entryway, has an elevator and spotless clean.

- at a glance, the furniture in the living room, dinning room, bedrooms all look nice and comfortable, lots of closet space, side tables, lamps and a flat TV in the living area.

- proximity to the train station, super market and many other shops all walking distance. To go to the old city, we can either walk, about 35 minutes, or take the bus a block from the apartment. 

Now, we are not complaining....but we have to share the don't likes:

- heating is gas and manual. There is a big radiator (see picture below) that holds a propane tank, it wasn't easy to turn it on, I will tell you why later. It doesn't have a big reach, so it doesn't warm up the whole apartment. 

- no internet, the listing offered it, so therefore the dissapointment. 

- the bed size in the main bedroom was advertised as King size, it's queen. No bad, but why post something incorrect?

- there is cable TV with a DVR, but 99.9% of the channels are in German. Are you smiling? Wait....we managed to find two in English after reading the entire TV manual. Uhrrrr! I think they forgot we are in Spain, no spanish channels either.....ughrrrrrrr!!! for God's sake we are in Spain. Crazy!!!! Sharing this so in case you rent anywhere you better ask and don't believe everything posted.

- Last but not least, all instructions everywhere around the apartment with posted notes are in German, ughrrrrrrrrr! What are they thinking? In my correspondence with the owner he told they have rented it to Americans, Australians, Canadians, New Zealand and many Europeans.

                  

We have to check our attitude, yeah...and decided it was time to adopt the attitude for this trip, "if we don't like, we will start liking it." Nevertheless, it took us a day to adapt.

So back to the gas radiator, here it how it looks, it's on wheels...

                           

We arrived around 10pm. We had to call the owner to find out what to do  about the heating. Luckly he answered the phone and struggling with the unit, we got it on. After we hung up and trying to get settled for the evening we realized the bedroom wasn't getting warm and we decided to roll the unit to our bedroom. Thank God, it worked and we were able to get a nice night sleep. The saga continued the next day. We went out to check the surroundings and when we got back, the heater was off.....no gas!!!!! So we had to grab every blanket we found. It brought me back to my roots. When I grew up in Bogota, at 8K feet above sea level, cold as here, we didn't have a heater. I never knew about heating until I moved to the states. We used blankets and warm clothes and we survived! Not the same for Ed. He didn't know any better as heating was part of his home growing up. So lack of it wasn't acceptable. Well, we found out we needed to replace the gas tank as the current one was empty. After struggling with the owner, who had become unreachable, he provided instructions via email the next day to change the propane tank and voila! 

Why is heating so important?  Well, during the day we reach temperatures mid 50's, but at night temps drop to the mid 40s. From the map above you can see Cadiz is a small peninsula and gets wind from the Atlantic. During the summer this place must be a paradise because the winds make the summer very comfortable and homes do not need AC. 

The conclusion, we all are used to certain standards that when they change our world changes and we lose our comfort, and it changes our mood, and so on. Expectations govern our world and we have control over them before or after!!! The apartment is beautiful but the heating and the Internet temporarily put a cloud over our experience. 

Check it out our flat....

                          

Without Internet, my writings are not the same, as I am rushing to get it done! 

Adeus Portugal!

We couldn't ask for anything more. Portugal was a great adventure and it's time to say adeus. We closed the experience tonight by going out with our new friends, Britt from Estonia and her boyfriend Marcone from Brazil. We went for sushi to a very authentic Japanese restaurant named Sakura where the women servers wore kimonos and the seating was Japanese style. Marcone ordered a feast; what a nice display of sushi. We truly enjoyed our evening and their company. 

                          

         

During our stay here we learned a few Portuguese expressions such as Bom dia, boa tarde, boa noite, sim/nao, por favor, obrigado (male), obrigada (female), desculpe, a conte por favor, ate mais tarde, ate logo, beijos, abracos, vai com Deus!, so many similarities with Spanish that it has been easy for me to guess the meaning on a written word, but the pronunciation not so easy. In case you didn't know the meaning and you are curious... here they are in the same order: good morning, good afternoon, good night, yes/no, please, thank you, excuse me, the bill please, see you later,  see you later, kisses, hugs, go with God or be with God. It's easy to interpret if you know spanish not from English. Definitively it has been proven once again than immersion is the best way to learn a language but you have to want it.

                          

We walked and know all the neighborhoods from Alfama the old town; Baixa the commercial and chic center by the water with the nice arch built after the great earthquake (in the 1700s); Chiado the hip area with fancy shops and a first class mall on a six story building; Barrio Alto a chic and expensive neighborhood; Belem where the museums are located. We went almost anywhere by foot, took the bus, train, or tram only when the distance was too long and never got lost in this maze-like city. We certainly did a lot of walking up an down the hills as the city is all hills with cobblestones everywhere, some with designs, some plain.

                     

Yesterday was laundry day. We washed some clothes at home hoping they would dry and were planning to take the jeans to the cleaners. Well no such luck, no overnight service, so we ended up at a laundrymat we had seen on our walk home up the hill. Nice laundrymat! The name "Jardins da Roupa" or Gardens of Clothes, was very clean and top of the line equipment; all automated soap included and super fast, washing took 30 minutes and dryer 17 minutes. We paid 5€ to wash and 2€ to dry. It had security cameras and very clear instructions in Portuguese. But again, with my Spanish I was able to translate for the most part and making some guesses, too.

                 

                       

Now, remember my earlier story?  Britt is the one that let me use her phone for free while we were here. She owns a shop on the first floor of our building selling clothes and a very nice line of "Bijuteria" or Jewelry from Brazil. The interesting part is that the jewelry is made from a flower "Capim Dourado." It looks like gold and it will never rust or get black. In Brazil it's considered a craft. It's becoming popular with celebrities. She showed me pictures of Angelina Jolie and other models wearing it. The best part is the price starting at 8€, a great price!

Here are some pictures.....

                          

Well, the journey continues. Almerindo, the owner of the apartment we rented picked us up and took us to the airport at no charge. His wife did the same when we arrived. What a nice gesture!!! 

From here we move to Spain, flying to Sevilla, and then by train to Cadiz where we will make our next home base. We can hardly wait! New food, new language and a lot more to learn. 

Magnificent Cascais and Estoril!

Where the earth ends and the sea begins, with beautiful beaches and a vibrant city, these two towns were worth visiting. There is history. There is beauty! We loved being there.

            

We took the train from Cais de Sodre and it rode all along the coast. It only took 40 minutes to the last stop.  It was a cool but sunny day. We walked the downtown area, visited some of the shops and walked some more, found a nice indian restaurant for lunch and we had a feast for 22€. It had a nice atmosphere with excellent service and great food!

Then we headed down to the promenade and walked along the beach front, passed restaurants which were empty or with one or two clients, while we enjoyed the gorgeous views, castle type homes along the side and inviting sandy and rocky beaches. A few surfers, a couple of paddle boarders, and many people walking with and without dogs. A few tourists like us. We walked at least two miles one way on the stone built promenade and walked into the city, saw the casino from the distance and traditional city life around with lots of sophistication before walking the two miles back to where we started. You can breath the wealth in the town. No wonder why this area is calked the town of kings and fishes where the rich and famous live. Cascais from what I see is less stuffy than Estoril. 

                              

We certainly have enjoyed our days in Portugal, we have seen a lot without rushing, very nice people everywhere, fabulous pastries in every corner, where many coffee breaks are the norm and lots of walking on hilly streets. 

                      

     

Getting ready to leave with some nostalgia! One more day!

Counting our blessings!

I don't know what it is, but when I travel I take more time to reflect in all aspects of life, Ed and I have more in-depth conversations and we also reminisce on the memories during different times of our lives. Sixty plus years old is a lot of years and I honestly don't want to keep counting. In my heart I don't feel that old, but my body is shrinking and my skin is sagging and there is no going back. I have always said I lost 10 years of my life, as some years of my childhood and part of my teenage years are not in my memory bank. Can I exclude them? 

With that said, I have to count my blessings which are many and I need to express my gratitude more often. I see how people live here and they are happy with less. Not everybody has a car, perhaps they don't need it, not everyone has a clothes dryer, that I can't live without. We washed some clothes in our flat's washing machine, an experience in itself, old machine and it took about 2 hours for a small load and it has taken more than two days to dry. We are lucky with this apartment as it has all the minor necessities, but many don't have a full size refrigerator. Electricity appears to be very expensive We plugged in the hair dryer the other day and the power went off. We contacted the owner and she said to disconnect one of the heaters to plug in the hair dryer. Yes, no central heating, people use portable heaters. We noticed that the streets lights in old town are on a sensor....if a car drives by or a person walks by the lights turn on. Not a bad idea. Nothing wrong living in an apartment, if this is all you have experienced, may be acceptable and even satisfactory. 

                    

But we have the luxury to live in beautiful homes, with more space than we need and with all the comforts, and more. America is a great place!!! Europeans know and they love the American lifestyle.

Now, let me talk about idiosyncrasies of life:

Train Services: fabulous, top of the line!  

Postal Services: we went to the office to mail some postcards, waiting in line about 20 minutes and the postal workers were rude. I guess government workers always feel they have an upper hand anywhere. 

Tram services: excellent, you better have the exact change. 

Waiters and waitresses: so far so good, can't complain, similar standards. 

No cable services: still using the roof-top antenna to get the TV channels, check the roof tops.

Graffiti is everywhere: old town, midtown. I am sure there are chic and fancy neighborhoods. We were going there today but there is heavy rain in the forecast, so we decided to spend the day at home. 

The supermarkets are very small, even the large ones. The product selection is limited, but the prices are much lower than the states.

The pharmacies are like they used to be 20 or plus years ago. Nice with counters in U-shape to serve the public, even the non-prescription items are behind the counter. 

Not everybody has an iPhone, not everyone is on the phone at all times, people are actually talking to each other in the coffee shops.

                     

Well these comparisons simply bring me awareness of what we have and how lucky we are!

I am not saying that their life is bad, I am simply reminded that we are fortunate. While we are here, we are embracing their style and like it says, "While in Rome do like the Romans do."

A day in Sintra

The beauty of this trip is that we are not rushing anywhere.  We have our morning routine like we were home, the only difference is we eat breakfast at home and then we go out for our coffee. You can't beat the prices and its freshly made just for you, we sit with the locals and take our time planning the day. I take my "cafe leite" and Ed takes his double expresso €2 for both. Also you don't tip here in Portugal and for the most part in Europe. We only do it at the restaurants but 5% or rounding the bill per local advice.

                           

We walked to the Rossio train station, bought our tickets to Sintra and in 35 minutes we were there. What a beautiful town, up on the hills where the nobility used to escape. It reminds me of Carmel, CA but it has more majesty to it with the castles, villas and gardens. I can also compare this place a little but to Breckerindge, CO but with much cooler weather. A little pricey compared to Lisbon, but now it's more a touristic place. 

Rossio Train Station, even inside that station you find the cobblestones.

                   

Sintra is a very special place. Ed commented that he could see himself living here. The town has been described by poets as something out of a fairytale. Lord Byron called it a paradise.  The only place we have seen where people live at homes not apartments. Narrow streets everywhere, the bus driver needs to anticipate and showed incredible skill while navigating the narrow winding street going up the mountain. There are many single family homes with huge gardens. 

                                                           

    

Palacio Nacional de Pena - built in the 19th Century by King Ferdinand II, considered the crown of Sintra.

     

Castello dos Mouros - the Moorish castle - Impressive goes back to the 8th or 9th Century AD, restored in the 18th Century by one of the kings. It's like the Portugal wall!

                 

The furthest point west of the European continent.

                                      

Same place looking at the light house, we had a foggy day, therefore not the best pictures but spectacular views! 

                            

We walked home up the hill from the train station, Ed was having trouble keeping up, about 30 minutes at a very step incline, but we made it home. 

Our flat in Lisbon

We venture this time in renting a flat instead of staying in hotels considering we will be traveling for a while. I used VRBO which is the same as Home Away to find our apartments during our trip in Europe. We decided that this was the best way to kick off Ed's retirement with an amazing trip. I love to plan our itineraries, I read and study the countries we want to visit and develop a plan city by city with transportation, lodging, activities and believe or not I stay on budget, yes for the most part. This time will be a long trip, over 2 months of trekking. I believe it will be out of this world with God's help who continues to provide for us. Amazing!!!

Keep in mind our flat selections are based on the listing information, photos and more importantly the prior guests feedback.  Picking one place only, may be an easier task, several...can be stressful...but nevertheless its part of the adventure. Our goal is to live like the locals for a few days and experience their style of living, something we couldn't accomplish staying in a hotel.

Our flat is Lisbon Is located in the Graca district, at the top of the hill, in a 5 story building with two elevators. I mention this because many buildings throughout Europe do no have them.  It's modern, built in 2003 and recently refurbished. We are on the second floor, which here is the third, as the first floor is the lobby and it called 0. 

Here are some pictures:

A view from the living area

The entryway and view of dining and living area

Our bedroom

The tiny kitchen, but it's well equipped.

It's very close to the historic district of Alfama, the fancy shopping districts of Baixa and Chiado where you find the big stores H&M, Zara's, United Colors of Benneton, etc plus nicest restaurants like Hard Rock Cafe and many local fancy ones. The supermarket is a block away, coffee shops on every corner and many little shops such Talhots=butcher shop, Queijaria=cheese shop, Fruteria=fruit shop plus the typical clothing, shoes, electronics mini shops, etc. We also have a farmers market every morning a couple of blocks away. 

                       Talhots 

    

  

                 Queijaria 

Getting to places is easy, we are fairly close to everywhere including old town, city center and the chic neighborhoods. We walk down the hill everywhere from our flat, but coming back is uphill. We take tram 28 to return if we are too tired, but we have done the uphill walk a few times already. Lisbon is a big maze with narrow streets up and down the hills.  The good news, dieting is not required as we burn more calories than we eat with all the walking.

Thank you for reading it!

Discovering Lisbon

Lisbon, capital of Portugal was once one of the worlds greatest powers and the city was totally destroyed with a horrific earthquake in 1755. It reminds me a bit of San Francisco most likely because of the rattling trolleys, narrow hilly cobblestone streets, the view of the Tagus River that it looks more like an ocean as we daily see international cruise ships stopping at port, a famous suspension bridge and lots of fog. The city has 300 days of sun and even when the temperatures are low, it always feel 10 degrees warmer when you are on the sunny side. In many ways the city got stuck in time as many things seems to be like they used to be in Colombia when I was growing up. It gives me the feeling of a third world country in many ways. Sadly, the city is not kept up. Buildings are not maintained and look decrepit; most people walk their dogs on the streets and do not pick up; and even though there are trash cans on the streets, people ignore them....just imagine! Lisbon could be a beautiful and very inviting city, so many historical sites, building with beautiful architecture with facades of tile and tiny balconies.

      

                

                                               

Here are a few of my impressions:

- Prices overall are way below what we pay in the US., i.e. a cafe latte costs €1.10 compared to $3.75 at Starbucks; a Greek yoghurt medium size only cost €1.49 vs. $4.00; a box of muesli €1.79 vs $4.00 and so on.....everything is considerably less expensive. Prices at the restaurants are also lower.

- At the super market, plastic bags to carry groceries are for sale, not free, €0.02 each

- There are bakeries on every block, people take brakes for coffee and pastries and a long lunch. There is no rush to pay either.

- People are super nice, everyone goes out their way to help you. One unforgettable experience...we wanted to buy a cheap phone to call within Europe and to the U.S. in any emergency. We entered a shop and asked where to go. Britt, the owner a lady from Estonia, offered an extra phone she owns for us to use for free while we are here. We didn't want to accept it and she insisted saying she knew she can trust us.  Unreal!!!

Here is a picture of me with Britt at her shop.

                         

- At the restaurants, waiters try to teach you a few words in Portuguese and try to speak English or Spanish to me. 

- Small businesses keep the lights off to save energy, electricity must be very expensive. At the buildings lights are on a sensor, so obviously off when nobody is there.

- It seems to me everyone owns a clothes washer, but nobody owns a dryer, as a result you see clothes hanging from the windows everywhere even in the nice neighborhoods. I think it's all related to the cost of the electricity.

- Sad to see a lot of homeless people.

- Gas stations are a space on the sidewalk where the pumps are installed, usually only one. It's not self serve, someone pumps the gas for you.

- Like in all Europe and South America, people walk everywhere. We have seen people of all ages including many octogenarians walking with or without canes on the hilly streets carrying groceries to their homes. 

- Graffiti is everywhere, some are total murals, but none are attractive to my eyes.