Author: Grubb

You might have heard of a bookstore in Porto, the Livraria Lello, beloved by Harry Potter fans. One the most beautiful bookstores in the world if you’re inclined to favor wooden two story shelves with a deep golden varnish bisected by a crimson spiraling staircase spreading its Victorian wings along the upper landing. Narrow and…

Or rather, uncorking a memory of corked Coke was my arresting moment of time travel today… But first I had to wake up to another day of resplendent sunshine and balmy breezes. And I wasn’t able to fully take it in until we had our morning cappuccinos on the Ribiera dock. Ella pointed out that…

Goodbye to all that is beige. In Porto, if I were a chameleon slithering down the streets, I’d be green. Even the sidewalks are green. Easter holiday here and old guys like me sit on benches and watch the couples court and the kids run loose. Not enough benches in Albuquerque for elderly eyeballing. The…

After arriving at the Porto train station, we were shooed towards the next cab in line where our driver, after Ella told him, “Viela Ilha de Ferra 12,” looked at the printout of the address and then started wagging his finger at us, “Porto, no Porto!” I was confused. Was this a warning? Or was…

Another sunny day? It’s beginning to seem like normal weather for Lisbon. A nice soft light (not sharp and intense like back home) along with a big river breeze that doesn’t kick up any dust. Balmy. One could go out and conquer the world. Like the Portuguese duke Afonso de Albuquerque did in the early…

Speaking of masks, not devil masks, but the Covid masks that are still required indoors in Lisbon, I can’t resist including a shot of a woman exiting a somewhat formal event a few days ago as we were somnambulating towards the riverfront. It’s not a closeup, but if you look closely you’ll see the lady…

This morning when I stepped out to get coffee from the kiosk of my dreams, the streets were damp and the moisture in the air spritzed me intermittently. I thought, “This is it, Lisbon as advertised, rain soon to follow.” Ella, on the other hand, chooses to make weather predictions from reports on her cell,…

Okay, we made it to the Bélem tower around noon. (Third day in a row without rain. Spooky.) Take your regulation castle and subtract everything but one of the towers and you’ve got a good idea of where we ended up climbing the spiral stone staircase to step around the obligatory cannons poking their barrels…

First day in, we trekked over to a famous indoor market that was on the waterfront. Unlike the Sawmill Market in Albuquerque it sported cooking show chefs dolling out precious portions of highly decorated seafood (except for one tiny booth offering octopus hotdogs, which intrigued me but at 12 Euros and a long line, I…

In Lisbon we will be traveling a lot on the Blue Line Metro. Hop on!   Our first stop could be the Gulbenkian Museum Although Ella may weigh in with a few stops first. I’ll bet she’s thinking of a peek at the History of Lisbon tunnel right next to a public toilet. Or a…

This is how you know we are still in New Mexico