Living at the Castle

Stairway to our pension by the castle

View of Lisbon from the veranda

Yesterday we decided to upgrade our accommodations and moved to a pension that we discovered when we walked to the castle (our window is only about 50 feet from the fortress wall!). And, wonder of wonders, it´s actually less expensive! Maybe because you have to trudge up some steep cobblestone roads, then climb a 3 story circular staircase to get there- but it's SO worth it! Not only is our room nicer and quieter, but there´s a beautiful veranda overlooking the most marvelous view of the city. Yesterday we hung out there for awhile and there was opera music resonating from some unidentifiable source below us. We liked it so much that we decided to picnic rather than eat out, so I went to the store and bought provisions. One of those "small world" incidents happened when we struck up a conversation with a fellow guest. Turns out he´s doing research for one of the most widely read travel books in Germany and Austria. Turns out I know the author- Michael Mueller! I haven´t seen him in 25 years or so, but he lived in Seattle for awhile, and was a friend at that time. He was in the same business, but hadn´t yet achieved his current level of success. It´s great to see that he´s doing so well.
Yesterday morning we had coffee with a man who´s a friend of a friend in Seattle. He and his family moved to Lisbon from Seattle 10 years ago, and own several guest houses. They also are very involved in volunteer work in the city, mostly with homeless people (thre are many). He had some interesting insights on the current economic situation, and on the psyche of the people. His attitude was very upbeat, and it we came away feeling that Lisbon is lucky to have people like him who have a "tough love" approach to helping them solve their own problems.
Last night we attended an art opening near our pension. The artist and her husband are from New Zealand and live in the Cook Islands. The gallery owner is from Brazil. She also had interesting observations about Portugal- and they were consistent with those of the man we talked to earlier.
Once again, the internet minutes are ticking away- 2 to go. Bye for now!