Travel
And So This Is Christmas
In Lisbon
On November 18th we landed in Portugal. We had already sold our house, gotten rid of 80% of our possessions, spent three and a half months couch-surfing in the United States, and taking care of the last-minute details that come barreling at you as you get ready to leave the country. I could say that landing in Portugal was amazing, and overwhelming, and inspiring, and bewildering, but I’d be leaving out at least 100 other adjectives that describe the moment when you land in another country with a few changes of clothing and a sense of adventure.
Our plan was to be nomads, traveling around the world, and experiencing other countries and cultures. We’ve since decided to try to get citizenship in Portugal. We’re not giving up traveling, we’re just going to use Portugal as a home base.
When people asked where we are traveling to first, I would answer “Sunny Portugal”. It turns out that we’ve arrived in one of the rainiest winters anyone can remember. Typically, Lisbon has 10 rainy days a month from November through January. It has rained 5 out of every 7 days we’ve been here, not that it has stopped us from exploring.
We are here for three and a half months, and one of the things I'm doing is learning Portuguese through shopping (Salsa is parsley, not a condiment), waiting for help, or getting the attention of shopkeepers (Em breve is in a moment, but it really means just chill there, and I’ll get to you at some point), and dealing with the government (Não pode fazer isso aqui translates as you can’t do that here but means that in order to do that, you need an appointment, at a different office, on a different day, usually with a piece of paper that you have never about).
I’ve also learned when the padaria has fresh bread and which ones I really like. I’ve found some amazing places to walk around, like the beach, which is a 40-minute walk from our Airbnb. There is a bird here whose call sounds like the noise a bomb makes in a cartoon but without the explosion at the end. If you have any idea what the name of the bird is, please tell me as I’ve been unable to find out.
At some point, November slipped into December and it was suddenly Christmastime. Garlands were hung. Trees have appeared everywhere, and lights have been strung across the streets. At some point, I think the lights will be turned on, but for now, they are just strung. I did read that due to the energy shortage the number of days they will be illuminated have been reduced, so I walk and check and know that one day I will be rewarded with beautiful stars and doves in dazzlingly lights.
The Christmas markets have opened up. There are at least 3 of them in Lisbon, the biggest of which seems to Wonderland Lisboa. There are stalls selling everything from trinkets and slippers to wine and hot chocolate. Let me pause a moment here to describe the hot chocolate, because it bears no resemblance to the thin milk-like warm chocolate drink I called hot chocolate. Drinking this hot chocolate is like drinking warm pudding before it sets. One small cup is more than enough for 2 people. It even starts to form a skin if you wait too long between sips.
There is free “ice skating” at the Wonderland. OK, it’s not ice skating at all. It’s a rink with a sheet of very thick smooth plastic where the ice would be. You exchange your shoes for skates which have blades, but no stopper at the toe and no teeth to slow you down or give you traction. I am a decent skater, but on this plastic surface, I was far from graceful. Daxton announced, “This isn’t ice skating, but it’s not un-fun.” I agree.
While we don’t celebrate Christmas (our atheist version is Present Day), we do have a tree each year. This year, when Daxton asked where we would go to cut down our tree, we found that cutting down your live tree isn’t a thing in Lisbon, so he had two choices: buy an artificial one or buy a small real one in a pot. He chose the artificial one because it was bigger. He also chose a box a gold ornaments and multicolored lights.
Before we had a chance to put up the tree, our Airbnb host came by and when he saw the box, he offered us his tree (“I never put it up”). He came a little while later with a box which held the tree, some red balls, a gold bow for the top, and some multicolored lights. We have the receipt for the tree we bought, so we’ll take it back to the Continente.
He also brought a plastic bag. “This is the crèche. My family’s crèche. I don’t use it.” We tried very politely to refuse it. “It’s ceramic. We wouldn’t want it to get broken.” he countered that by saying he really didn’t care if pieces got broken. He suggested we could put it by the fire place. We told him we are atheists. He is not religious either, but he couldn’t seem to be able to imagine having a tree without a crèche, so we took it.
I’m so glad we did. It is the oddest nativity scene I have ever seen. The pieces don’t match. There are two sets of Wise men, on riding camels, and one larger and standing. The larger one is missing a Wise Man and someone substituted a smaller crystal one for it. There is a church, fair enough I suppose, but there is also a grist mill building with a multicolored windmill on top. There is a sacred heart which is on a tablet with a base in the front that, if it were life-sized, would function as a kneeler, so you could kneel down in front of it and pray. Mary and Joseph have peeling paint and, along with baby Jesus, seem to be from an entirely different set. It also has a fisherman with waders on and a figure with a stick (not a shepherd’s crook) which seem to match the standing Wise Men. There is a bridge like one that you might find over a small stream or a water feature in at a fancy hotel. All in all, it is a wonderfully odd set of characters.
Although we usually exchange presents, we decided to use the opportunity to get things we’ve realized would be good to have on our travels. Daxton is getting Robux. For the uninitiated, Roblox is a online gaming platform that has many different games created by a lot of different people, and the in game coin of the realm is Robux. I’m getting a collapsible set of measuring cups and spoons, while Zöe is acquiring a metal water bottle (we only have one right now). Jeanne is getting a foam mattress pad. She said everything here is great except the Ikea futon bed, which hurts her hips. No, I have no idea how she’ll carry it around, but that is not my problem to solve.
So this is Christmas. We are following our dreams, traveling and learning and enjoying each other and the moments we find ourselves in. I have no idea where we’ll be next year, but this year, we are right where we want to be.