ü Leite – Check!
ü Porco – Check!
ü Frango e Peru – Check!
ü Legumes – Check!
ü Azeitonas – Check!
ü Tortillas – Check! What? Tortillas in Portugal?!?
Last fall we had the opportunity to visit Portugal for about six weeks. This was the fifth or sixth time I have visited Portugal now so I have some familiarity with life there, but this was to be different in that we had rented our own apartment. With a car available as well, this meant we were to have more independence than in previous trips when we stayed with friends. What would “ordinary life” be for we Americans living in a neighborhood in the small town of Mealhada near Loures? What would "um dia na loja" (a day at the store) be like for a country girl?
Our flight arrived in Lisboa on time at 11:00 p.m., and our dear friends the Ekks met us with smiles and a camera in hand! We greeted, hugged and drove to our new "home" and unloaded our 4 suitcases (weighing the airline limit) and carried them up a flight of stairs into our apartment - where is an elevator when you need one??? Oh well, the elevator would have been too small anyway and would “tell” us we Americans are too large…but that is another story! The apartment was waiting and ready to be inhabited. Marjorie of course had some food in hand so we wouldn't starve before getting to the store in the morning, and so we unpacked a few things, took showers and were in bed by midnight. The next thing I knew, I woke up, looked around, remembered where I was, looked at the clock and was surprised - we both slept a good 8 hours! 8:00 a.m., how could that be??? We don't sleep in, ever! We were in Portugal!
Soon the apartment smelled of fresh brewed coffee... ahhhh! We rolled up the shades and saw that it had been raining over night. A beautiful cloudy rainy day in Portugal in a sweet cozy Portuguese home! We eased into the day with coffee, (did I mention how good it tasted?) a small breakfast of fresh baked bread, butter and jelly around our tiny kitchen table.
After lunch at our favorite restaurant here in Loures, we went grocery shopping. Now I thought we were going to have to navigate this adventure by ourselves, but Marjorie, who loves to grocery shop and wouldn't pass up the chance to go, went with us. Otto came along for the ride (not his favorite thing to do!), and we cruised through the aisles with grace and ease and of course with the 'system' she knows best. Is it the same as in San Diego? Of course not, but the similarities are enough for one to figure out in due time. We found all the items on my list…milk, chicken, turkey, vegetables, and other items from across Europe. Wonderful and plentiful and the most striking thing is that while some grocery items in Portugal are very expensive (beef and cosmetics for example), other things, many of them the staples of the Portuguese diet, are very inexpensive. And there is the ever present smell of the fish in the stores ... Hello!
We discovered that in Portugal they do indeed have everything needed to survive: Fresh fruit, coffee, rice, flour, olives, olive oil, sea salt, hot sauce, and more. Our first trip was a success! And if I can do it, I think just about anyone can do it as well!
The tortillas? Well, they don’t really exist in the Portugal, and how can we Californians survive without our beloved Mexican food? What about half and half for our coffee? Well, we brought ‘mini moos’ from Smart and Final, two large boxes, and flour tortillas from Fresh and Easy! Problem solved!
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