Friday, February 3, 2023

I’m working again from my “office” at Esquires. Finishing my second perfect latte and typing at jingly-jangly top speed. It was a smooth flight home two weeks ago, and I walked off the small jet from Amsterdam to feel a warm sun on my back. It’s good to be home to familiar scenes, sounds and smells (even the salted cod fish didn’t smell too bad). A big breakfast at Esquires on my first morning back helped kick the jet lag.

Connected! Not.

The big day finally arrived: installation of my internet connection. I felt like it was a big holiday. Bruto, the installer whose very polite demeaner failed to match his name, arrived to connect me up, only to discover that the fiber optic connection to my location is faulty. Other residents already have their Wi-Fi, so apparently I am an anomaly (yes, I hear the smart-ass remarks from some of you, and with my normal quick wittedness, I’ll have a retort in about a week). He explained that the fiber optic crew would have to come make repairs at the street level. That requires hiring policemen to stand watch and direct traffic while they dig into the street. “They will come next week,” he explained, “or the week after. It might be just a few days. Or it might be a few weeks.”  

First Step to Local Fame?

A Certain Café is located in Bonfim, an eclectic, family-friendly neighborhood. I was lucky to be introduced to this new café/gallery that brims with natural light, thoughtful design, and outstanding American-style coffee. The owners hail from Argentina, with an Italian heritage, so it seems only natural that they provide excellent wine, sandwiches, pastries, and coffees, all with apparent ease. And clearly, they have good taste in prop design for photo shoots.

When I returned to their establishment on Sunday, Matias greeted me and shared the image above. I remembered that day, but I had no idea I would appear in the pictures. Mike Turner, I hope you approve of the styling for the shoot. 😉

Two Underground Rivers. A Giant Tunnel Dig. What Could Go Wrong?

There was a bit of excitement in Porto three weeks ago. Massive rain in a short time deluged this city of granite, overwhelming normal drainage. Two rivers flow underneath Porto, and normally rainwater flows into them. Rumor has it that the massive dig to expand the Metro train line may have contributed to the catastrophe. Fernando at Esquires told me that the tunnel construction required a man-made diversion of the two rivers during the dig, but apparently the detour was not built to handle this amount of overflow. So, water did what water does. The path of least resistance proceeded down the steep hill from Avenue dos Aliados and Praça da Liberdade and into the narrow Riberia streets, sweeping cafe tables and chairs along for the ride.

Surging past the famous Sao Bento train station, some of it morphed into an impressive waterfall down the Sao Bento Metro escalator, into the underground train. It gushed through the tunnels and cafes in Riberia before finally joining the Douro. Wish I could have seen it, glad I wasn’t in it.

That’s it for now. More to come about the expat groups I’m joining, finding furniture to make my apartment feel less naked, and whatever adventures I can stumble into.

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The image at the top of the blog was taken from the Porto City Hall. My apartment is through the trees and across the street from the distinctive “cone top” building. I like this shot because it reflects the old and new of Porto: wonderful old European architecture and one of the dozens of cranes that are deployed across the city for renovations.

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