Gray's Academy

Lisbon, Portugal is where my party of three are spending the week. I love both of these two women and I knew I could toss them together and they would mesh beautifully.

Lisbon is a surprise at every turn. the architecture is amazing. There are no ugly buildings, the streets are clean and the sidewalks are granite bricks laid by what could only be brick masons. In other words, not some concrete pour of toxic cement. The hills come down to the ocean and rivers so the walking is quite a workout. Lisbon is also a young, vibrant city. It reminds me of San Francisco, where my daughter Jenna lives and works as an ICU nurse.

I have been to Portugal two times in years past. I have done the Algarve with my husband Larry. It was early in our marriage and that adventure was hands-down one of the most romantic trips of our 30 years together.

The only thing I grew tired of on that trip was the food. I don’t like Portuguese food. We have had some beautiful fresh white fish here, but all three of us are getting bored with the food. It is too much meat for my palette and not enough vegetables. Still, all the food is locally sourced and fresh. Of everything I have eaten, the carrots are some of the most delicious. Yes, carrots. That sums up my opinion of the cuisine.

Yesterday we went to Sintra and Cascais, today is a massive flea market a few neighborhoods away. On our first day we visited a modern art museum and had an early dinner prepared by a local women in here home where entirely too much wine was consumed. Wine and jet lag don’t ever belong together.

Which brings me back to Sicily, which just about everything in my life seems to be doing since I visited there for the first time last year. I felt I owed it to myself to experience Portugal one more time.

And, still my heart and soul long for Sicily.