Lisbon in bullet points

• we went to Lisbon in April for a week and a few more days.
  
• we crossed the river and went to Barreiro to eat Magnum ice-cream.
• we spent 7 hours queuing in Sta Apolónia train station in Lisbon to get tickets for Paris because of an Icelandic volcano that decided to erupt and spew ashes all across Europe's skies.
• I had marmelada with bread for breakfast every morning.
• my mother was having one of her good spells and was really helpful.
• Guida was feeling down. I hadn't been to her flat in ages; apart from a new sofa it still felt the same. We had corn biscuits and tea for dinner (my dietitian was thankful, I'm sure...); it felt like the old days at university but then it used to be me complaining about life and seeking her shelter. I wish we could have been to her birthday. It hurt not to be there, and all for just a couple of hours.
  
• at Manuel's and Gonçalo's I had dinner with some Portuguese friends and arguments were hurled across the table like a tennis match. It felt good. I still think I don't know how to show appreciation for the good food they always cook, I wished I knew how to, but my paltry palate doesn't seem to help.
  
• Guilherme gets annoyed with Georgie's attention, but she so looks up to him.
• Zé was in good shape and fun to be with.
• Carla has brown eyes that shine, or smile, or both, or something in between.
  
• we had my cousins for dinner and I wished we could do it more often.
• we went for lunch with my grandmother to a fish restaurant near São Bento; we were all happy.
• the usual pleasure of bookshops where most books are in Portuguese.
• strange to see so many newspapers in Portuguese and so many news of which I know so little.
• Gloria's apartment continues to be a home from home; I sometimes forget it isn't ours.
• we spent many hours at El Corte Inglès; the place is a shopping trap but it was convenient and there were a couple of rainy days when it served of refuge (and their toy section is very entertaining for small children and you don't have to buy any of it).
• we went to Palácio da Ajuda where Georgie was treated like a princess by the staff; apart from two other visitors we had the rooms all to ourselves.
• we ate pastéis de nata almost every day until we got bored.
• we went to Portugália for lunch and had a look at the lobsters in the aquarium; they didn't look happy nor very appetizing but I'm sure a lot of people don't care.
  
• we bought hair combs at Martim Moniz, surrounded by ghosts from Portugal's former colonies and all the new people that came with them; it was exciting and it was weird.
  
• we went to the zoo and got rained upon; like waterfalls raining from the sky; then came the magnificent sun.
  
• Georgie got a gold bracelet with butterflies and stars.
• we are now positive that the sun in Lisbon is not the same one that shines over Brussels.
• Manuel, Gonçalo and their son Guilherme confirmed that they would come and visit us in Chicago at the end of August.
• I learned that my cousin Ana Luisa has breast cancer; I wish she could stop smoking; I wish her laughter won't go away.
• I wrote my "China in Africa" report in a cyber-café near Chiado called Fábulas where 90% of the customers are foreigners stranded in the blue of Lisbon, this time further stuck by the epic revenge of the Icelandic volcano many miles away.
  
• at FNAC the staff is so friendly I always feel like hugging them or even crying a little.
• in Lisbon we never get stuffy noses, it must be the air.
• after Lisbon the first days back in the office are difficult; I feel like turning all day long in my office chair and going out for long walks.
  
• I'm glad I'm healing my wounds and Lisbon is starting to feel good; I know the rages won't disappear but it's good to feel them subsiding.
• we tried (almost) all the food that they make at El Corte Inglès.
• we went to Lisbon's Castle and learned about Dom Afonso Henriques and his mother Dona Teresa. Georgie was impressed that the son could tell the mother to go away forever. She learned that Galicia is in Spain.
  
• the peacocks in the Castle were covered in light.
• we saw Paulo Filipe and enjoyed the evening together; he says his flat is crumbling down, but he sounded resigned.
  
• I don't remember any pigeons this time, only water in the fountains; where did they go?
• we learned that there's a saint called Filomena. Her tiny statue is inside a little casket made of glass in an old church near Casa dos Bicos, by the river. She was wearing real earrings and a ring with a diamond. We learned that there's a Virgin Mary that protects the staff of the Portuguese customs and that she lives inside that church too.
• the church had a statue of Jesus with real hair carrying the cross, and Georgie thought he was alive.
• we came back to Brussels quicker than we expected, when the sky opened up and we could fly.