Fighting Time?

I call this "Fighting Time"

This is an area where the art changes frequently, I am glad we took this because it has been painted over with something else.

It is now the end of the year and I have not posted anything here since early October! That month flew by because of putting our furniture together for the house and stocking the cupboards with all of the things I forgot I needed! November came with a cold for both of us and while Vince got over it quickly, my body decided to move it to my lungs so I have felt rather puny for about 6 weeks!

There is a private hospital here and I went to the website and found the Bio's of all the Pulmonary specialists and submitted a request for an appointment on line. 15 minutes later I received a phone call and my appointment was scheduled for 5 days later! This is so amazing, because in the US it would have taken weeks to see even a general physician. All is good now, I have medication and am feeling 90% back to my silly self.

The main cobblestone walking and shopping street.  Our favorite cafe is on the left where we sit outside with our coffee just like the locals.

We were happy to catch this interaction between brother and sister 

Camellia's blooming in December

Christmas Eve lunch sitting outside by the river for a late lunch

We had a nice Christmas and I bought some decorations for our apartment and it really feels like home. Using the oven in Celsius is easy when I have a little piece of paper with the Fahrenheit conversions on it. I made banana bread, oatmeal raisin, and chocolate chip cookies for us and for gifts to some people that have been really sweet to us since we moved here. 

The large indoor market where the vendors from the surrounding area sell fresh produce

Largo da Portagem is one of the main plaza areas in the Baixa (Lower Town)

Vince is sitting in the lower right enjoying coffee in this building 

that used to be part of the 900 year old church

Walking in the narrow lanes for more shopping

Vendor in the main square selling fresh Roasted Chestnuts.  Vince says they taste like chicken!

 The weather in December is chilly at night but so beautiful, sunny and warm enough for just a sweater when you are in the sun! We finally made it to the big fresh market and had a good time picking out fresh produce which comes from local farmers around the area. We are excited to see it during the summer months!

Here are some pictures from the past couple months to catch you up on our wanderings.

Vince standing on the steps of the University of Coimbra

Hand carved marble Lion head at Quinta das Lagrimas Palace

Buildings in the main town square

Quinta das Lagrimas Palace grounds.  Around 1340!

Medieval House 

We see her every day in the same spot

If you look closely you can see Vince and I

Vince is looking at the buildings in the main shopping street

Rowing on the River Mondego

They put up hand crafts during the summer and some of them are lit at night

Cute old jeans for summer decorations

Coimbra at night looking towards the main city from our side of the river

This view is from the University of Coimbra looking across the 

river toward our apartment.  You can see the small yellow arrow.  

This is our Residency Cards

Talking to my neighbor from my kitchen window

Pretty Autumn leaves of the Sweetgum Trees

Fresh Persimmons and the Good Luck Rooster from our friends Teresa and Vitor

Linda's favorite art object

Pedro and Inez Bridge.  We walk across it to town every day.

A Blank Slate

We moved into a wonderful apartment the first part of October in a quiet peaceful area across the river from the main part of town.  It has two bedrooms, two Juliette Balconies, two bathrooms, a lovely living room and a very cute kitchen.  

The bottle of red wine given to us by our Landlady's boyfriend.

Guest bedroom

Living Room

View from my kitchen window

The Tech installing our internet and television.

 Where do you begin when you have a blank slate? There are so many choices of styles, colors, fabrics, furniture, dishes, bedding and on and on.  My notebook became pages of measurements, lists for each room for our trip to IKEA.

The Alpha Pendular high speed train to Porto for our trip to IKEA.  

At one point it was traveling 155 mph.  

This was part of the view to Porto from the train.  We could see the Atlantic Ocean.

Four trolleys and two carts.....yes, we were exhausted.

Thank goodness for the App for IKEA on our phones.  It took more time in the store than we thought and we were running from aisle to aisle pulling boxes of beds, night stands, tables, chairs, stools, mattresses, lighting, dishes and numerous other things.  We were lucky we didn't miss our train back to Coimbra!

It took about a week to put it all together and we are very happy with our choices.  We still have some rugs to get to feel like it is complete.  And Vince is finishing putting up our light fixtures.  In Portugal, like most other countries, you need to supply your own lighting.  So we bought 4 ceiling and one wall light.  Thank goodness we didn't need to buy a refrigerator or stove.  We will be posting pictures of our finished apartment very soon.