Almost two weeks further

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29 June 2011 Lisbon

Well, it has been 11 days since I last added anything to this blog so I guess I am well overdue.

The hotel I chose to stay in was the cheapest that had individual rooms with shared baths. Some of the hostels with shared rooms were more expensive. At €18 per night, the Residencial Mar dos Açores is a bargain but it is pretty small and very basic. Noise is something that I am being allowed to live with.

The school, CIAL, is in a building on the third floor (that is up four levels from the street as 0= ground floor, 1 = first floor, etc). I am getting back into European shape by walking the stairs every day which makes for two to three trips up and back down a day. Add all of the walking I am doing and the three flights up to the room at the hotel and it should not take me long to get back into good hiking shape.

The class I am in is not large and has a nice mix of students. The teacher is a real slave driver...ha, sorry Isabel but I could not resist as I know you are going to read this! The teacher is actually very patient with me as I am far from doing as well as I used to in class. I think I have killed one too many brain cells over the years. Class is from 9 to 12 with a 30 minute break at 10.30. I then have a 50 minute break before I have 1 hour and 45 minutes of private lessons with another teacher, Filipa. Also a very patient teacher. I am getting some of the info pounded into my brain. Try me in a few weeks to se how much I remember!

Part of the operating procedure of the school is to offer cultural trips with a teacher to different locations around town. We have seen a few museum now, been to a restaurant and will go to another Friday, etc. So, I have not only been studying while in Lisbon.

I must admit that I have yet to eat at any really good restaurants and can't recommend that you even spend a minute considering anything in Alfama! While you can hear Fado sung in lots of the cafes, your food will be priced accordingly so that the singers are paid along with the waiters, cooks etc. The food is not that outstanding so to me, I ill give them all a pass in the future. The seafood place in the market across the street from the school and near Saldanha is easily the best food I have had in Lisbon. As the market has fresh fish, you can see that the seafood would be fresh. And for lunch, the prices and portions are good so that you can eat very cheaply in the evening and still not go hungry.

Walking is Lisbon is sometimes pretty hard work. There is very little really level ground and the streets are for the most part pretty narrow and either winding up a hill or are straight up a hill. It sometimes seems that both coming and going somewhere, I am going up hill in both directions. But I must add that to really see the best sights, you will have to walk.

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Photos

my room...
...is not that big.

Proof...
...I was there