"He who would travel happily must travel light." - Antoine de Saint Exupery
Leaving Edinburgh with one less suitcase was a smart move on our part. We are now traveling with one suitcase, a pack, a carry on bag, and our laptop bag. Truly, it is much better to travel with less then to think of every possible scenario and try to pack accordingly.
"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey."- Fitzhugh Mullan
To make our 7:15 a.m. flight out of Edinburgh, we had to leave at 4:00 in order to catch the bus to the airport. We were all very tired by the time we reached the apartment in Lisbon around noon. We dragged ourselves to a nearby grocery store and bought food for lunch. We all took a long nap and felt much better. Once we woke up, Bobby and the kids headed to check out the nearby playgrounds while I unpacked and tried to help us feel settled.
"There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign." - Robert Louis Stevenson
We are back to feeling out of place and clueless. We stick out with our light skin and blonde hair children. The first phrase we have learned: não falo português. This means I do not speak Portuguese. However, I think we have learned how to just jump right in and try to learn and accept that we will become more familiar as time goes by.
"To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as it is for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted." - Bill Bryson
The apartment we are staying in for the month has a lot of wonderful features. First, it is much bigger with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It has a bathtub! One of the bedrooms is set up for a little girl with lots of fun toys to play with. There is a laundry room to be able to hang clothes. In addition, we have an office space with a proper desk and chair. I have had to learn how to use a different washing machine and dishwasher (with buttons all in a different language) as well as how to make coffee in a different way.
 |
| View of our living room and actual dinning room table. |
 |
| Liam is in the office reading a book. |
 |
| Amelie doing crafts in her room at her desk. |
 |
| Toys found in Amelie's room. |
 |
| Just finished with a nice bath. I had been traveling with hooded kids towels but took them back to the States in June. This apartment has nice kids hooded towels! :) It's the little things that makes mommas happy. |
 |
| Laundry room with drying rack on a pulley system. I love having the separate space. |
 |
| Liam dressing up with my hat, Amelie's necklace, and Bobby's shoes. Yes, he does need his own pants on but let's not mention that. ;) |
"Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - all things tending toward the eternal or what we imagine of it." - Cesare Pavese
With it being so hot, we did spend one day (Aug 10th) walking to IKEA in search of air conditioning as well as a fan for our apartment. We also ended up buying plastic plates, bowls, and cups for the kids along with a 11 Euro highchair for Liam. It was another all day affair of lots of walking, but we are glad to have a fan around the house. We also enjoyed eating yummy meatballs!
"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." - Henry Miller
No comments:
Post a Comment