Wednesday, February 8,2023

It’s much colder here today.

I came down to town at noon to get a bus ticket for Lisbon but I can’t get it until Friday. Apparently that’s too far in advance to book! Breaking all my self-imposed restrictions I am adjusting for comfort!! I am going to rent a car and need to get to Lisbon to pick it up. I plan to go back to Lisbon on the bus. Yes the cost of rental and gasoline will break the bank but I will have to work off that amount off when I get home.
The waves are huge today. I can’t believe the size and I didn’t bring my camera with me so you’re seeing iPhone photos. I just can’t believe the size and the sound of them crashing against the rocks. 
It’s a totally different look when the sky is overcast with clouds than when the sun is out; the temperature is still around 13 or 14°, but the wind is up slightly.

I am in Cafe Rita near the cliffs in town, drinking coffee & having a shrimp thingy! It looks like a small Jamaican patty , not spicy. 

Now it’s raining. The grocery store closed as I arrived so I will wait the two hours wandering around. Passing another café I stopped in. Coffee & a croissant, why not? I’m really going downhill!🤪

This appears to be the local hangout, Pôr Do Sol! A lot of customers. The covered patio was full so I am inside.

Next stop – soup & a small beer at Estrela Do Mar with Mr Bean! 

To update you on “my”cat, he didn’t come back the very next day as the song says. I asked Luís today, surprised that he didn’t come around, and he said he belongs to the neighbour. I guess it was just a one night stand with me, typical fickle male. And after I bought him food, the nerve of him.
It’s interesting to sit out in the front porch later in the day. It’s now 4:30 PM. The sky is cloudy. The sun is out finally feels a little warmer.Not that the temperature is actually changed but the wind has lessened and with the sun out it feels warmer – temperatures actually stay the same.

A pair of storks just flew overhead, their flight pattern much different than our herons at home and there’s a young white stork that cruises around in the field in front of the house. He just flew in the same direction as the older ones. I don’t know much about storks, but I know they have a lot of shelf set ups so that the storks can make their nests- they really do encourage them to stay.

I remember walking with Sean in Spain and every village we passed with a Church had huge stork nests on the steeple or somewhere near the roof.
I don’t know anything about storks or birds like that- they might be the ibis. I checked on Wikipedia, and I might be mistaken about what I thought they were. All you bird experts out there, you can tell me the right information about the pair. The ones flew over my head while sitting on the porch were greyish while the one that’s in the field there now is white; it looks younger and smaller . 
Time to go in and build a fire. The temperature is dropping again. Brrrrhrr!!!!