Meu Apartamento Pequeno

 In June I made a mad dash back to Portugal by way of preparing for next March's proposed student trip to Portugal. There were sites, mainly museums and hostels, that I wanted to visit. It was a wonderful and also very productive trip, and it's one where you find out all sorts of stuff that the Internet can't tell you. For instance, I really wanted to bring students to the Bullfighting Museum in Lisbon, which I visited several years ago. According to several online sites it was still open, but it was only upon arriving at the actual spot was I able to learn that it has been boarded up since the COVID pandemic (that would have been an unpleasant surprise). I also found about deals with museums that will make the trip more manageable. So, like I said, a good trip. One of the best things about it was the little Airbnb apartment where I stayed in Estrela, a quiet area in Lisbon. It's funny, you always see people in movies who take a little apartment to finish writing projects. I always thought it was silly, or maybe pretentious, but there actually is a lot of logic to it; essentially, I got so much work done. I could also clearly see path forward to a retirement that sounded wonderful: a small place in Portugal, with days demarcated by writing in the morning and then exploring museums and reading at cafes in the afternoon.

The apartment was down this quiet street, almost cross the street from the British Embassy.

A serviceable little kitchen. Mainly I used it to prepare my breakfast of  coffee, three eggs, and an apple.

A fairly comfortable bed, and one that caught the morning light in a lovely fashion.

The little sitting room off the bedroom. I tried to write here, but the light was a little bit too strong. However, it was a great place to read.

The tiny but pleasant living room. The SyFy channel is Portugal doesn't have commercials, so at night, after a day of writing and exploring, I would plop down and watch bad monster movies.

The foldout desk in the living room, where I did most of my writing. The timing for writing was great because the time difference meant that I could scribble away for hours before anyone back in the US would be awake that I might want to pester. 

Livin- the dream: hanging out the laundry.