PORTUGAL

I hope everyone enjoyed Halloween festivities over the weekend and continues to do so into this week. We saw some evidence of Halloween activity in Lisbon, but no pumpkin carving or anything much in our town as of yet. We are in close proximity to Lisbon, and it’s pretty easy to take public transport. We have been eating a lot of food, grilled fish especially. I had food poisoning or ate gluten or something, maybe both, a couple of weeks ago and so I didn't eat much of anything for almost a week. Have made up for it since. 

Everyone in our town is extremely friendly, and the sunsets over Lisbon are always really colorful and impressive. Aside from eating, we have been busy working and planning some travel for 2020. We did go to the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon which was very cool and found a very good burger and a delicious vanilla milkshake nearby at Ground Burger. When we first arrived earlier this month we got sushi at Kanazawa, this small spot that only serves 8 people per night. Probably the best sushi experience I have ever had, and if anyone finds themselves in Lisbon wanting sushi - make a reservation and definitely, definitely go. We are going to eat there again this week before we leave. We had a lovely time catching up with Ben's parents and visiting the Oceanarium, so glad we were able to meet up in Portugal! We had lunch at this tasty, small spot called Taberna Sal Grosso one day. If you are in Lisbon, that place is worth a stop as well, although a reservation is advised. 

While we've had some really amazing food, I'd have to say the vegetables are not quite as delicious as in Sicily. Maybe it is the seasonality. The cheese and meat are good, it's just not the same as in Italy - I am clearly biased. Many pastries here that smell amazing and have been highly rated by Ben, but almost no ice cream to be found. I guess I am preparing for a lack of dairy in Southeast Asia. Luckily, we are heading to Florence and Rome for about a week before heading off to Laos again, so I can inhale some more gelato. There are a few reliable spots to get ice cream in town in Luang Prabang, and a variety of french inspired bakeries. One bakery even has a few gluten-free pastries which were pretty good when I tried them back in April. Mostly looking to forward to the noodle soups, market food, the cozy house, and the general serenity of Luang Prabang. We checked the weather there and in Bangkok this morning: about 95 degrees in both places during the day with high humidity at night. Ready to sweat after our combined 3 weeks of fall weather in Europe.