Coffee Break – Challenges

It’s been a while since we had coffee, so we should probably also make it lunch. Today, I arranged to meet up with fellow blogger ‘Anna I’, who lives in Alentejo, but sadly, her hubby was ill, and our meeting was postponed.

New Restaurants

Over the last few weeks, we set a challenge to step outside our comfort zone and try some new restaurants to add to our repertoire. The first came via a recommendation from our new quiz partners

Happy Sumo in Lagos is a Japanese Restaurant with an interesting concept. You can order as much as you like for a set price, but if your eyes are bigger than your belly, you pay 50c for every piece you leave. It offers excellent value for money and quality food.

MADA – Steakhouse · Bar · Restaurant – EN 120 Sítio Sta. Susana, Aljezur, Portugal

This used to be one of our favourite restaurants (Gullies) until the old owners changed the winning formula and turned it into a plastic hippy beach bar restaurant despite being nowhere near a beach. Even shipped in sand. *laughing*

Thankfully, the new owners have revamped, and sanity has been restored. Set just off the main road between Lagos and Aljezur the restaurant offers ambient and outdoor seating areas. We ordered ribeye steak, and it was delicious.

Cars

A couple of weeks ago, I sadly sold Zippy, my much-loved Fiat 500C automatic. Yeah, I shed a tear or three. She was my legs. I could have kept her, but I knew if I did, I would never get used to the new car, and I knew if there was a problem with the roof, it would cost a small fortune to replace.

We bought Zippy two weeks before Portugal went into COVID lockdown. She sat on our drive for months as all the clifftop laybys were taped off, so there was no stopping to enjoy a solitary coffee overlooking the sea. COZ the seagulls carried covid… um. No driving to an empty beach unless you were a surfer or dog walker. Nada. Until we came out of lockdown.

Once I could get out and about, I loved driving with the roof down, and although I only puttered around locally, she was my legs.

This week, I got another car for my landmark Birthday and anniversary present. But she is twice the size of Zippy, so despite parking gizmos, it’s not so parking-friendly for me. I can’t imagine driving down into the village and zipping into a parking space. I can’t even park outside our house without leaving her stranded in the middle of the road in case I hit our wall. YES< I know I am being stupid.

The day after I brought her home, I took her out for a spin. Despite the empty roads, a speeding car narrowly missed hitting me as it lost control on a bend and shortly after, a van drove onto the roundabout two minutes later without stopping and almost collided with me. Needless to say, I drove home a nervous wreck.

I take a deep breath. Tomorrow is a new day and a new challenge. A month from now I will probably be laughing at this post.

Writing

I am still struggling with the last chapter of my book. I wanted to complete and publish it by Christmas, but I am resigned to the fact that it will be closer to the summer by the time Betas, the editor, et al. have had their two cents’ worth.

The three books I wrote in collaboration with D.L. Keur continue to sell well, and an audio version of ‘The 1st Promise’ will be released shortly.

Learning the Lingo

Como esta? Our lessons are not going well. The concept of learning by listening is not working for us. I am a visual person, so I have now set myself a self-study program. I have created a list of useful YouTube and Podcast lessons for anyone interested in learning Portuguese.

Learning Portuguese

That’s it for this week. Thanks to Natalie for hosting the Weekly Coffee Share

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