This week was a lot of fun and mainly because we discovered just how awesome Time Out Market is here in Lisbon. We end up going on two date nights there (days 308 and 309) which were a blast. Earlier in the week we also made a trip to the Lisbon Museum Of Illusions (day 306).

On the productivity front, we submitted our ACA health insurance application (days 308 and 309), and we’re just waiting to pick a plan.

Travel Log: Day 304 (4/27), Portugal

I focused a little more on Dreaming Spanish than Duolingo today, figuring that’s most beneficial to me at this point before going to Barcelona. I’m ignoring the purist advice on comprehensible input and looking up words when needed, and rewatching videos. It feels like I get way more out of the videos that way.

JC found this weird little picture spot in Alfama that we went to and took some pictures. It’s a railing in a straight line downhill that if you sit on it, it appears you are floating because the railing can’t be seen.

After dinner JC and I went on another walk down the flat street we like to walk on. I keep seeing this burger place, and I’m going to take BC there for lunch while the girls go to a cooking class for pastel de nata.

Travel Log: Day 305 (4/28), Portugal

Today marks the 10 month mark for this year of travel. JC and AC had their cooking class where they learned to make pastel de nata. They brought some home for us to try and they were really good, probably better than both places we’ve had them so far.

At lunch while the girls were at that class, BC and I went to Bob Burger Hub and had burgers. There was nobody there, and when I walked in I thought there was one customer but I think it was the owner. He was an older guy who apparently didn’t speak much english. We just did the hand motions of him giving us the menu and me pointing to the outdoor seats. It was maybe his wife that took our order, and she appeared to be from India. She was very nice and spoke english. The food was really good and we were both stuffed when we left.

JC and I went for a long walk later in the evening, and then we decided to do another even more thorough check for bed bugs. She has a bite on her leg that is similar to the eight bites on my arm. We tore the bed completely apart and found nothing except a bunch of grossness. There were faded and not faded blood stains, but not in the way that would give us concern about bed bugs. This was more like someone bleeding out. The whole exercise made us feel completely grossed out sleeping in that bed. We ditched the shitty comforter in favor of two clean sheets we found.

Travel Log: Day 306 (4/29), Portugal

We took a field trip today to the Lisbon Museum of Illusions. It was a small museum, but very interesting. They had exhibits that expose the limits of the brain’s visual processing, such as tricks of perspective that make things appear larger or smaller. There was an infinity room surrounded by mirrors that made it look like you were in an infinite crowd of yourself. My favorite exhibit was probably the misshapen room that makes it appear people are wildly different sizes depending on which side of the room they are on.

JC and I went to the grocery store later in the day. I scored some protein that contains creatine which JC noticed tucked away on a bottom shelf.

In the evening we all watched an episode of Pole to Pole on Disney+. That is turning out to be a great show, and I think Will Smith is totally redeeming himself. I never realized that he’s actually funny in real life without writers.

Travel Log: Day 307 (4/30), Portugal

Nothing special happened during the day, just the usual routine of school, Spanish, and walks. BC and I went on a late evening walk and ran into this area along the river that either popped up or we never noticed. It appeared to be a burger competition with about 20 different burger stands, as well as some kid entertainment (video games, etc).

Travel Log: Day 308 (5/1), Portugal

We started looking at ACA plans today and pretty quickly got bogged down. The site was giving me session issues, and after getting a little ways into the wizard the address section gave me pause. I started to wonder if I should use our virtual mailbox. After talking with Claude about this and various things we hit a wall and gave up for the day.

In the late afternoon JC and I went to Time Out Market to have some drinks and people watch. We payed an absurd amount ($49) for a double and a single gin and tonic. I had a beer as well at a more reasonable $6. This turned into a lot of fun as JC struck up a conversation with two young women across the table. One was from London and the other was from Ireland.

The girl from Ireland was especially engaging and it was fun to learn more about where she’s from. I asked her if everyone spoke with as clear of an accent as her, and she said no definitely not. That’s sort of what I thought based on friends who have gone their from the past. We were comparing social behaviors between the US, London, and Ireland.

Ireland sounds very similar to the US when we were talking about friendliness, approachability, and things like that. The girl from London made them all sound really isolated. She also had her earbuds in through most of the hour long conversation and was clearly listening to something, pausing and and unpausing in and out of the conversation.

We watched Thor for movie night, a little later than usual with JC and I getting home late.

Travel Log: 309 (5/2), Portugal

ACA Planning

JC and I had intentions of going running by the water today, but we slept like such crap last night we abandoned that idea. Instead we dove back into ACA research and made some progress. I decided to just go further through the application, consulting the whole time with Claude Pro. It was a pretty clutch advisor, giving me the confidence to know how far I could go into the process without actually triggering anything.

Ultimately we made it all the way through the application and submitted it. We had to fill in a lot of detail about us, our current insurance, our income, etc. It’s after submitting that you can browse plans, and nothing is in process until you choose a plan.

Everything I researched and documented about Colorado ACA plans was confirmed in this process. Including the ideal income level being 88K, and that if we dipped below that into CHP+ the kids would not get discounted marketplace insurance. The only thing we have to do now is wait to pick a plan. According to Claude if we were to select that now, our coverage would start 6/1. We need to wait until 5/16 to get coverage starting 7/1.

Night Out

In the evening JC and I went out again. This time we went over to the nightlife area, but it was too early and there wasn’t a lot happening. From there we went back to Time Out Market and got some drinks there. That place is unreal for getting in conversations with people.

We talked to a mother and adult son from Minnesota, and the son had just finished a semester abroad in Barcelona. He said nobody would talk to him in Spanish there, always switching to english. I’m afraid all of my prep will be for nothing in Spain. He loved it there though and said we’d have a great time. The mom seemed a bit like she didn’t want to be having a conversation, but she was nice enough. He also traveled through a lot of Europe from Barcelona, hopping cheap flights to various countries.

I also talked to two Scottish women beside me, but have a hard time recalling what all we talked about. I got clarification that Glasgow is pronounced Glas-go. They talked about the various places in Europe they’ve been. I’m not sure what else. I leaned back a bit in my seat to try to get JC (to my right) in on the conversation but then it all fizzled.

The third group we talked to was a trio of three women, probably around 50 years old. They were all from England, maybe London. With one of them we discussed her daughters options for a college exchange where she could choose between Virginia Tech, New Mexico State, and a college in Oklahoma. JC and I both thought Virginia Tech would be the obvious choice. I’m struggling to remember what else we talked about, but it was a lot over the course of an hour.

I was telling JC if I were single, this is the place I would be going to meet women. It’s so densely loaded with people that you have to take whatever open seats are available, and then you are sitting within talking distance of five or more people.

Travel Log: Day 310 (5/3), Portugal

Last night I defied the odds, and after the second night of drinking I slept amazing (86 score). It’s pretty incredible because I feel zero hangover whatsoever after five units, as if I didn’t drink at all yesterday.

My only accomplishment for the day was to cut my hair, and I also did some Spanish work. I replied to a long time coworker’s email as well.

In the late afternoon we all walked over to Time Out Market to get some ice cream. It’s mother’s day here, and we also called it father’s day as well to get these made up holidays out of the way. AC and BC made us cards, and they were all nice, but AC’s were especially impressive. I told her she should go into the card making business.