As you can guess from the name of the post, I will be partially talking about Portuguese weather because, oh boy, there are some things to talk about.
Shall we start then? As someone coming from a Central/Eastern European country, I am used to cold and rain. But have you heard of Portuguese cold?
As you can see, I even created a special term for it. For some reason, in the last century, the people of Portugal told themselves that there was no need for central heating in apartment buildings or houses in general, and you can feel it, especially as the sun goes down, along with the overall temperature. What I consider quite ironic about it all is the fact that I never feel cold outside, not even during the night. However, as soon as I enter my apartment, I cannot escape it. I sleep with thick skiing socks, long pyjamas, and under two blankets. Now, a bit of a flashback: I can clearly recall moments when I was at my grandma’s house, where my grandfather loves to keep the thermostat at 20.5 degrees (max 21). Sometimes, I had the feeling that they should pump it up a bit… well, not anymore! At this moment, I would kill for numbers like that.
Another enemy of mine is the goddamn rain. The last few days, it has been teasing and provoking me with its unpredictability. Even the weather forecast for the day was like, I’m done. What I’ve learned here is that you really need to take advantage of the sun as much as you can. There hasn’t been much of it these days. I guess January weather is messed up anywhere you go in Europe. 🙁
Viewpoint next to Graça Church
But to clear up this dim perspective, I managed to venture out to Lisbon for one evening and one whole day. There was one unpredictable shower/wind attack from the sky. Luckily, it only lasted a few minutes, and then I could enjoy the city again. It struck when I was at a viewpoint next to Graça Church, where I found temporary sanctuary from the bad weather. During my stay there, a crazy strong wind played its wild concert through the cracks of the massive wooden door that was protecting all the visitors from it. I just closed my eyes and tried to get lost in those unique sounds.
That day was really a roller-coaster in so many ways. I haven’t walked that much since… I don’t even remember. If I had to make an estimated guess, I would say that I walked around 15 km, which is not that much by my standards, considering that I’ve done some 20 km+ hikes. Yet, I don’t know… walking around the city feels more tiring, I guess.
As I’m finishing this post, it’s the last day of January. The weather is slowly improving, there has been sun for two days in a row. Fingers crossed for the weekend. It’s the first Sunday of the month, so here we go museums. I am ready for the free visit!
#LifeOfAPoorVolunteer or #ScroogeMcDuck. It’s your pick… I just know that if it’s free, someday, you know I’m choosing that option.
