End of a Wave

Regular readers will know that we refer to each time we leave home, until we return home, as a “wave”. The definition of “home” is now trickier since Portugal feels as much as a home as Colorado does and yet, we are concluding Wave Two officially with our imminent return to the Mile High City.

So much has happened since we returned to Portugal in January. We’ve formalized our relationship with the healthcare system, including a surgery for atrial fibrillation. We’ve continued to nest and make our apartment in Portugal feel more like home. We’ve immersed more in the Portuguese language and continued to improve.

We dealt with a flooding issue (we hope) on our terrace due to an insufficient drainage system and a blocked drainage pipe. We now leave at the beginning of winter with more seasonal rains and hope what has been done, to date, worked.

We dealt with a pigeon crisis. A nesting filthy pigeon family on the aforementioned terrace. (They were “dealt with” but unharmed, just removed and relocated to the sidewalk below not to return once the last of the children was evicted).

We completed one of our long planned trips to southeastern France and Italy. We did it mostly as we mapped it out seven years ago (with all of the iterations one would expect over that long of a period). Here is what we liked most about that trip.

We carved Ireland out of a future trip north to England, Scotland and Wales and did a three week circuit around the sparkling little island to our north. Here is what we loved most about Ireland.

We hosted several visitors this summer which afforded the opportunity to not only see people we miss but also to visit places we love in Portugal and show off this amazing country. (Reservations being accepted for our return).

So, as we head west to spend a few weeks on the east coast before returning to the Rocky Mountains, we leave here wanting more, are sad to leave but excited to see our friends and spend some time state side and are ready to return. Até breve Portugal.