Harry drank his accidental beverage that morning! And I learned two things: He was fully as stubborn and I am, and I should be cautious about challenging him to take a dare!
To sleep, perhaps to dream – Shakespeare
The field director’s wife saw me fading quickly and led me to the flat beneath hers. The family who lived there were in the states, and had graciously offered me their home while I was in Portugal. It all seemed surreal. I was 3,511 plus miles away from home with only one person I knew in sight. And the last time I had seen him, he had just broken a date with me because he wanted to go to a picnic instead.
I was tired but wired. My internal clock was ticking when I was tocking. The events of the past few days skipped and jumped like a kaleidoscope in my brain. Eventually, I drifted off into a light sleep.
When I woke up, I decided that a shower was in order. Though I’d given the bathroom a glance before I crashed, I didn’t remember seeing that peculiar bit of furnishing earlier. I examined it. Then, I turned the faucet on and off. I looked around in the vicinity. It was less than an arm’s length from the fixture with which I was more familiar. I wasn’t going to ask. Resolutely, I turned my energy toward getting ready to go out to dinner in Lisbon.
Putting on the Ritz
Harry arrived a little early, of course, and to his surprise, I was ready. The man who sent me roses was armed with the loaned car, and gentlemanly attentions. He held the doors, and made sure I was comfortable. I totally admired the way he held his own with the other drivers; I was certain were in training for the Daytona 500.
Harry drove by more landmarks like the statue of “Cristo Rei” (Christ the King) near the 25th of April Bridge (identical to the monument found near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
The bridge was originally called Salazar Bridge, named for Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar, who served from 1932 to 1968. Though Life Magazine called him the greatest Portuguese since Prince Henry the Navigator, many of the Portuguese had seen him quite differently. Dictator might have been a better title.
On the 25th of April, 1974 the military initiated a coup, which eventually returned democracy to Portugal, and the bridge was given change of name.
Soon, Harry pulled up at the the Lisbon Four Seasons Ritz. where he treated me to a bitoque. A bitoque (bee-tok) consists of a grilled or fried tenderized steak topped with a fried egg. It came with both a helping of rice, and French fries.
The next day, we would be pointing our noses toward Spain.
Have you ever mixed tea and coffee in the same cup?
A bidet! They are the most peculiar things, I think. I have always been too nervous to use one. Harry is turning into an admirable companion! Except for the tea & coffee in the same cup malarky, which makes me frown a little. And the statue of Christ The Redeemer raised a smile – it is a long running joke between my friends and I that I have been searching more a miniature version for me desk but cannot find one anywhere. Every birthday and Christmas they ask – what would you like? And I reply – ‘A little Jesus and a monkey’. No one every gets me either.
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Oddly enough, I get the same looks. I’ll pass on the monkey, though. Now if you were to offer me coffee I would be delighted. Let me look for him with you.
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I would be delighted to offer you a coffee. Why is it that it is so hard to find a tiny Jesus? Yes, let us search together.
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It’s a deal!
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😀
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I felt that way at first glance, but I got over it after a while.
Do you feel disappointed ever when you don’t get what you ask for?
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Some people wash their feet in them!
I don’t often ask for anything but the only time I get disappointed is if I ask for a hug and don’t get one.
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Ah! You are a hugger! Hurrah!
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Hugs are the very best!
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Absolutely !
Unrelated question: The man with a baby on his shoulders who has the same last name as you…are you related?
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A baby on his shoulders? Sounds like my brother.
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This answer ended up in the spam file. Sheesh. Thank you.
I suspected it was your brother. Very nice!
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In Hong Kong they drink a popular concoction called a Yuanyang. It’s said to be mixture of three parts of coffee and seven parts of Hong Kong-style milk tea. The name yuanyang, which refers to Mandarin Ducks, is a symbol of conjugal love in Chinese culture, as the birds usually appear in pairs and the male and female look very different. Evidently this same connotation of a “pair” of two unlike items was used to name the tea and coffee drink. Spreeze is what they call a similar tea and coffee drink in Ethiopia. In the West, the Dutch have a tea/coffee drink. In America, a drink of one part iced coffee to one part iced tea is supposedly becoming popular.
In Japan, Coke actually markets a canned drink called Georgia X, which The drink mixes tea with sweet espresso, a combo that tastes more like sugared iced coffee.
See what Harry started?
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Harry is a man of parts I tell you!
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Well, you can’t blame him too muchly much. Aren’t picnics just lots of fun? Then again, yellowjackets come to picnics, and I hate those things.
Ticking when you were tocking! I love that part.
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😀 It was a new experience.
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Spoken like a man.
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Hehe! The first time we went to France and had a bidet in the bathroom my Dad told us it was for washing your feet in. It seemed totally exotic to me at the time (I was 12) and I’ve always rather regretted learning the truth…
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I thought that might have been the case at first, but it just did not fit. I miss them.
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Mixing coffee and tea… I am feeling some kind of way about that concoction. It sounds foreboding.
Now tell me Susan about the toilet thigamagiggy or better known as biddet (if I am correct). Is it true toilet tissue would be of minimal use?
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You might say that it does. I asked my Portuguese friends and they said they use them to wash their feet and also for keeping other areas fresh and sweet. Once I got used to it, I didn’t know how I got around without it.
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Then all of America needs that.
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I know, right. Some might need something to wash mouths.
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