sunnylisbon

Things are very reasonable here in Lisbon. Especially desserts are very affordable and coffee is the best of the best, I think. Today, with my friend, we went to one of Padaria Portuguesa stores and had a piece of cake and an espresso. Surprisingly, the cost was only 2 euros for each. Amazing. The cake wasn't that sweet. Just enough to boost my energy. I will frequent Padaria Portuguesa. 

Recently I have been busy meeting Korean friends here in Lisbon. So I only have time to study late in the late afternoon. More and more Koreans are coming to Lisbon. And I get to meet more Korean people, which is very nice. Almost all the Korean people say, the weather is milder and the food is great. I hope they love Lisbon as much as I do.

There are some interesting Portuguese superstitions. To get rid of bad spirits, you have to open the scissors. However, won't it be dangerous when you have your kids around? The most hilarious superstition I read on  this blog is about the cockroaches. "Não se devem matar baratas (insecto), porque são sinal de dinheiro na casa onde aparecerem." It means "You shouldn't kill cockroaches(insects) because they are signs of money in the house where they appear" What?? I found it very interesting. Superstitions are just superstitions but kind of fun to know some in each country you visit, don't you think?

There is still a long way to go. But I am trying to study everyday. I met a Korean girl who came to Lisbon a month ago. She is here working for a company but having a hard time opening a bank account. The problem is she doesn't know how to get right papers to do so. And she asked for my help. Even though she works here, she gets paid in Korea. I don't know the situation very well. There are still many things to learn here in Lisbon. Not only the Portuguese language but also how things go.

Almost all the important cultural monuments in Portugal offer free entrance this weekend as part of  European World Heritage Days There were similar events in May, when we celebrated the World Heritage Day here in Portugal. I went to the Coach Museum and enjoyed small concerts here and there at that time. In September, while commemorating European World Heritage Days, From 27th to 29th, there are various activities you can take part in. I got the info below from here.

There are many opportunities to enjoy opera here in Lisbon. The Italian language and the Portuguese language are related as they belong to the same family called "Romance." So Portuguese people can understand the lines of operas much better than me. My Portuguese is not good enough but someday ... I try to study hard everyday.

Right next to my house is the Tejo river, so when I wake up early enough, I go to the river and take a stroll, planning what to do for the day. The day's plan always includes studying Portuguese, which now has become more fun than before. Before it was just no fun at all as I felt my Portuguese was getting nowhere. But now I feel much better. Someday soon I hope, I can write this blog in English and in Portuguese. Fingers crossed.

About two years ago, I tried to book a world cruise tour of 2020. But I couldn't. Why? And the cruisers for the world tour are kind of smaller than the ones for some other parts of Europe. The smaller the ships are, the more likely you will suffer from seasickness. At that time prices were about 3000 dollars for an inside room per person. But now the prices got lowered. Maybe some people decided not to go and the cruise company has some vacancies.

There are lots of ways to study; however, it is important to find the best way for yourself. In my case, writing it down helps me concentrate. Of course, my hand hurts. But to enjoy this beautiful city better, I need to study hard. Força!

Everyday I try to study Portuguese. At first the pronunciation sounded very different from that of English but now I am kind of getting used to it. As I want to learn about classical music and Portuguese at the same time, I am studying a Netflix drama. It is fun and very educational. Here is the best line of what I studied today. Dá tudo. Do your best.

Whenever my friends and family come, they use prepaid phone services. Very reasonable. If you are planning to travel in Portugal only then Meo, Vodafone, Nos all are good. However, if your are planning to go to other European countries, Vodafone seems to be the better choice. I bought ones for my friends for 10 euros each. They are coming in next month and staying only in Lisbon. Each package has 3 Giga Internet, 500 minute-call and 500 messages. Not bad.

Almost every Monday, there is a free concert at Palacio Foz. All I need to do it go there about an hour earlier and wait in line. The show usually starts at 6 and it lasts one hour. First come First served.

Learning Portuguese isn't easy for Koreans.  Very different.  Especially the pronunciation is hard.  Every day I write one episode of a drama or a movie.  I hope it helps.