So what’s it like when it’s 100 degrees in Lisbon? First, it’s hot. But second, it’s not particularly humid, and there is a breeze, so if you can stay in the shade, it’s ok. Sort of.

Last night, when it wasn’t 100, Edie and I had a date night. Joan and Hannah had salad and eggs at home, but we walked four or five blocks south (until I looked at a map I was sure it was north) of our apartment to a restaurant called O Magano, which I found on a website that talked about restaurants in our neighborhood. We got there about 7:30 and sat at the only table which didn’t have a “reserved” marker. In typical Portuguese style, the waitress rushed to bring us a selection of appetizers. We settled on two – green beans teriyaki style and chick peas with pieces of cod. Both went well with our red and white house wines (by the way, all our local wines have been good). We then ordered the grilled turbot for two, which came with potatoes, carrots and spinach, and was much too much for us to eat, but very good (ok, so I didn’t taste the carrots or potatoes). And then we ordered dessert! A very dark, dark chocolate cake and an almond torte, both delicious. Okay, so this cost us as much as we would pay for an expensive meal in the US, but it was worth it. And I should add that we seemed to be the only tourists in the restaurant, always a good sign.

Our waitress was a little too pushy (she pushed us into the appetizers), and at the end said something when she handed us the bill we never had heard before in this country: “You know, service is not included.” And, yes, I fell for it.

I did ask her what “Magano” meant. The restaurant was clearly not Italian. She said it meant “a foolish person”, but that in her small village near the Spanish border, it meant “a beautiful girl”. That made no sense whatsoever until I realized that, when she was young, people there must have called her a magano and her parents told her it meant she was a beautiful girl. Then it all made sense.

This morning, once more I left early and ordered mediocre pastry and very good coffee. Going back to the house, I rounded up the others and we walked past last night’s restaurant and went to a stop for Tram 28, the famous Lisbon trolley pictured time and time again in promotional material. We were at the second stop, but each of the seats in the team were already filled. But we settled in for our 45 minute ride through town.

I found it all interesting , but I can’t say I saw everything standing up the entire way and I had no idea where were or what I would have seen had I been able to see everything. Churches, a parliament building, hills, neighborhoods that all looked alike, crowds, a water view. Joan thought the ride was “cool”, but we all thought it was too crowded and too hot and not a necessary Lisbon activity. We did meet a nice French family from Brittany and had some interesting conversation on the ride.

It was lunch time when got off at the end of the route and found a “Mexican” restaurant with air conditioning. How long did it take to get our food? Like an hour. And I didn’t find it (it being my chicken enchilada or Edie’s vegetable burrito) particularly edible, but boy did I enjoy my Coke after the ride. It was the best Coke ever canned. And the monkeys on the wall were neat.

Again, I should mention our waitress, who seemed to be trying, but no cigars. She was not able to translate our order (made in English) to computer language, which is how she communicated with the kitchen. Items like “rice” sent her into a tizzy – pushing buttons, looking confused, asking for help and so forth. And why did we wait an hour for food? Was it a kitchen problem, or did she just forget to retrieve it? Hard to say. Eventually she brought everything but the rice, which took a little longer.

But, as you know, God works in mysterious ways. Let me mention two. First, he sent all young Catholics to celebrate mass with the Pope, so the city wouldn’t be too crowded. Second, he made sure we didn’t get out of the restaurant until 2 pm.

This turned out to be important because the Gulbenkian Foundation Museum becomes free at 2 on Sunday. The Gulbenkian, by the way, gets an A+. But this post is already too long, so come back soon for more.