Starting to Feel A Lot Like Christmas...

Lisbon, Portugal

November 25, 2007
N38°42.460
W009°08.203

At home the traditional Christmas holiday kickoff is the day after Thanksgiving; however, since they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Europe, we weren’t sure when we would see the opening to the holiday season. We saw the Christmas lights being hung along the Champs Elysees in Paris, but they weren’t illuminated by the time we left. When we arrived in Lisbon, we could see the decorations, but, again, we weren’t sure if we would see the glow of lights before our departure in three days.

However, in Paris, the shopping season was busy on Thanksgiving evening, all the high end stores and intimate boutiques hosted VIP parties—complete with champagne and hors de oeuvres—for their clients. Somehow we were left off the list at Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Channel—there must have been a mistake, or possibly they remembered Marc’s last outburst of profanities at Vuitton in Paris four years ago… it’s a long story. Anyway, we figured we would catch all the illuminated Christmas lights when we passed back through Paris in mid-December.

When we arrived in Lisbon on the 23rd of November, the day after Thanksgiving, the Christmas season was in full swing. People were out shopping, the smell of chestnuts roasting filled the air as vendors were stationed on nearly every corner and, best of all, the Christmas lights were glowing. The streets were covered with red bells and snowflakes, the plazas decorated with large letters spelling “LOVE” and the city was at work prepping the area for a large Christmas tree. We took the opportunity to get into the Christmas spirit by snapping pictures, enjoying the decorations, and bundling-up to protect ourselves from the chill in the air.

As we relaxed in the room at our little Guesthouse, our home, in Lisbon, we tuned into CNN, and watched the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy in the US. Even though being away from our family this holiday season will be a challenge, we look forward to experiencing Christmas away from the States, in foreign countries; with different decorations, greetings, traditions and significance.

On a different note, now that we are leaving Lisbon… overall, we enjoyed getting to know the capital of Portugal over the past few days. The alleyways, stairways, hills and tiled-roofed houses make it a very picturesque city. The cultural diversity was also very apparent as we walked through the streets and saw people from all over the world, primarily North Africa.

We plan to continue our journey northward through Portugal visiting some smaller and remote cities/villages. Unfortunately, since we’re so late in the year and fall is turning to winter, we won’t make it out to the Azores, where Marc’s grandfather is from. A good reason to come back for another visit!