Life’s Ups and Downs

For the past seven days or so we have been climbing and descending, often fairly long stretches of 15-18 degrees. For me the ups are better than the downs. My new and improved left knee does not like steep descents. I look like Joe Biden leaving the podium after a speech only slower and more unstable. We made it to the beautiful city of Porto on the Atlantic coast, home of Port wine and the Portopotty (sorry, I couldn’t resist). Porto is the second largest city in Portugal and where many pilgrims start their Camino walk to Santiago (about 155 miles). There is a significant heat wave in Portugal (90-95+ daily). Hopefully, we get some breeze being close to the ocean.

It has been interesting to watch TV in Portugal. Old re-runs of American hospital shows like ER are popular, as are Modern Family, Two Broke Girls, Castle (?) and violent action movies (watched the end of the Equalizer the other night). Portuguese reality shows, lots of Disney and soccer are also popular. What is clearly on Europeans minds continues to be the war in the Ukraine, which unfortunately has become yesterday’s news in the states. Many innocent lives are being lost every day—it’s beyond sad. I’m not missing political commentary, where Kyrie Irving is going to play next year, high gas prices (gas is +$7/gallon here) and whether the Dallas Cowboys are joining the Big 10. I do, however, miss my granddaughters, my family and friends. An off day and 12 more days of walking to Santiago. Buen Camino.