The old tour is gone. The new tour has not started. Danita spent the morning in a cooking class, learning to make pastel de nata. Hers were better than the ones they serve for breakfast at our hotel.

In the mean time, I walked across town to get a voltage converter. This project surprised me. These days, most electronic gizmos accept either 120 V (US power) or 240 V (European power). I have one device that requires only 120 V. Until now, our room has always had at least one 120 V outlet. Not so in Portugal. The hotel maintenance man offered to lend me a convertor. I never thought to question a maintenance man. But he offered me a universal outlet, which only offered 240 V. Fortunately, my device overheated but was not permanently damaged. Since the number of tourists in Portugal is about three times the nation’s population and since the vast majority of tourists are from the US, I expected any phone shop to offer a convertor. Not so. I could find only one store. The converter is very heavy, making a major difference in the weight of my suitcase. But now I have 120 V and all is well.

In the afternoon, Danita painted to ceramic tiles. We won’t see them until tomorrow because they have to be fired. We’re looking forward to seeing how they came out. I was scheduled to take a bike tour, but I cancelled it. Participants ride on the sidewalks, which are crowded with tourists gawking and not paying attention. I didn’t want to take the chance of hurting somebody. So I did the next most sensible thing. I got an espresso and read my book.

Our dinner was one of the better ones. I had a traditional Francesinha sandwich. Danita settled for a more traditional chicken wrap. The desert was the best on this trip so far. It was 100% chocolate and 150% good.

We closed off the day with a concert, four pieces offered by a string quartet. We did not recognize any of the pieces. The first two were written to celebrate April 25, the date they threw out the Salazar regime and became a republic. The last piece was by Ravel. I sas surprised that didn’t recognize the Ravel. Come to think of it, there only a few Ravel pieces that are frequently played.

We check out of our hotel this morning. Later on in the afternoon we will join the new tour in a different hotel. We will officially be homeless vagabonds for several hours.

I hope this finds everyone doing well.