We got a fridge! Finally!
But first… we rounded out our first two weeks here is Lisbon the same way we started them – with dinner at our favorite pizza place, Tozzi’s. As a family, we had several meal traditions back in Chicago. On Wednesdays we would go to Pizzeria Serio and Scooter’s and we would always have Monti’s on the way home from a trip. We wanted to make sure that we found fun traditions like those, so that the girls would be excited. We opted for Tozzi Tuesdays as a first one so now, every Tuesday, you will find us at Tozzi’s, having a Pumpqueen pizza and a strawberry nutella pizza for dessert.
Our second week was much along the same lines as our first. We continue to get the house set up and thankfully, it is feeling more like home. We have continued to explore new areas of Lisbon and are loving the cooler weather. I keep trying to think of how I would describe the weather here and the best way I can think to do so is to describe it as curveous. The mornings are generally pretty cool and while the midday temperatures aren’t necessarily that high, you will feel scorched thanks to the immensely bright sun baring down on you. Then the evenings cool to a temperature that requires jackets and pants. Let’s just say that when we pack for this move (because we did leave some things back in Chicago), we didn’t do a great job.
Our win this week was defintely getting the fridge. On the day that we arrived, before we headed to Tozzi’s, we headed to Worten’s and ordered a fridge, dishwasher, washing machine, A/C unit, and TV. Worten’s is a huge chain here is Portugal and the place most recommended when you ask where to buy appliances. Our TV and washing machine showed up but nothing else ever did. We went down there twice to ask about the deliveries and spent a total of 18 hours waiting. While the people in the store were nice, they never could give us a straight answer about where our delivery was, rather saying that they would schedule another delivery window. Needless to say, after the third time, we politely but forcefully, rejected their offer and requested a refund. The next day we went to a local store and had everything delivered the following day. Oh yeah, our washing machine from Worten’s arrived broken so we are still fighting that battle. But we have a fridge!!
Our “American” event from this week was finally ordering from Amazon. Here in Portugal, you need to use Amazon Spain for the best chance to avoid custom charges. I really, really wanted to avoid using Amazon at all because we wanted to spend our money locally. But after failing time and time again to find sheet fasteners, I had to pull the plug and order. Luckily the process was pretty seamless.
Until next week…