Dear Reader,
Last week, six million people traveled to Spain to see the total solar eclipse passing over the Iberian peninsula.
I had known it was coming to Portugal for about a week. With one day to go, I was asking at every pharmacy and grocery store near me whether they had eclipse glasses for sale.
“No,” they shook their heads sadly. “We’re all sold out. There’s none left.”
And that’s how I found myself on a hotel rooftop during its “Eclipse Happy Hour,” drinking a 16 euro coffee cocktail and asking my waiter if he had any eclipse glasses to go with my drink.
“Yes,” the waiter said smiling, and brought me a new pair perfectly packaged in plastic for me to unwrap. “But unfortunately you can’t really see the sun from here.”
I looked up.
This was true. The sun was obscured from sight by an even taller high-rise building, but I could see people on top of another nearby rooftop pointing at the sun excitedly, wearing their eclipse glasses.
It was past 6:30 p.m. and the moon had started to pass between the earth and the sun.
“Thanks,” I said, gulping down the coffee + Bailey’s Irish Cream + cookie liqueur concoction I ordered in a martini glass instead of my normal afternoon espresso. “Can we pay?”
This was my first total solar eclipse, and though I had no expectations that it would be a life-changing experience, I wanted to see it.
We ran across the street and took the elevator up to the roof, wondering what we would find, and boom, the sunlight glared back at us, bright and shiny, with the perfect angle to see the eclipse.
I put my glasses on and looked directly at the sun.
I saw all black except for an orange sliver. It was similar in some ways to watching a bright moon on a dark night, the shape of the sun’s light over time changing from what looked like a half moon to a banana to a smile.
Though I didn’t get 100% occlusion it came pretty close.
Turns out, Portugal’s Montesinho Natural Park, in the northeast region of Trás-os-Montes, was one of the best viewing spots in the country, but Lisbon didn’t disappoint because we had clear, blue skies for it.
For about a half an hour, we stood on the rooftop, watching the eclipse progress, listening for any change in the sound of the birds singing above and below us, and feeling a strong breeze whip around us, briefly making me shiver even in the strong heat of a Lisbon August day.
On Mondays, I like to pick up the free newspaper in the grocery store that is published in English.
Last week’s headline above-the-fold was “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” a tribute to Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, who recorded the song on her album Faster than the Speed of Night, and who sadly died last month in southern Portugal. Services were held for her a few days ago in Wales.
“She still felt that she was just a girl from Skuwan,” explained Matthew Davis, her manager, in his eulogy, “and she never forgot her roots or where she came from.”
I hummed “there’s nothing I can do, a total eclipse of the heart,” until the moon moved away from the sun and we left in search of another round object: a pizza pie.
Lisbon actually has a great pizza scene, and I’ve enjoyed sampling quite a few, most of which are light and crispy.
We drove into Santos, a neighborhood near the river with narrow winding streets, charming stores and small eateries, and somehow found parking within walking distance.
At Palms Pizzeria, we ordered a half House Pie and half Magic Mushroom on a menu with 1-800-PIZZA stamped all over the back in red and white and I vowed to run the next day.
It had a thin crust that I think even New Yorkers would give a nod of approval to that came out hot and willing to be folded.
“When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, it’s amore,” I thought.
Sadly, they were out of cheesecake for dessert, so we rounded the corner to get globes of frozen gelato at Gelato Davvero, where you can get 3 flavors for an incredible deal of 3.75 euros.
“This is going to take some strategy,” I said, studying the menu and then choosing a gelato fruit trio of fig, grapefruit, and passion fruit. “I’ve never had fig before.”
It was the perfect end to a beautiful day.
Interestingly, there is a Montana to Portugal connection here.
Turns out that one of the best places to see the next total solar eclipse in North America will be from northeastern Montana.
That is, if we’re both around on August 23, 2044.
With a little luck, and a whole lot of happy hours ahead, I plan to be there.
Hope to see you there.
Love, Janelle
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