Welcome to fall in Florida! Yes, we get pumpkins but no pumpkin patches. Not real ones, anyway. Some of the churches and schools create their own by bringing in truckloads of pumpkins and scattering them on the grass. They tend to charge a small fortune for them, too, as they use it as a fund raiser. We did that for years when my kids were little and were entrhalled with the pumpkin patch idea. Now that my kids are grown and my grandkids live in NY where they have real pumpkin patches, we generally pick up the biggest pumpkin we can find at Costco for anywhere from $6-8. Much better than the $25 and up we’ve paid in the past!
My husband loves carving pumpkins, and he has created some amazing jack-o-laterns!
This month is a short but sweet diary entry, as I am in the midst of preparing for Rosh Hashanah and a trip to New York and then Portugal. We are spending the first night of Rosh Hashanah at home with my daughter, then flying to New York to spend the second night with my son and his family. The following day, we fly to Lisbon, then take the high-speed train to Braga for several days, where I hope to be able to see the Bom Jesus do Monte. There is a funicular to go up, then 573 steps to go down. This funicular is not like the one that crashed in Lisbon, although it is even older than that one. It is moved via water, so I’m excited to see that, too. I visited the rheumatologist yesterday and got a cortisone shot in my knee, so hopefully, I will be able to do it.
We are also going to the dentist for cleanings! We are planning to retire to Portugal, and after our first trip there, we are leaning towards living in Braga, so it seems like a good idea to check out the medical situation. We have heard great things about medical care there, and my husband had a really good experience at the dentist last year. He went for a checkup and cleaning, and part of the exam was a panoramic X-ray. He said they had the latest and greatest equipment, and he had the most thorough cleaning ever, including powerwashing out his mouth with some sort of solution he had never experienced before. They found a cavity and filled it, and told him he didn’t need all the additional work our dentist at home suggested. All of that for $110 – my dentist here gets $135 just for the cleaning, extra for X-rays, and certainly a lot more for a filling. I am also excited to check out the shopping, especially the mall and the outdoor markets.
Then we head to Porto for a few days. We are going on an all-day tour of some wineries along the Douro River, then taking a boat trip on the river. The next day, we are visiting a Port house in Gaia, an area on the river in Porto, for a tour, a tasting, and we get to see hoopers making barrels, which I’m very excited about. Then onto Lisbon, where we head back to New York for a couple of days to spend some more time with my family. There is a scheduled strike at the Lisbon airport the day we are leaving, so fingers crossed that we make that flight! Then, finally, home.
Wishing all who celebrate L’Shana Tovah tikatevu!
As always, thanks for reading, and stay safe.
Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™ 
Safe travels!
Safe travels!