We arrived in Braga on May 18, and the first few days were beautiful. And then the heat dome came. Only we didn’t know it was a heat dome. We just knew that it was hot.
Apparently, southern Europe has been in the throes of a heat dome causing records highs and unseasonably warm temperatures.
Notice the highlighted days in the calendar. Yes, that’s quite a change, but you may ask yourselves what the big deal is. Those are normal summer temperatures in Texas, Kansas City, and lots of other places.
Apparently, Europe doesn’t air-condition to the same degree that the US does. And also humidity. While I’m no stranger to humidity, I’m not usually outside in it.
Case in point: We decided to go to Porto last Wednesday to look for a couch. Wednesday’s temperature hit 93.
Me to Sara: Looks like Wednesday is going to be really hot. Should we hold off a day or two?
Sara: No, it will be fine.
Me: Yeah, we won’t be outside at all. We’ll be in Ubers and inside stores.
Readers, it was not fine. First of all, the stores all had their doors wide open, so although the inside was a measure cooler than the outside, it was still quite warm. The saleswoman helping us was in a suit jacket! I was in a T-shirt, sweating buckets, and praying that I didn’t sweat all over the nice couches.
Also, all the Ubers had their windows down, and the drivers pretended not to hear or understand us when we asked for A/C.
Thankfully, cooler weather is upon us.
The Portugal Papers 
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