Who knew that finding Sharpies in Portugal might be tricky? I actually wanted coloured ones but to no avail. I had imagined the Sharpie was an international phenomenon, but surprisingly not. So that trip to the non-Sharpie shop left Olivia off to Portuguese lessons and Sarah and I in the centre of the city, so we made our way to the record store as you do, to see if The Beatles‘ Red and Blue Box had arrived yet – it hadn’t. Originally, these records were double albums, the red one 1962-1966 and the blue one 1967-1970. They were originally released in 1973 and now they are triples, they seem to have attached Now and Then to the end of the blue album and both records are full of remixes from different years, 2015-2023. The box comes with a 7-inch single of Now and Then and I imagine copious notes. I already have the red vinyl 12-inch of Now and Then which somehow grows on you when you watch the Making Of video and the video itself, it’s just so sad that John and George are no longer with us.

It’s getting dark so early now and by the time we were standing in the check-out queue at the supermarket, the day had gone. We were hoping for a café and a pastel de nata, but it seems around 5.30 to 6 PM, that’s when the locals do just that. There were ten people queuing up at the counter and after being in the shop for half an hour, there were still nine queuing – yes, I counted them. It started to rain, a kind of secret formula extra wet drizzle. I had my umbrella, but we were so close to home, it was more hassle avoiding others wielding larger versions on the narrow sidewalks, busy in the rush hour and surrounded by darkness.

We went by Chico’s to scare ourselves with potential second-hand record purchases, I found the triple Radiohead – OK Computer reissue (1997), the double Smiths’ Louder Than Bombs (1987), The Waterboys’ A Pagan Place (1984) and This Is The Sea (1985) and Rain Parade – Crashing Dream (1985), Tim Hardin’s Suite for Susan Moore (1969), a French Deep Purple – Made in Japan (1973), Slowdive’s Souvlaki (1993) and Momus’ The Poison Boyfriend (1987) and Tender Pervert (1988), plus a Winston Tong 12-inch. Then there was Sarah’s stack…