RGSOUNDF: The "Statua di Padre António Vieira" features Father António Vieira (1608–1697), a Jesuit priest, diplomat and missionary, with three Brazilian native "Indian" children, whose conversion the famous preacher charged himself with. Even though Padre António Vieira is traditionally considered as a tolerant and enlightened man well ahead of his times, a prolific preacher and philosopher, nowadays, the statue may (and certainly does) provoke an uneasy feeling, for obvious reasons.

RGSOUNDF: The central piece of the otherwise gigantic and totally empty square, is the the horse statue of José I de Portugal (1714-1777), the king of Portugal whose reign spanned almost three decades, from 1750 to 1777, on whose watch the devastating 1755 earthquake happened and whose efforts (along with his most trusted minister Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, Marquis of Pombal) initiated the massive rebuilding of the city. The King himself and his family have miraculously survived the terrible earthquake; they were spending the public holiday (the earthquake and the following tsunami took place on November 1st, All Saints' Day) outside of the city; however, till his last days José I de Portugal couldn't stand a thought of sleeping in a hard roof structure and always stayed in tents, fearing for a possible structural collapse. Note an elephant on the eastern side of the pedestal. Elephants served as a symbol of the great overseas discoveries of the Portuguese empire, with some of them remaining forever in history (one, Hanno, was gifted in 1514 to Pope Leo X, and the other, Suleiman, was sent to the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, 37 years later). The latter was featured as a "hero" of the 2008 book The Elephant Journey, by the greatest Portuguese modern writer José Saramago, the winner of the Nobel Prize in literature. A stylized elephant footprint can be seen today by José Saramago's foundation, less than 5 minutes' walk from Praça do Comércio.

Este lugar é enorme! É incrível! Alguns locais de venda parecem perseguir-te assim que entras. Estávamos navegando pelas camas e quando não encontrávamos exatamente o que queríamos, nos aproximamos de um gerente de vendas e ele prontamente nos contratou e chamou um membro da equipe de vendas para nos ajudar. Joe S era o nosso vendedor. Ele era fantástico! Ele ouvia as nossas necessidades e ajudava a reduzir as nossas escolhas. Não podíamos estar mais felizes com a cama que escolhemos! Estamos ambos a dormir melhor. Definitivamente vamos às compras no Nebraska Furniture Mart!

Fantástico atendimento ao cliente pelo Anthony do Garden. Ele estava muito ocupado, mas conseguiu localizar o nosso pátio e ajudar-nos a encontrar alguém para o conseguir. Quando o tipo foi almoçar antes de trazer as nossas coisas para baixo. O Anthony esperou connosco e pediu-nos desculpa. Acabamos comprando o conjunto do pátio e o pegamos no dia seguinte. Não me importei de fazer isto por causa do grande serviço ao cliente do Anthony.