Day 6 - Hiking the Fisherman Trail - Day 2 - Rainy Days and Wednesdays Don’t Get Us Down - Wednesday, February 8, 2023

We have been watching the weather of this part of Portugal for over a month, anticipating what it will be like when we get here. Mostly, it has been sunny with highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the mid 40’s. For the 14 days leading up to our departure it was nothing but sunny weather everyday. Even when in Lisbon the weather was perfect and the forecast was perfect. Then, two days before we were to leave for this hike, after we had made arrangements to bus here, the weather changed. Rain was variably forecast for 2 to 5 days, although the forecast altered hourly as we watched. 

When we boarded the bus it had settled in to one day of rain. Today. But only a 30% chance all afternoon. Still, we have our rain gear and I am carrying my favorite rain defense, an umbrella. 

We were up at our customary 7:00am with plans to be walking by 8:00am. We were out the door od the Blue Bamboo Hotel a few minutes after eight and walking the main street of Vila Nova de Milfontes. The first two miles today are on city streets, across the Mila River on a highway bridge and then on some trail next to a farmer’s fields to get back out to the ocean. There is a boat that will take you across the river, thereby shortening the day by 2 miles and we called last night to inquire about it, but it is closed for the low season, November to March. So we walked the two miles to use the highway bridge to cross the river. 

Just after crossing the huge bridge the rain that was predicted for afternoon began. We slipped on our rain gear. Almost by the time we got it on the rain slackened and then stopped. We stayed in our gear for half an hour to be sure the sky was telling the truth, then took it off. 

Today, we were not continuously on the shoreline like yesterday, but again, the route was beyond spectacular. We found ourselves gaping at staggering sea cliffs, the ocean pounding at their feet and then ducking under Wax Myrtle and Blackwood branches as we walked through thickets of shoreline groves. 

We stopped for lunch on a sandy overlook, eyeing the darkening clouds thickening to the east. By 1:00pm it was a steady rain with light winds, not enough to disturb my umbrella. The sand, a nuisance yesterday was now wet and began clinging to our shoes, making our feet heavy. The surf continued to pound. The scenery was still mind blowing. Now I got to view it, snug and dry, from beneath my umbrella. 

About 2:00pm the trail turned inland, away from the coast and toward our town for the night, Almograve, a very small burg. We walked into town on the main road, around the traffic circle and past a few of the residents on the street to the Almograve Beach Hostel. The owner sent us instructions on how to let ourselves in, so we opened the lock box with the provided code, retrieved our door key and room key and made ourselves at home. 

The high temp for the day was about 61, which is great for walking, but when you sit down in your room to rest and relax, 61 is a little cool. Many houses in Portugal don’t have heat, and energy prices are very steep. Our room had a heater, but it did little to raise the temperature of the room. 

Since we had access to the fully stocked kitchen at the hostel we decided to cook dinner tonight rather than eating out. We grabbed our black shoulder bag and headed for town. In our searching we found three hole-in-the-wall grocery stores. The first was an India grocery store. Here we bought spaghetti noodles, eggs and an onion. We tried the next store and bought carrots, zucchini, broccoli, tomato sauce, cheese and bread. The next store added wine, cokes, oregano, Oreo cookies and bananas to our bag, now overflowing. Lugging it back to the hostel I prayed we were going to eat this all tonight so I didn’t have to carry it tomorrow. 

Sally cooked up an amazing vegetable laden  spaghetti dinner. We downed all we had purchased for dinner, saving the eggs, cheese, bananas, Oreos and bread for tomorrow’s lunch. 

A 30 year old German woman was also staying at the hostel. Sally had a long conversation with her while sharing her wine with her and eating dinner. I threw in a comment now and then, but generally vegged in a comfy chair in front of the fire I had built in the wood stove in the center of the room. 

Back upon our room about 7:30pm we noticed that none of our damp clothing from today’s rain event had dried out. We employed the hairdryer to drive the water out of them and to add some warmth to our room. 

The bed was kind of weird, sort of soft and made noise every time you rolled over. Still, it was good enough for a good nights sleep. We planned to sleep in until 8am tomorrow morning as we only have a 5 mile day tomorrow. All is good!!

Our Hotel, the river below

On the highway approaching the bridge

Sally mid bridge with Vila Nova de Milfontes behind

Local art on a building out of town

Steep trail in places when dropping into river drainages 

Occasional bridges at the bottom of ravines

The brush was a little thick in places

A panoramic shot of a beach

Beach and bluffs

Incredible folded sedimentary rock formations all along the route constantly pounded by the surf

Sally, surf, rain, raingear and a PEPSI!!

Entering Almograve

Our room

Sally cooking dinner in the hostel kitchen. 

Dinner, wine, bread, tea and a fire. What could be better after a good day’s walk?

Day 5 - Hiking the Fisherman Trail - Day 1 - The Good, The Bad and the Beautiful - Tuesday, February 7, 2023

In life there are surprises. Both good ones and bad ones. Part of the fun of doing something you have never done before is the surprise. Will it turn out great . . . or a disaster? Whether that disaster is good or bad depends on your reaction to it. 

“The difference between an Ordeal and Adventure is . . . Attitude.”

Hopefully by now you are beginning to wonder. Was their day today great or a disaster? Read on faithful insomniacs. 

We were up at 7:00am, breakfast of yogurt and the last few slices of a loaf of bread purchased yesterday. The temperature outside was a brisk 42° with an off shore breeze, making for a cold morning. We both had all our warm clothes on. We headed out our door about 8:15am with 11.4 miles in front of us, although that distance did not agree with other sources that had it as high as 14 miles. The trail starts right from town. Wander down the streets, past the restaurant we had fries and drinks at last night and out onto the coast trail. Our expectations were sky high. We were not disappointed!  

For the next 13 miles we followed the trail down a deserted coastline. Only one seaside eatery mares it’s wildness. The shoreline is sheer rock cliffs and promontories with beautiful golden sand beaches nestled in between. The surf was up, with waves pounding the shoreline nonstop every step of the way. The sky was cloudless. As the day progressed the temperature climbed to the lower 60s and soon we were in our short sleeves, lathered with sun screen. The views just kept getting better as we went, with a stork nest on a high tower of rock, sea arches,  pounding surf invading caverns and a carpet of flowers decorating the sides of the trail as we walked. 13 absolutely gorgeous miles. How is it that this coastline has escaped development?  Let us hope it stays that way. 

We had 6 miles done by noon. We found a nice beach overlook to sit in the sand and enjoy our rolls, cheese, sliced meat, bananas and ketchup flavored potato chips (yes, that is a real thing. No, Sally hated them. I loved them). 

Our expectation was 11.4 miles. Maybe as high as 12 as recorded on my watch as we walked. But as the day slipped by it became apparent it was going to be a bit more. More beautiful coastline to enjoy you might be thinking. True. But in the title for today’s post I included the word “bad”. What could possibly be bad?  In a word - sand. 

Of the 13.4 miles, we ended up walking, fully 6 or 7 on loose ankle deep beach sand. Trudge through, slog through, slide on, beach sand. It made our 13.4 miles feel more like 20. On the downhill sections it wasn’t too bad, but the uphills in sand were at times arduous. 4 or 5 times during the day we stopped to have Sally pour the sand out of her shoes. Each time at least 2 to 3 tablespoons were ejected. How did she have room for her feet in there with all the sand?  My shoes have a tighter weave in the fabric on top so very little sand made it’s way in. Her loose weave “let your feet breathe” fabric welcomed the sand through its pours. We both had on gaiters.  The sand was not getting in through the top of our shoes. 

We had hoped to get to Villa Nova de Milfontes by 4:00pm, but it was not to be. We were so glad to see a solid surface to walk on when we reached the outskirts of this beautiful town. And pavement!! Newton’s third law propelled us forward instead of us propelling sand backwards. We’ve never been so thankful for pavement. We stopped at the first small store to buy groceries for tomorrow just incase this small town closed up early. More rolls, cheese, yogurt, sodas and an ice cream cone. We used Apple Maps to guide us to our hotel for the night, the Blue Bamboo. I had texted them about an hour ago to let them know we would arrive at 5:00pm. It is the off season and they don’t have a receptionist sitting all day for guests that don’t exist. We dragged  in at 5:04pm to find a beautiful woman of 55 sitting behind the counter. We got into a conversation with this vivacious, outgoing and delightful person. It took us well over half an hour to get to our room as we learned about her birth in Washington DC, her upbringing in Brazil, her own child’s birth in Kansas, her divorce, her love of dancing, her impending second marriage, health care in Portugal and her employment here in Vila Nova de Milfontes. Although we were footsore and ready to relax, we truly enjoyed exchanging stories about our different lives and backgrounds. 

Heat up and on in our room, sand poured out of shoes and shaken out of socks on our small balcony, quick showers and we were out the door and on our way to the Supermercado for groceries and the pizza place for dinner. Both met and exceeded our needs and we were back at our hotel just before 8:00pm and got to wish Anna Cruz a pleasant life as she got off work. 

Once in our room we collapsed in our beds (twin beds tonight), watched the news about the earthquake in Turkey and Seria, broke up our 14+ mile day scheduled for Thursday into two 7 mile days, wrote a bit and then called it a wonderful, yet exhausting day. 

Sally celebrates getting on the trail with Porto Covo in the background. 

Part of the trail near Porto Covo is líned with rope. 

Surf, sand and sun. Rocky shoreline and beautiful sandy beaches. 

Only once did we actually walk on the beach. The rest of the time we were on the bluff above the shoreline. 

Looking back at our starting point, Porto Covo. 

Stork nest on rock pillar. 

Sally pours the sand from her shoes. 

Sand

More rocky coast. 


Looking back at where we came from. 

Big waves.

6 miles of soft sand, but beautiful sea.

Our hotel in Villa Nova de Milfontes.


Our $40 room in Vila Nova de Milfontes. Prices vary widely, but going cheap doesn’t mean sketchy accommodations. 

Day 4 - Leaving Lisbon - Bus Trip, Monday, February 6, 2023

My alarm was set for 7:00am, but I was awake before it was set to go off, so I shut it down before it could annoy us. We had packed the night before. Had breakfast of hard boiled eggs and bread, then out the door and down to the square, across it and back up Avenue Liberade to a coffee shop in the park in the middle of the street where we are to meet Érica to exchange gear. We arrived a little early (8:50am) and people watched until she showed about 9:05am. We exchanged gear, talked for a few minutes and then parted. We will see her again when we return to Lisbon at the end of our adventures to re-exchange hostages. 

We rode the metro underground to Jardín Zoológico station. This station is connected to the train station and bus station. We worked our way through the underground maze of shops and connecting tunnels until we emerged above ground at the bus station. We were about 20 minutes early. 

Once we stowed our bags in the baggage compartment and boarded we were off. The bus was about 3/4 full. 

First thing, our route took us across the April 25th Bridge, the spitting image of the Golden Gate Bridge (same architect-same design-same size) on our 3hr 15 minute ride south to the town of Porto Covo, our starting point for our hike to Lagos. 

Once off the bus, we found our room, chased down a grocery store to get food for tomorrow’s first day of walking and walked to the ocean to watch the waves pound the rocky shoreline. Later, we watched the sun set into the Atlantic through clear blue skies.  

With food in my pack and our route before us, we went to bed ready to hike tomorrow. 

Our place in Lisbon

Exchanging stuff with Erica

Main Street in Porto Covo

Coast below Poto Covo

Hottentot Fig ground cover with Atlantic beyond

Sunset

Sally enjoys the deck of our room

Porto Covo at night

Day 3 - Lisbon - Jet Lag, Sunday, February 5, 2023

It has been as if Jet Lag doesn’t exist. We have been sleeping at night and up all day without ill effects. Friday we roamed the streets of Lisbon getting the lay of the city and it’s history. Saturday we put in 13 miles traipsing up and down its hills. We decided to sleep in today. I thought I would be up about 8, Sally about 10. Not to be. Jet Lag caught up with us. I slept until 10:30am and Sally until 11:30am. We didn’t feel sleep deprived before last night but we obviously were. 

Sally had secured lodgings in Porto Covo last night. This is the town from which we will start our hike of the Fisherman Trail Tuesday morning. We planned to see the Alfama district in Lisbon today. There was still time for this to happen , even with this late start. But, first we thought we should take the metro up to the bus station to (1) be sure we knew how to get there, (2) buy our tickets and (3) see another part of the city. 

We ate lunch in our room, finishing off the apples we had brought from home and nearly depleting our supply of chicken breast meat, also from home. Then it was out the door and a good walk to the Baixa-Chiado train station to catch the blue line to the Sete Rio (7 Rivers) bus depot. 

We got off at the España stop and walked the last half mile to the station. It was a bit confusing because the train, metro and bus stations all share a huge corner of real estate. It turned out we walked a long way around to find the bus station. But that is why we came, to make mistakes today while we weren’t under a time crunch. We eventually found the ticket office, secured our tickets for Porto Covo for 10:30 am tomorrow, then decided we would walk back to our room rather than ride the metro, as the route took us through a big park and down the Avenue Liberdade, the Champs Elysees of Lisbon, a wide avenue with trees and high end stores. 

We strolled casually the two and a half miles back to our apartment, stopping to sit on park benches and enjoy the park, poking our head into various stores, having a Pepsi at a coffee shop (no surprise considering my companion) and people watching. We also stopped to buy Sally a sun hat after Érica mentioned that when she hiked the trail the week before the south bound route caused the lower winter sun to be in her eyes day after day. 

At the apartment we had a quick bite then headed out the door and up the hill behind us to get to St. Jorge castle entrance. It was a lot of hill climbing and there was a surprising number of people about for 5:00 in the afternoon. We stopped by a sardine shop on the way up the narrow, winding, streets. We skipped the castle tour (€8.50) and enjoyed the narrow streets and shops outside the castle walls. Following Rick Steve’s walking tour of the Alfama neighborhood we ended upon a terrace with a great view out over the river (which at this point is a wide bay). We stopped at a vendor and bought cinnamon and sugar coated churros, then continued downhill until we hit river level, then contoured around the hill until we found elevators to take us up to the level of our apartment. From its top we walked to our place. It was now about 7:00pm and dark. We had planned to meet with Erica tonight so Sally could borrow her trekking poles and I could borrow a pocket knife. Also, she offered to hang on to a few of our items that we didn’t need until our flight home. Since we will be back in Lisbon to fly home we can stop by, say hi  return her poles and knife and pick up our stuff. But, Erica texted to say she would be late getting back to town, so we arranged to meet her in the morning. 

We spent a few minutes organizing our stuff and packing, then I wrote for a couple hours while Sally showered and relaxed. Tonight we set an alarm. Couldn’t afford a repeat of this morning and miss our 10:30 bus. 

An orange tree grows in a niche in the walls on our way up the terraces and roads to the hilltop castle. 

Sally outside a cork shop

Passing through the castle wall

Alfama district and river behind from a terrace

Lisbon Trolleys


Tile mural showing the defeat of the Moors

Day 2 - Lisbon - Érica - Saturday, February 4, 2023

Back in May on the CDT I met two amazing ladies in Chama, New Mexico, Emma and Érica, although at the time they were going by their trail names DG (Dollar General) and Franzia (after the wine). We only hiked a day together, but at the end of the day I was ready to adopt them as my daughters. Both were centered, mature, fun loving, intelligent, thoughtful and kind. In our talking as we hiked that day, I learned that Erica lived in Lisbon, Portugal. Sally and I had been talking about Portugal as a winter destination. When I mentioned this to Erica, she was very positive about us visiting her while there. Today, I had the chance to introduce Sally to her. It was another wonderful day. 

We had arranged to meet Érica at 1:00pm at the Copenhagen Coffee Shop near the Alfama district, to our east. We decided to get up early and do some site seeing before the crowds and before hooking up with Erica. 

Our alarms woke us at 6:15am. We boiled up 4 eggs for breakfast along with a piece of bread and we were out the door by 7:20am. A quick walk across the now quiet plaza to the Rossio subway stop, two stops on it to the waterfront train station Caís do Sodre, then onto the #15 electric trolley for the 5 mile ride to the town of Belem, pronounced ble (sort of). This is the town that the Portuguese explorers such as Henry the Navigator and Vasco De Gama sailed from in the discoveries of routes down the African Coast to Cape of Good Hope and from there to India and beyond. A tower was built as a send off marker called the Tower of Belem. It was the last thing sailors saw when they left and the first thing they saw if they were one of the few to return (about a 1/10 chance). Scurvy, disease and violent conflicts with the indigenous people of Africa and India all took their toll. 

We walked from the trolley turn-around out to the magnificent monument dedicated to these early explorers/conquerors/pirates/butchers. It is hundreds of feet tall, stylized as a caravel, the swift, agile ship of the Portuguese. At the base are statues of the leading figure with Henry the Navigator at the front holding a model of a caravel in his hands. Behind him are Vasco de Gama, Magellan and other early explorers on one side of the prow of the ship and the clergy, rulers and financiers on the other side of the ship. These people made Portugal the rulers of the seas, trade and all coastal lands from Portugal south to Cape Good Hope and north and east to India and China. 

A gigantic church and monastery, Jeronimo, was built at the site to consecrate the voyages. Sailors prayed and were blessed here before sailing to their probable deaths. 

We walked from the Explorers Monument to the Belem Tower, enjoying the bright blue sky, sun and soft breeze. A stop at the WC,  a walk back to the Explorers Monument, then inland to the church and monestery. We didn’t stay to go inside either monument. Viewing from the outside was all we really wanted to do. At the monastery we payed our 5€ each to tour the cloister with its magnificent rock carvings, then into the church for a quick visit, checking out Vasco de Gama’s tomb near the entrance. 

It was now 10:45 and time to return to our apartment for lunch and head out to meet Erica. We reversed our transit rides of the morning. Chicken and cheese sandwiches for lunch and we were out the door, heading east to the Copenhagen Coffee Shop. Every Tuesday and Saturday there is a giant flea market at this location, making a nice activity to share with Erica while we talked. 

We had to walk about a mile, passing to the north of the St. Jorge’s castle and then through the tight and winding narrow streets of the Alfama district. The phone has a hard time picking up satellites from the bottom of the narrow streets, so at times it’s guidance was nearly useless, but with only a few misdirections we found our way. We arrived about 20 minutes early. The day was becoming downright hot in the sun forcing Sally inside to a table to wait. All the outside tables were packed with people. In fact, the whole square was full of people, all shopping for bargains at the flea market that covered about two blocks plus the open square. It was huge. 

Erica arrived about 1:05, carrying a chihuahua she was babysitting. At first I did not recognize her. She has cut all her hair off except for about 1/2”. It caught me by surprise, but she looked beautiful. 

Sally, Erica and I spent about 45 minutes talking in the coffee shop. Then we moved outside and perused the flea market goods. Sally looked, Erica and I reminisced about the CDT and shared thoughts, impression and stories from the trail. Both her and Emma have had severe post trail withdrawal symptoms, working at integrating the life altering trail experiences into their preexisting lives. It was therapeutic as well as wonderful to see her. She is a kind, thoughtful soul with good insights. 

We left the flea market, Erica taking us on a walking tour of parts of town we had not seen yet. We walked up some steep roads to a few hill top views, stopped for a beer and soda, took a quick Uber ride to a heavenly ice cream shop (chocolate, Oreo, raspberry and Tiramisu flavors in a bowl), then a walk to the river front, down the riverside to a restaurant she had picked out to introduce us to traditional  Portuguese food. It was now 8:00pm. 

Salted cod, cuttlefish and shrimp along with buttered rolls. Fun atmosphere and great dinner. 

Once outside, Érica requested an Uber ride which dropped us off in the square below our apartment. She offered to hold some stuff for us until we returned to Lisbon for our flight home in about three weeks. Also, she offered to loan Sally her trekking poles for our hike.  We will meet with her tomorrow to exchange items. 

Back in our apartment, now about 10:00pm, we decided not to go to the nearby town of Sintra tomorrow as planned. We had walked 13 miles today and it just felt too pushed to try to squeeze Sintra in before our hike. Instead, we would visit the Alfama district, following one of Rick Steves’ walking tours.  We decided not to set an alarm so Sally could sleep in. Again, we should have been exhausted, but neither of us fell asleep until after midnight. 

Some side notes: Uber here is beyond cheap. A ride across town was $2.80. With three of us sharing the ride it is far cheaper than the metro. The traditional food is tasty, very meat centered, fatty and devoid of vegetables. Even in February the town is awash with tourists. The Lisbon waterfront is dominated by rail lines, making it nearly inaccessible from the city. An overpass or underpass must be sought out to access the shore. Lisbon is very hilly, making for good exercise while walking and affording magnificent views. In 1755 the entire city (at the time) was wiped out first by a 9.0 earthquake that shook the city for ten minutes, then a resulting tsunami and finally by fires, all in the same morning. The city was rebuilt with military precision, rectangular city blocks with uniform height buildings. You can see this when viewing a city map from above. Our apartment is just one block from one of the main squares of the city, down six flights of stairs and on block and we are in the heart of the city. A perfect location. 

Monument to the Discoveries in Belem

Me in the photo to show the size of the monument

Sally at the tower of Belem. The tower used to be in the middle of the river. The river has filled in and now it sits on the northern shore. 

Sally and I in the cloister at the Jeronimo church and monastery. 

Some of the rock work at the cloister

Tomb of Vasco do Gama

Erica and me at the ice cream shop

Concrete Christ in harbor across bay from Lisbon


Kitchenette 

Living room

Bedroom

Bath

Day 1 - Lisbon - Orientation - Friday, February 3, 2023

Our apartment was cold when we got in last night. We had read that many places in Portugal did not have heat, apparently not needed, but luckily the owner had a plug in heater which we employed to warm the room. This morning when we got up the outside temperature was 42° but our room was comfortable. 

Not sure what is going on with jet lag. We both fell asleep last night at about 10 and slept the night through until 7:00 this morning. Body time, that is from 2:00 pm until 11:00pm. We woke up feeling refreshed and headed out for our first encounter with Lisbon. 

We usually use one of Rick Steves’ guided audio tours to familiarize ourselves with a city first thing. That is what we did today. With earbuds in, we walked to the riverfront to start our tour stopping on the way for Pastel de Nada twice, from two different pastry shops. This is a small pastry made primarily of sugar and egg yokes that is a Lisbon speciality. We had to try two spots to compare. Equally good. 

We started to tour at the Praca do Comercio, a large open square right on the waterfront and wandered through the streets of the Baixia area, following the tour. As always, we would turn it off to visit things we found that distracted us. At one point we side tripped to a mall to buy SIM cards for our phones so we could use them without incurring ATT’s $10 a day surcharge for overseas use. The phone shops are all in a mall, a six story building on the edge of the district. 

We rode a venicular up a steep incline to enter the Bairro Alto district, following the tour and side stopped at a hole in the wall restaurant for cod fish lunch. Back on the street we stopped into an ornate church, walked to the top of the iron work elevator that lifts people from the Baixa district to the Bairro Alto district and ended up at an long running coffee shop in the Chiado district. We hoofed it back to our apartment across town buying a loaf of bread along the way and enjoyed chicken sandwiches and apples for dinner, having eaten our big meal on our walk. Sally napped for an hour while I tended to some details, then about 7:30 we headed back out to see how Lisbon faired on a Friday night. All the squares were full of people. We wandered around for awhile taking in the atmosphere, then returned to our place about 10:00pm.  We spent about an hour planning our activities for tomorrow, an early morning trip to the suburb of Belem to see the monuments to Portugal’s explorers who found the route around Africa and opened up trade routes to India and beyond, all the way to China.  Afterwards, I thought sleep would come quickly as we had walked just under 10 miles for the day and had been up for 16 hours, but time zone switches and circadian rhythms are mysterious. We both fell asleep about midnight. A good first day of our own explorations. 

Sally with pastry in early morning Lisbon

Paca do Comercio square on the waterfront

Square where slaves were first bought and sold in Lisbon. Portugal’s past is frighteningly violent and brutal. 

Iron works elevator connects lower city with upper. 

Sally wired into her Rick Steves audio tour 

Sally enjoys a cherry alcoholic shot called Ginjinha on Lisbon streets. Those behind her are doing the same. 

Venicular Carrie’s people up the hill to Bairro Alto district. We purchased transit passes to ride all the public transportation in the city. 

To Lisbon! - Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Thanks to Bill and Pat Caldwell for giving us a ride to the Portland Airport. Our flight was scheduled for 6:25 but was delayed to 6:50, which is when we took off. The plane was only half full, a 787. They served dinner, after which I found three seats in the center section about 8 rows back and stretched out to sleep. The flight was about 9 hours, of which I slept maybe one and dozed three. Nice plane. Totally uneventful flight. No breakfast served. Plane taxied to a spot on the field at Heathrow where we filed onto a bus and we’re driven to terminal five. Had our passports stamped, then through Englands version of TSA. Everything made it including my Shoe Goo and a tupperware half full of “Sweet Baby Rays” bar-b-cue sauce. 

I’ve hung out, waiting for a flight, at Heathrow, Terminal Five before. Always kind of bleary eyed due to the lack of sleep. We left Portland at 7:00pm and arrived in London at 11:45am. But 11:45am is 3:45am Portland time. The sun may be shining, but my body knows it is 4 in the morning with minimal sleep. 

We boarded our flight to Lisbon at 2:45pm, landing in Lisbon about 5:45pm. After climbing out of the London fog I slept for 45 minutes and was awake to watch us glide over the Tejo River in a long 180° turn as we came in to land in Lisbon. The sky was clear, the sun setting and the city glowed. It was a great way to overview the city before we landed. 

 We tried to get an Uber ride to our apartment, but we were at the wrong place for pickup and our first ride cancelled on us as we figured out where we were supposed to be. We got smarter and waited to request a ride until we knew where the pickup point was.. Nelson, our driver, picked us up and gave us a ride to within 100 meters or so of our place. 

We entered, following the instructions the owner had given, dropped our stuff and walked 10 meters across the square to a hole in the wall restaurant for a dinner of sea bass. We were back in our room by 9:30pm, Sally crawled into bed to read the guide book and promptly fell asleep. I Shoe Gooed the soles of my shoes, got our electronics charging and then slept the whole night through. Amazing, as it was from 2:00pm to 11:30pm, Toledo time. This time when I woke up my body believed the early morning sun to be actual morning and we off to explore Lisbon. Sorry, no photos.