Welcome to Portugal

| 16/17-May-2008 | Today’s travel was uneventful.  Flights were on-time so there’s really nothing to complain about. We got to Lisbon and deplaned onto buses which proceeded to take us about 50 yards (no joke) from the plane to passport control and baggage claim. After an hour and a half in line at passport control the dude stamped our passports, without even pausing his conversation with his colleague in the same booth, and waved us through. Hello and welcome to Portugal.

We picked up the car without incident – it’s a Mercedes Benz, and began the adventure that is driving in Lisbon.

The traffic was light at 10AM, but these jokers don’t believe in street signs or maps that accurately depict what the streets actually do so it was more fun than we needed after 14 hours of travel. No worries though, after showers and clean clothes we were off (on foot this time) to see some sights.

Waiting around in Philly. We saw exactly three Flyers t-shirts and Jeff was wearing one of them. Dudes, get a grip, a 1-3 series isn’t insurmountable! The conference finals t-shirts are already 50% off at the airport; should be free by the time we pass through on the way home.

Above the clouds on approach to Lisbon – trying out the “aerial” setting on the camera.

Praça de Dom Pedro IV as seen from the Elevador de Sant Justa. Completed in 1902, the wrought iron structure rises 32m above the street and offers some pretty cool views of the Baixa area of Lisbon.

Crazy tile work. This stuff is everywhere; all the sidewalks, plazas, everywhere. It’s chunks of rock with sand in between and is ridiculously uneven. Some of the designs are wavy, some linear, and some appear Celtic.

Tapas and sangria at “Treasure Island”, an Irish theme bar near Castelo de São Jorge.

Seriously, Indian maybe, but Irish? No.

The sangria, however, was top notch as were the tapas. After traveling, then hiking around town, both really hit the spot.