she napped away, in her sunny spot, on top of this high moss covered wall. We should pick and choose what we want to see in Lisbon, there is so much, and we are here only one day. We ask Cristina to show us what ever she would like to, and she kept us going for 9 hours! I took so many pictures! And have tried not to put too many on this site, but who knows when we will see all of you again, so this is our version of the dreaded "vacation home movie". We walked, hopped on [View Full Entry]

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Our drive down the coast was timed perfectly thanks to Danny, and we arrived at the main square Rossio, at sunset. And a nice hotel right in the center of the old city, typically a comfortable small room, furnished with an antique bedroom set. Keith has already investigated the supper options and we're in search of a particular little restaurant. In the crowd he spots his colleagues! Seems we all headed into Lisbon. We didn't expect to find them, but of course we are where all the tourists are. So now he invites them to have their supper with us, and [View Full Entry]

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Along the road to Lisbon. After Cabo da Roca, and the drive along the beaches, we come to Cascais. A small fishing town. We were here just long enough to walk along the harbor, and through the little tourist shopping street. Danny took the car to the other side of town so we could walk through the shopping area. Here Abdul, finds us. We're not hard to mistake for Tourist. He's the guy that has his own entry in the guidebooks: be aware of bracelet 'salesmen'. If you decline purchasing the bracelet that he tries to slip over your wrist, then [View Full Entry]

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The beginning of the sea. I know that this is not a clear photo but it was a nice wave Driving down from Sintra on a winding road, there was nothing to prepare us for the sight of the ocean. Except our own imaginations, which didn't come close to the real landscape. On the way, Danny took us to "The Wind Mill" for lunch. In our visiting the sights with him, he knew that we were from NC and that we were eager to see the ocean. From the restaurant's patio we could see it, but there was enough of a [View Full Entry]

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After the rugged walk through the Moorish Castle we get to the fairyland atmosphere of the Palace of Pena! The artist king consort Don Fernando II completed contruction of this fanciful palace around 1852, on the site of monastery. Convent of Our Lady of Pena 1503. Earthquake of 1755 did serious damage to the monastery and it falls into decline, Don Fernando purchases it and it becomes the beautiful palace it is today. Royal families lived here from Fernando's reign thru Don Manuel II in 1910. The rooms are furnished as they were at that time. Cozy arched ceilings, rooms with [View Full Entry]

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"Are you with the feeling that you will return?" That's the question the receptionist asked me when I checked us out of the hotel, just outside Lisbon. My answer "yes. of course!" And that was before we had actually been into Lisbon. Before we had seen the wide Tegas River, and watched young sailors in their little boats manuver tight cirlces, while a tanker passed under the bridge. Before we walked down narrow cobbled streets passing little ladies in their bathrobes on their way to the neighborhood bath, before we had stood by the most dramatic coast line we had ever [View Full Entry]

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Do you watch the winter Olympics on television, and aren't you amazed at the curling matches?! Well, it's our new favorite sport. I was made for curling! Except that the 'sweeping' part is too much like housekeeping, and I don't know my anti-clockwise from my clockwise. And a strategy, as in chess is applied to the stones position. But it is a bit like pool, and I have played that. If you have followed our blogs til now you know that these regional meetings Keith goes to, usually have 'fun' event for the guys to relax and get to know each [View Full Entry]

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A paper plant is the next destination. Keith has a meeting in Scotland, I'm tagging along. He's going to get a reputation of the husband whose wife won't let him out of her sight, it'll make them wonder what he's been up to! So, another taxi drive from the airport in Aberdeen to Inverurie, with a driver who tells of the area. About how there's not much in the way of fishing now, more support for the oil industry. He gives me the bus route to get into Aberdeen, as there's not much where we are headed, but I don't really [View Full Entry]

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With cold weather and shorter daylight hours, the museums and theatre seemed like a good choice. After we left the National Gallery Friday evening we remembered a colleague of Keith's had suggested we try to see "Wicked". It is a newer musical "the untold story of the witches of Oz." It wasn't in the Plan, but we grabbed up a couple tickets, enjoyed the references to the "Wizard of Oz". Audience was full of teenaged girls, up through college age. Contrasted to the more "mature" crowd we sat with at the "Phantom of the Opera", Saturday night. The art deco Apollo [View Full Entry]

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These photos are from the top of the tour bus. One benefit of the winter season is that there are fewer of us tourists. As you can see, we are the only ones on this particular bus! The tour bus has a winter off-season deal, you get 48 hours of hopping off and on with the purchase of your ticket, instead of 24 hours. So we used them to get an overview of the city as per the Plan, knowing that there was no way to see all of it in 2 and a half days. Actually afforded us some photo [View Full Entry]

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