We packed up, checked out of the hostel and took the Metro from Pracoes stop to the Red Line, then on to Lisboa Oriente where we needed to pick up our rental car. The metro leg went smoothly enough and we easily located the Avis rental car office. They we had reservations, but we asked if we could pick it up a bit later so we wouldn't be so rushed to get back here from our last stop in Portugal, Monsantos. The guy said sure, no problem, you can pick it up as late as 1pm. So, we walked through the station and did some supermarket browsing, then on down to the oceanside. They has some really cool buildings from Lisbon's Expo, along with an oceanarium and a casino. After we walked along the ocean a ... read more

I actually woke up earlier than Manoli, because I slept like a log and she apparently tossed and turned a bit, plus she had taken a slight nap earlier in the afternoon. We got down to breakfast a bit past 8am. Breakfast was okay, especially considering it was free (included in the room price, so I guess not really free!). We had coffee/cappuccino, breakfast rolls with butter and jam, yogurt, and a plate of very decent cheese and chorizo. After breakfast, we packed up for our trip to Sintra and headed out. The train leaves frequently from Rossio Train Station, down nearer the ocean, and as I stated yesterday, cost 4.90 Euros each, round trip. The train left almost as soon as we got on board and took about 30 minutes to get to Sintra, stopping ... read more

We got to the Pensacola airport in plenty of time, checked out luggage, and boarded our first U.S. Airways plane to Charlotte, North Carolina. In Charlotte, we had about an hour layover for our next flight to Philadelphia. Since it was lunchtime already, and we didn't have that much time, we decided to buy some sushi to take with us and eat when we could. Good choice, since we went to the wrong terminal and gate the first try and had to back track almost all the way back to the terminal we landed at, leaving about 15 minutes before boarding. Our next flight, from Charlotte to Philadelphia, also left on time, more or less. We arrived in Philadelphia, supposedly having about 4 hours of layover there (as planned for safety sake), but that connection didn't ... read more

Costa Rica 2013: Day 16: On Our Way Home: Well, we got up at 4:30am to get our ride to the airport at 5am. After paying our exit fee of $29 each to leave costa Rica, we boarded our Delta flight to Atlanta, almost an hour late. Fortunately, we'd left a couple ours of layover in Atlanta before our flight to Pensacola, so we didn't have to rush to the next flight. The flight to Pensacola was pretty much full, with a lot of new Sailors that just graduated from Great Lakes and were on their way to Pensacola for aviation-related A schools. We arrived safe and sound in Pensacola and were picked up by our oldest daughter Monica and grandson Kevin. It was great to be back home. Our trip to Costa Rica was a ... read more

Costa Rica 2013: Day 14: Manuel Antonio to Alajuela: We had no problem getting to and catching our direct bus to San Jose at 9:30am. I don't think I mentioned that the tickets cost 4465 colones each, or about 9 dollars. You can also get the same bus from Quepos, after it departs Manuel Antonio, but I figured getting on earlier was better. The direct bus was almost direct, stopping only in Quepos briefly, a restroom/refreshments stop about 2 hours into the trip, and once in San Jose before reaching the terminal. From the terminal, we grabbed a taxi to take us to the TUASA bus terminal for the trip from San Jose to Alajuela. The first taxi guy tried to tell us 3,000 colones, and when my wife questioned that he changed it to 2,000, ... read more