A new country but we're up to the same tricks. We didn't book a shore excursion so we decided to try it on our own again. After our ordeal in Casablanca, you would have thought we had learned our lesson. NOT!! This time we were somewhat more fortunate. Linda G negotiated us a limo with an English speaking driver. His name was Colada--like in Pina Colada and he had good command of the English language and knew his way around the city. I forget how much he charged us, but unlike our tour in Gilbraltar, we had to buy our admissions [View Full Entry]

---

---

C'est confortablement assise dans une vraie villa dans les Vosges en France que je vous écris! Et oui notre découverte du Portugal terminée, nous sommes retournés sur Paris afin de terminer nos derniers préparatifs pour notre périple vers l'Est! Pascal est courageusement resté sur Paris pour affronter la bureaucratie chinoise pour faire faire nos visa ... BONNE NOUVELLE, NOUS AVONS NOS VISAS! (et c'était pas gagné, car avec les Jeux Olympiques, les relations entre la Chine et la France ne sont pas au beau fixe!). AUTRE GRANDE NOUVELLE: LES BILLETS DE TRAIN POUR LE TRANSSIBÉRIEN SONT EUX AUSSI ARRIVÉS, ça non [View Full Entry]

---

---

Following our disasters in Madrid, Jay and I fled to Salamanca Thursday to get the earliest train to Lisbon. We thought an overnight train from Madrid would cost more, so we took the free ride to Salamanca, stayed in the train station -- after having the great fortune of replacing Pacman the Sacman -- and grabbed a 5 am train to Lisboa. The train was one of the shadiest shitboxes I have ever seen in my life. It was probably 40 years old and had the old-fashioned cabins with sliding doors. There were sleeper rooms, but that was definitely extra. We [View Full Entry]

---

---

Lisbon Arrived here right on time at Noon on Thursday, May 22. Since we were not going to disembark until the next morning, we opted to take one last excursion and were glad we did because the weather which had been perfect for the entire trip, turned cold and rainy. The first stop was Queluz, the Summer Palace for Queen Mary I. It was a nice tour but nothing exceptional and typical of the palaces we have seen in the past. Next was the old town of Sintra which is in the National Park and is quite charming. They boast of [View Full Entry]

---

---

We departed Heathrow airport early Saturday morning bound for Lisbon. At around 11am we arrived and jumped into a cab to our hotel - not bad at 10euros for the trip. I think the cab driver thought he was a racing car driver as we fanged our way through the streets, holding on for dear life. After checking in we hopped on the metro and headed to the main downtown part of Lisbon - the area referred to as Baxia. Most of the streets are pedestrianised. Within the first 5 minutes of our stroll we were hit up my a number [View Full Entry]

---

---

May 19, 2008 After a 10 hour flight we have now arrived in Portugal. It was pretty cool as it was Henry's first time being in Europe, He thought about this as he walked down the stairs from the airplane and set foot on European soil. The first thoughts of Portugal are very positive, The city of Lisbon is very clean and beautiful with so many street side cafes, old Eurpoean architecture,and even a castle on the mountain top. We have also never seen so many Mercedes Benz, a lot of the taxi cabs are Mercedes as well. We did not [View Full Entry]

---

---

I am on holiday with Laura again! This time we are in Lisbon in Portugal. We have spent the time wandering about and seeing the sights. It is very hilly here compared to Cambridge which means Laura has been eating lots of custard tarts to keep her strength up! One day we went to Sintra, which is a town about 40 minutes away. It was very pretty and had a very nice castle on the hill. The castle was brightly painted and had a cartoon look about it. There were great views from the top. [View Full Entry]

---

---

My friend Damir was right when he said I'd never want to leave Portugal! Just got back from the long weekend and Portugal was by far my favorite trip I've taken. I saw a total of 8 cities and had an unexpectedly amazing time. Even the pictures don't do the actual scenery justice-it was that beautiful there. The city of Lisbon was so eclectic in that it had its ancient buildings on one side of town, and modern masterpieces on the other from the world exposition some decade ago. I arrived painfully early Saturday morning to our hostel where I met [View Full Entry]

---

---

We are in Lisbon! It is very nice but very hilly so we are exhausted! We never thought we would appreciate the flatness of East Anglia. Due to the hilliness of Lisbon and the fact that most of the streets are very narrow and windy we spend most of our time not being entirely sure where we are! We have had 2 days exploring Lisbon. the first day we went to Belém which is a district that is a 6km away. It is home to a Pastéis de Belém - a shop which is famous for making custard tarts. Needless to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Happy Birthday to Kim's little sister Lisa! She is 19 today! Due to our late night, we slept in a little (8:30 instead of 6:30). This visit to Lisbon, Portugal is longer than when we went to Ponta Delgada, so we had some time to spare. When we got off the ship, we went thought the customs building and got some maps to try to find our way out to the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos. We walked past the cab drivers calling out "City Center?" to us and said no thank you. Then we tried to read the maps and figure out [View Full Entry]

---

---