Thursday: Bright and early, on this gorgeous sunny day, Glen, Karen, Mike, and I hopped on the Metro then smoothly transitioned to our train. Destination...the beach town of Cascais. Shorts and capris, sunscreen and hats, and most importantly, NO COATS!! Yippee! Thanks to Mike and a chatty Lisbon Uber driver, we had a walking tour and a lunch destination. A stop at the Info booth gave us a map and directions to some cool "not to miss" places to see. Looked like a fun day to me. First stop after the train was an outdoor cafe for cappuccino at the tiny Rainha Beach, where we decided when and where to meet for lunch. Four people are generally too many to keep together on these jaunts and deciding to split always seems to work better for us. ... read more

OK, maybe the late movie wasn't such a good idea but we all awoke in good moods. How could a train ride through the Portugal countryside make you sad? Glen and Karen left early to look for something at the Flea Market, and then they would meet us about an hour later in Sintra. Mike and I set off via Metro to the main train station in Rossio. Even in Portuguese, the trains and platforms were clearly marked. Our Metro cards also worked on the trains so no dealing with the ticket machines. Platform 3, 9:41am train! Easy peasy. Mike was happy to announce that the mosaic floors were "prison clean" with someone knowing their way around a buffer! After a pleasant ride, we got off at Sintra and went in search of the 434 bus ... read more

Sunday: Another downpour! Oy! Raincoats are getting a workout. Today, the four of us rose a little later than usual and spent the morning reading the Washington Post and doing the crossword puzzle. Ever loyal, Mike read the Press Democrat, too. There is a bagel place down the street and I volunteered to go out to get breakfast. Now, we have tried to go to Raffi's Bagels at least three times since being here but, each time, the place has been in the process of shutting down for the day. Today, on a rainy Sunday morning, I thought, "yum, bagels". Sorry, closed today. WTF, Felicia? No problem, local pastry shop had outstanding croissants. Rain eased up and Karen and Glen went in search of a mall and Mike and I went to the Gulbenkian Museum, one ... read more

Friday: Mike and I left our home in Windsor 2 weeks ago! Hard to believe we are half way through our trip. What a wonderful time. Karen and Glen have been great traveling companions and we are excited to have Gary and Marji join us next Friday. Late rising this morning. Yesterday was such a long day, that we crashed until 8:15am. Slug-a-beds, no? After breakfast and tidying up, the four of us jumped into an Uber and headed to the Belem section of town. Glen and Karen wanted to see the Tower of Belem and eat the best pasteis, ever. Mike and I wanted to see the Monastery of Jeronimos Cloister and Church. The line for tickets for the Cloister was forever but we met an interesting, chatty British couple, who we kept running into ... read more

Compromise: Nobody gets exactly what they want. Sun day is fun day! Went for a long walk on the beach where it was a bit chilly and windy but hey, it was sunny and I was happy. After a lovely breakfast prepared by our hostess, Danielle, Mike and I discussed what to do today. I wanted to see caves but the water was too rough for the local caves and the tours for the Cave of Benagil, near Faro, were booked for the next two days. Mike wanted to see Moorish architecture but the Moors got the boot from the Algarve a long time ago, so maybe just some influence here and there. We finally decided to visit Olhão, a town whose name we so butchered that Danielle just looked at us and said, on perfect ... read more