Arrival in Lisbon

Staying at the La Quinta Inn near SFO the night before our flight worked out well. I get a good night's sleep which helps me through the long day ahead. It was so hot in Livermore, cold and windy in SF. I think one reason I slept so well was because it was nice and cool. We have the Park 'n' Fly package at La Quinta, but we are going to exceed the allowed limit for parking so I ask about paying the extra fee. Person at reception said not to worry about it.  Nice. The La Quinta shuttle takes us to the airport. We are too early to have the breakfast at the hotel but we go to the United Club Lounge where we had a nice breakfast. These lounges are a nice perk to have. It is a nice, quiet place to wait for our flight. Our flight is on time and uneventful to Newark where we connect with a flight to Lisbon. I am able to sleep three hours or so. We wait for over an hour in a long line to go through customs. It is hot and crowded with no place to sit down. This is about the worst part of the trip. Thankfully, all our luggage has arrived. It is always a relief to see it all coming on the conveyor belt. We take a taxi to our hotel, NH Liberdade. 

We arrive about 9:30 a.m. Our rooms won't be ready until 2:00. The gentleman at reception spends a lot of time marking places to go and to eat on the map. We walk around this downtown area where our hotel is located and walk to Plaça da Commercio which is right on the water and features a big statue of Jose I sitting on a horse. We have lunch at a little cafe/bakery. We are back at the hotel at 2:00 as we are weary from our travels. We check in and all take naps. Delicious sleep was needed! Dave and I sleep three hours. Our hotel is nicely centrally located.

We reconvene with Kathy and John and go to dinner at Pinòquio recommended by our hotel. It is yummy! We all order some kind of fish. Dave and I have cod which is baked with potatoes and vegetables. We make our way back to the hotel and say goodnight. Hopefully, all can sleep well tonight. We toast to another fun bike trip together.

I don't think I've ever really heard Portuguese spoken before. It's really different than Spanish. I don't think I would recognize it if I weren't in Portugal.

Another thing I've noticed here is the diversity of the population. People have settled here from former Portuguese colonies. People are really friendly and helpful and lots of English is spoken. The sidewalks here are treacherous to walk on. They are made of little tiles, nice to look at (see picture) but which are uneven and slippery even when dry so I am being very, very careful to watch my step!

                                         Our first dinner in Portugal - Pinóquio Restaurante

     Sidewalks in Lisbon. This one is pretty smooth.