One more drive

The review of our European trip is almost done, only 2 days are left. Today is a simple one- the drive from Porto to Lisbon. As we drove down to Lisbon, we took each turn, each climb up a hill and embraced it, knowing that we would be heading home soon. I suppose that feeling is why we took the long way to Lisbon. Sure, we could have taken the highway and reached Lisbon in 2 hours, but what fun would that be. Here we are, with a car and the time to drive the Portuguese countryside and not be confined to the pace and whims of a highway; not to mention, the highway was a toll road, and I was not terribly enthused about driving on a toll road.

So, we left Porto around mid-morning and successfully navigated our way out of the city and onto the highway that would lead us to the coast. We decided to head south for Lisbon along the coast, and tried to stay along the coast for however long we could. There were some obstacles, and sometimes the roads we were own didn't stay along the coast. We saw rolling hills, sheer cliffs, large windmills dotting the tops of ridges, small towns, the ocean. . .We drove through towns called Espinho, Aveiro, Figueira da Foz, the walled town of Obidos, stopped in the coastal town of Peniche, took a roundabout way through Torres Vedras, and arrived in Lisbon from the west, through Cascais and the fortress town of Sintra. Drove on 2 lane roads and saw houses with shared gardens, saw old, run-down towns with crumbling buildings, saw remnants of castles and old fortress walls, saw the ocean, waves lapping up against the continent- imagining the U.S., what early explorers could only dream of, what they saw, looking out across the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. There we were, on the edge of the european continent, looking out towards home, savoring the moment.

We took our time, arriving in Lisbon in early evening, taking in a modern city limited by its history. Our hotel is just off one of the main roads through Lisbon, the Avenida de Liberdade. However, the hotel is on a pedestrian road, so cars are not allowed, which caused us quite some problems in locating it. Finally, I just stopped the car at the entrance to the pedestrian zone, and found the hotel, and was directed to the parking garage where a parking spot was located.

The day had started out sunny and warm, but as we got closer to Lisbon, it got increasingly cloudy and cold. We parked the car, dragged our bags up onto the street and was greeted by a downpour. . .it was not fun. We managed to drag our very heavy luggage through the downpour and to our hotel; upon entering the lobby, we simply dropped our bags and must have had a look of defeat as the man behind the counter simply handed us our hotel key and told us to come back later to deal with the paperwork. We thanked him for his kindness, and dragged our drenched selves and soaking luggage to the elevator and finally to our room. The rain did not let up all evening, limiting our dining choices. Thankfully, since it was a pedestrian zone, eating options were plentiful. We chose a place called O Churrasco, basically, it was a place to get grilled meat. It was really good- my pork tenderloin was grilled perfectly and it was wonderful.

After dinner, we hit the Hard Rock around the corner for dessert and a beer- I just had to have Sagres. Sagres was awesome. I am now on the hunt for it here in the states. We also had a good laugh at the musical that was playing next door to our hotel: Jesus Christ Superstar. So, all Meg would do every time we walked past the sign would sign various lines from that musical. I, on the other hand, would sing the Mr. Show version: Jeepers Creepers (featuring Jack Black).

With that, we got back to our room and hung our wet clothes up to dry. We looked over the maps and guide book for Lisbon to figure out what to do on our only full day in the city. Went to bed knowing that we had one more night left in Europe, with that feeling of sadness and relief- sadness that we our vacation was coming to a close but relief that we will be heading home. Every sight, sound and experience to be lingered over just a bit longer than before.