Jun 1, 2012 - Leaving Day

Today is June 1st, 2012 and I am leaving for my trip to Asia today. The route I will be taking goes along the coast of Africa, around the tip of South Africa, back up around Africa and into Mumbai, India. I am really excited for my trip, and i cannot wait til my crew and I reach Asia. Both my crew and I have prepared for this event, and we are ready to take on any challenges that get thrown at us. I expect to come back to Portugal with many goods and trade items that we picked up along the way to Asia, and while in Asia. I can't wait to get...

Jan 1, 2012 - Departure from Home.

Today, my crew and I embark on our journey of the unknown world as we leave Portugal in hopes of finding new land, rare goods, and spreading our faith. The supplies my crew has prepared are as followed: 10,000 pounds of salt beef, 2,000 pounds of salt pork, 5,000 loaves of wheat bread, 4,000 gallons of drinking water, 1,500 gallons of assorted drinks, 1 barrel of salt, one barrel of flour, 4 large cases of butter, 2 extra sails, 50 pounds of silver, 500 swords and assorted weapons, and 100 pieces of art for trade. Most of these supplies...

Nov 18, 2011 - Lisbon

The first time we came to Lisbon we landed, went to bed, and got on a cruise ship. The second time we took a tour which whisked us out to the suburbs where we saw beautiful tiled buildings and drank sherry. We were glad to be here again to focus on the city itself. Since most folks got off the cruise ship today and left, we were not surprised that no organized tours were offered from the ship, so we arranged one on our own. We met three couples who were also planning to take take this tour, and they were getting off with their luggage. The...

Oct 30, 2011 - Lisbon

Back to Lisbon as we really did not have enough time in the great city. There is so much to do and see. We did most of the touristy things and then just walked around the city for the rest of the day. We found a place for dinner so we tried to call and make a reservation........ the photo tells the story. We arrived for dinner and could not get in to 1030...they sent us off to have some cocktails in the meantime. It was a great people watching opportunity... It was a very busy night prior to a public holiday in Portugal where they ´visit...

Oct 26, 2011 - We are in Portugal

We've arrived in Portugal to a very rainy and windy welcome. It's not cold, probably 18 deg, but it's very wet and windy. Tip no.1 for female travelers in Lisbon. Do Not Attempt To Wear Heels Anywhere !!!! I don't know how the women walk on the foot paths or roads in anything other than flat rubber soled shoes. Imagine 4 inch x 4 inch mosaic white stones with no grout in between. Nightmare !!!! Unfortunately I (Sim) headed out with my heels on ready for a night on the town. After 20 steps the tally was 5 near catastrophes and 1 shoe left...

Oct 6, 2011 - Lisbon

Hi, Today was a very different day. We had a very long drive from Sevilla to Portugal. We stopped at the Brito Paes Ranch where we had lunch and then hot to see the horses. This ranch raises Lusitan horses which are native to Portugal. They are known for being trained in dressage because that art is necessary in bullfighting. (This goes way back in history.) In bullfighting a horse needs to be able to walk sideways as well as turn around by swiveling on his back legs. Now these horses besides being used in the bullring are used in shows...

Sep 28, 2011 - Lisbon, Portugal

September 28 We left Coimbra at 9:00 this morning, walked over to the train station, took a quick train to the main station and boarded another train which took about 2.5 hours through the countryside of central Portugal and brought us to the country's capital, Lisbon. Lisbon is one of Europe's most pleasant and affordable capital cities, combining the best elements of Portuguese life. From the train station we took the metro to the hotel which involved a fair number of stairs which is a pain with luggage. From there, it was a 10 minute...

Aug 19, 2011 - Portugal Day 1, 2 and 3

Well where to start with Portugal. We've been so busy running around and seeing all the sites that we haven't had a chance to fill this in. We'll do our best to fill it in by memory! Day 1 - we arrived around 1pm and got checked into the hotel. We got totally ripped off by the cabby but I wasn't about to fight an old man. He basically doubled our cab fare because we had luggage! And I helped him with the bags! Anyway - we left the hotel and started exploring. We really didn't have a plan but luckily we ran into two of Laura's teacher...

May 16, 2011 - Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, is situated on a range of low hills at the estuary of the Tagus River and is approximately 6 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. It is both the western-most and oldest capital city of Europe. Built on 7 hills, many streets are narrow and made of cobblestones, especially in the Alfama district, the location of the Castelo de Sao Jorge and the Lisbon Cathedral (Se). Placa Comercia is large and we have difficulty finding the tourist information office and the post office for an all-day tram pass. We took the #28...

May 15, 2011 - Lisbon (Lisboa), Portugal

On our way to Lisbon, or Lisboa in Portuguese, we drove past some very pretty scenery and enjoyed the countryside. We spent an evening in Evora, Portugal. Evora is a walled town and had a festival going on. Since we were both exhausted, we did not attend the festivities but did enjoy the music which we could hear from where we were parked for the night. We were parked right outside the town walls. We imagine that, like us, travelers have been doing this since the walls were constructed. Enroute to Lisbon, we stopped at 7 AM for breakfast...

Nov 11, 2010 - The terminal(s)

Today was my last day in Portugal and the beginning of a lengthy journey to the mythical city of Buenos Aires. Thanks to some morning shopping, by the time I got on the Aerobus to Lisbon, I had in my possession 3 proscuttio and mozzarella sandwiches (big ones), 4 pieces of fruit, somewhere around 12 Oreos, and exactly 12 breakfast bars. I was ready. What lay ahead was a 2.5 hour trip from Lisbon to London (+ a 3 hour layover in Heathrow), a flight from London to Sao Paolo scheduled to take just over half a day (+ a 1 hour layover in Sao...

Nov 6, 2010 - When in Portugal

Today was supposed to be a day trip to southern Portugal to walk the beaches of Sesimbra and indulge in the cheap, fresh caught seafood that waited at whatever restaurant I chose. What happened instead was a day in Lisbon and one of the most relaxing, uninterrupted do nothing days of my life. I headed to the bus station at Praca de Espanha around 10:15am and to my dismay the first bus to Sesimbra had departed thirty minutes earlier. The next bus was not until 12:15pm and in the words of Jay-Z, I got no patience . . . and I hate waitin’. So...