Departure and arrival

Saturday-Sunday 24-25 January

Saturday morning dawned clear and cold.  And I mean damn cold. It was -17 F when the alarm went off at 7 am. And we still have tons of snow that seems little inclined to leave anytime soon. By the time we left for the airport at 11 am it had warmed up to 10 F. 

We were mostly packed up Friday night thanks to the queen of the packing cubes Susie, AKA the French Tarte. So our morning was leisurely with breakfast and coffee before showering and finishing the last minute routine for traveling. The coffee pot was cleaned, the refrigerator empty of everything but a few condiments, staples and French Tarte ingredients.

getting our carry ons ready

Our neighbor Don T. picked us at 11 am for the short drive to Gerald R. Ford airport. There was no queue at the United desk and after we checked in both ourselves and our bags we walked right through security. No queue there either. After a stop at Starbucks we made our way to the gate to await our 1:33 pm flight to Newark.

A couple of curious things we noted while we waited -- one was a fellow wearing an ID badge (employee or volunteer?) with a service dog walking around the departure gates in Concourse A asking everyone if they wanted to pet the dog. That seemed to be his sole job. Another badged fellow of retirement age, walking around asking people how they were doing, where they were from and where they were going, etc. I guess the idea is to lay out the welcome mat for people on their way somewhere . . . 

view of Kent County

inflight snack

landing at Newark a nation of containers

The flight to Newark took less than two hours gate-to-gate and although we seemed to circle forever around the greater New Jersey area we did eventually land. I am pleased to say that for the very first time in all my years of flying I was the very last person off a plane. No matter, since we had over four hours before our flight to Lisbon.

We made our way the length of Terminal C to our next gate. We were both hungry so we opted to stop and grab a glass of wine and share a sandwich as we bided our time. 

Not to go on about such things but two glasses of wine and a turkey club were more than we would normally think to spend at a basic bistro. But we were in an airport in a big city where price gouging is de rigueur. It prompted us to fondly recall our time in Spain back in 2023 where food costs were so so reasonable and it makes us look forward to Portugal even more!

Our flight left Newark about 40 minutes late -- apparently the 1st officer originally scheduled called in sick and there was a scramble to find a replacement. The plane was full and the journey largely uneventful, the exception being -- wait for it -- the absolutely atrocious food served in the cattle car portion of the aircraft. Inedible. I should think the airlines would just scratch serving food altogether, but they have a certain image to maintain, even if that image has been a butt of cliche jokes for years. 

Anyway, we landed in Lisbon about 20 minutes later than originally scheduled and breezed through passport control. Before leaving the airport we had at least two objectives: finding an ATM and getting coffee while we waited to get to our apartment. While threading our way through the glitz and glamour of Lisbon airport shopping mall we stopped for a coffee at a pastry/coffee place called, oddly enough, Versailles. After lounging for a bit off we went in search of an ATM.

We couldn't find a bank ATM (Santander was our goal) so we decided to bite the bullet and take cash out of a Euronet machine (where the conversion rate wasn't too bad), then off we went in search of our bags. We found them easily at the end of multiple carousels all lined up in a huge hall. Many bags had already been retrieved - ours looked rather forlorn.

I  connected with our host Laura to set up a good time to drop our bags off while we waited for the apartment to be cleaned and then arranged for an Uber for pickup. Two things about Uber/Bolt in Lisbon: one a 40 minute-ride into the city cost us with tip $18.00, and second the ride share at the airport was well signed and turned out to be quite an operation. I should point out we were warned not to use the taxis from the airport because they were significantly more expensive. 

the door to our building on the left and the entrance to where we ate lunch on the right

We were given the code to get into the building where we waited just 20 minutes or so for our host to meet up with us and let us into the apartment. After a quick tour of the space and the various features we said adeus and popped next door to grab a bite of lunch.

Cotidion is a lovely little eatery with a funky vibe, cool staff and populated by lots of young folks speaking a variety of languages. The place styles itself as a brunch club so the food focused a lot on breakfast-like foods. Susie had eggs on toast and I had these wonderful mini-chicken burgers. All washed down with fresh-squeezed OJ. Delicious.

After lunch we strolled a bit in our neighborhood and killed some more time at a hotel cafe for coffee before getting into the apartment. Once we received the message that our rooms were ready, back we went. By now both of us felt like old hands getting into the building.

Our place is on the 4th floor and there are two large elevators to whisk us upwards with ease. 

across from our building, this space seems totally empty

down our street, rua do Crucifixo

I stretched out on the sofa for a quick nap while Susan unpacked and got us settled in.

Somewhat refreshed we grabbed an umbrella and headed off in search of a grocery store. A 10-minute walk in the pouring rain -- broken up by stopping once to shelter in a doorway, we found Pingo Douce, a chain of grocery stores here in Portugal. After loading up on a few necessities it was back home in a light drizzle. The day was slipping away from us and we felt tired and hungry. We found a Ramen bar just a block up from our apartment where we enjoyed a scrumptious bowl of katsudon (breaded chicken with rice and egg), washed down with an Asahi beer. (Note: Asahi is a Japanese beer now owned by Peroni and brewed in Italy. Go figure).

It was a short walk back home -- and we were amazed to see how many folks were out on a Sunday evening. Back in the apartment we showered and hit the sheets for a much-deserved night's rest. 

Tomorrow it's off to explore more of the neighborhood, find the nearest Tourist Information office and enjoy being in Lisbon. Oh, and we have our scheduled dinner to look forward to Monday evening - yeah!