Dallas to London to Lisboa

Aug. 14-15, 2023

At the end of a wonderful stay with D's dad and stepmom in Dallas, Texas, we walked out of the air conditioning and into the 105°F weather to tie some bags onto the top of the car and stuff the rest of our bags inside, on our laps, and at our feet. Packing for a year involved four huge checked bags, each carefully weighed to 50 pounds, two carry-on rolly bags, two violins, four backpacks, and a bag with a CPAP machine for me.  This is not the backpacking I did around Asia, Mexico, and Costa Rica in my 20s.  D's father, B, drove us and our massive cargo to the airport. The check in for British Airways was smooth, and we had plenty of time to spare before our 7:15 pm flight. We filled our time wandering the airport, munching on snacks, and taking care of some last-minute details.  We boarded our plane and settled in for the long flight.  The kids watched a movie, then we tried to get them to sleep so they wouldn't be too tired after we crossed the Atlantic.  They weren't sleepy, but eventually we all got some sleep. We woke up on the morning of the 15th, arriving in London Heathrow at around 10:30 am.  After some confusion and following signs, we figured out where our connecting flight was and muddled through airport security (D's overalls set off the alarms again and they swabbed our youngest for explosives…good thing they didn't know about her temper, Ha!). The highlight of the airport was the Harry Potter shop.  It was a hoot to try out all the wands and wonder over the sweets from Honeydukes. The airport was buzzing and with no hope of finding four seats together, we plonked ourselves down on the floor and waited for our connecting flight's gate to be posted, which they did about 15 minutes before the flight. After everyone boarded, the steward asked for a particular passenger, but no one responsed.  They tried again and still no response.  So we waited a bit.  Then they said they were going to have to go through all the bags and find the missing passenger's bags as it posed a security risk.  So we waited for them to sort the bags.  And we waited some more.  And finally the captain came on and let us know that he had called to find out when we could take off and that it would be soon.  And we waited more.  He came back on with a more irritated tone and said he had been calling all the powers that be to find out why we weren't cleared to take off  yet.  Then we waited some more.  And more.  And more.  We waited a total of two hours on the tarmac before being cleared to take off.  You hear about people being unruly and easily upset on airplanes, but everyone was remarkably calm throughout the entire time.  And finally we took off, headed toward Lisbon.  

We arrived to Lisbon two hours late, but the large taxi I had ordered waited for us and continued to wait while we made it through  immigration and collected our bags. He drove us safely to the Geronimo Guest House in an area of Lisboa called Belėm. After dropping our bags and grabbing a quick dinner, we went to explore what the famous neighborhood of Belėm had to offer.  Lisboa is a port city and is where many early explorers, including Vasco de Gama, departed from.  Monastario San Jeronimo is there, built on the site of a chapel where navigators would go to pray and spend the night before departing to the high seas.  The monks there began making a pastry with excess egg yolks called pasteleis de nata. So after dinner we went next door to the Pastais de Belem for the special pastry. After sprinkling it with the traditional cinnamon and sugar, we found it was just as delicious as they say they are.

  

There are some familiar looking landmarks in Lisboa, like the monument across the Tagus River that looks very much like Christ the Redeemer in Sao Paolo and the bridge that looks just like the Golden Gate (look in the background). 

                            

We enjoyed checking out the monument of discoveries with the slightly misnomered Henry the Navigator at the helm as he never went out to sea himself.

Before we petered out, we also visited the gorgeous Tower of Belém, the 1514 construction that protected the new navigational powerhouse of the time and was the last and first thing the explorers and plunderers saw as they left and returned from their journeys. All within walking distance of our guest house.