After 19 hours of travel across the Atlantic and a New Year's champagne toast over Halifax, we arrived to a nearly empty airport in Lisboa. We had spent many hours worrying about if we had completed all of the proper procedures for entering Portugal with our tiny chihuahua, only to waltz through customs without anyone checking the carefully prepared paperwork. With luck, we caught a cab with an English-speaking driver who quickly (as is the way for Portuguese drivers) maneuvered the narrow streets (did I mention quickly?) to our apartment located just one block from the castle, Castelo Sao Jorge. We settled in just in time for a sunset walk to dinner at Chapitos, a restaurant/circus school with an amazing view over the city and the Rio Teja, where we got our first taste of Portuguese food. I will try not to dwell too much on food...but the olive oil, cheese and fish here are amazing. Very local, very fresh, almost everywhere....very different than traveling in the states. The remainder of the evening was spent magically wandering through the tight cobblestone streets surrounding our apartment and castle.
SO glad Pika'a arrival into Portugal was unceremonious. How did she fare on the plane?
ReplyDeleteLove hearing about the city's history and could definitely handle hearing more about the food. *sigh*