Honeymoon: Euro Trip - Day 3

Ben and I got up around 7:30 and it felt great to finally sleep after the previous days of long travel. We both got ready for the day. I wasn't sure how the weather would be outside, so I dressed in layers. I grabbed my orange backpack and stuffed it with the things I thought we would need while touring around Lisbon. We met Brenda and Ray downstairs for breakfast at the hotel.  The spread was off the charts! I had breakfast bread, kiwis, a banana, mango juice, scrambled eggs, bacon, strawberry yogurt and a pastel de nata, the official pastry of Portugal. We chatted while we ate.  The food hit the spot. 

We went back to our rooms, used the restroom one more time and waited for our tour guide, João, who was supposed to be there by 9 a.m. We waited.  Ray messaged him because it was after 9 and we had no idea where he was.  He ended up parking in the back, and we didn't realize he was going to park back there. We thought he would come by the front and get us.  We walked over to the back door, we had our introductions, loaded up into the van and headed to our first stop, National Palace of Pena.

The roads were super windy and narrow.  There were times I thought we would hit parked cars on the sides of the roads. As we got closer to our destination, we started going up in elevation and I noticed the cloud cover got thicker. It engulfed the mountain, which made our drive up misty. We got to our destination, João dropped us off at the entrance and went to park the van. He said he would meet up with us in a few minutes to check us in. He walked up to the ticket office, had our tickets scanned and we went in. We had to walk up the hill, while we walked, he told us the history of the place. He told us about the areas of the grounds while we waited to go into the inside of the castle to open at 10:30. When it got closer, we got in line and went into the castle once it was our turn. The fog was heavy at the top of the mountain, but it soon started to dissipate so we could see the amazing view from the top.

We toured it for a while, walking from room to room and taking it all in.  We all got a couple of photos of the stuff we liked. It was my first historical castle. 

Before we left to go on to our next tour, we stopped at the entrance of the castle up on the hill and Ben, Brenda, Ray and I did the virtual cache, Palácio Nacional da Pena (GC7B9F7).  We had to get a group picture in front of the entrance and had to answer a couple questions. João took our photo.

We made our way back down to the van and made the drive to our next destination, the National Palace of Monserrate. We pulled up to the palace, parked and walked to the entrance. João shared with us some of the history and stories of the property before we walked through the park to the palace. He stayed behind with the van. Along the way there, we stopped to see the waterfall, a large cork tree (we learned that one of the main exports in Portugal is cork) and some of the native plants, animals and insects. The area was beautiful even though it was winter.

We went inside the palace and explored the many rooms, tapestries and artifacts. It's amazing that a lot of the architecture in these old countries have survived wars, weather and people. We went outside, admired the tiles and the sculptures and the amazing views of the property. Even the weather was beautiful! Once we were done, we made our way back up to the van and met back up with João. 

From the National Palace of Monserrate, João took us along the southwestern coastline of Lisbon to show us the magnificent views of the Atlantic Ocean. He pulled over on the side of the highway in a wide spot, parked and had us walk a short distance out on the cliff to really admire the coastline. We were there for about 10 minutes soaking it all in. I still couldn't believe I was standing in Portugal looking at the Atlantic Ocean to the west. We all got back in the van, and he asked us if we were hungry since it was approaching lunch time. 

We told him that we could eat. He was excited to take us to 3 Gomes, a popular restaurant along this stretch of highway, known for their delicious fresh seafood. We found a place to park off the highway and walked right in. They found us a table right away and we ordered some drinks. Water isn't free in Europe either. I looked at the menu and the salmon with lime risotto and a side of broccoli sounded tasty, so that is what I ordered. It was amazing! Everyone else ordered some great food as well. We had fun eating and getting to know João. We paid for our food, thanked the owners, and walked back out to the van.

Our next stop on our tour was Cape Roca. We pulled up to a parking area and João found a parking spot and told us to go explore the grounds. The lighthouse is a beacon/lighthouse located 541 feet above the Atlantic Ocean on Portugal's (and continental Europe's) most westerly extent. It is located in the civil parish of Colares, in the municipality of Sintra, situated on a promontory made up of granite boulders and interspersed limestone. It is a third-ordered lighthouse, which originally began operating in 1772. We walked down to the marker and had to wait our turn to get a picture with it to suffice another virtual cache, Cabo da Roca Virtual Cache [Sintra] (GC89059). We admired the views of the Atlantic Ocean and the light house in the distance.

We walked back to the van and João drove us along the coastline and to the city of Cascais, a posh town, known for its beaches and sophisticated atmosphere. It was once a fishing village but now a wealthy resort. He told us this is where most of the celebrities and futbol players lived. He took us to the city center and dropped us off for about a half hour to look around and find our third virtu geocache, Cascais - Praia dos Prescadores (GC88ZJX). The sun was beginning to set, we walked back to the van, and we started our 40-minute drive back to the hotel. 

João pulled up to the hotel, we grabbed our stuff, we paid, and Ray told him that we would see him tomorrow morning around 9 for the second half of our tour around Lisbon. We went into the hotel, and all agreed to meet up in the lobby in about an hour and a half. Ben slept and I posted pictures and wrote in my journal. It was nice to relax for a little bit. 

Around 7, we met up with Brenda and Ray in the lobby. We ordered drinks, Ray and I got the Super Bock (the official beer of Portugal), Brenda got tea and Ben got a Jamison on the rocks. 

We ended up moving into the restaurant portion of the hotel because Ben got hungry. He ordered the honey chicken and fries (he said it was okay) while Brenda and Ray shared some chocolate cake. We talked and visited until about 10 on various topics. We went back to our rooms, got cleaned up, posted more pictures and continued writing in my journal of the day's events. Both ben and I texted and messaged our family and friends. We ended up going to bed around 12:30.

Next Adventure: Honeymoon: Euro Trip - Day 4

Honeymoon: Euro Trip - Day 2

It was hard to sleep on the plane, but we did get a few hours in here and there. It was a pretty chill night on the plane. As more daylight approached in the horizon, the flight attendants served breakfast. We were given blueberry yogurt, a breakfast calzone made from egg, cheese and spinach. Ben couldn't eat his, because it wasn't gluten free, so he just had the yogurt and coffee.  I had orange juice with mine.

I spent the remainder of the flight writing in my journal, dozing off here and there and patiently waiting for the flight to get to Amsterdam. We looked out the window as we got closer and closer to Europe. We could see Ireland and the UK as we flew over the top of the grouping of islands towards the Luchtaven Schiphol International Airport. We got ready for landing.

When we did land, I could not believe I was officially in Europe! I never thought I would actually be on this side of the world. It was a crazy thought. We had to wait patiently to get off the plane. I turned on my international plan so I could let people know we arrived safely. Once we got off the plane, we used the restroom and wandered around the airport. We found out there were no geocaches or Adventure Labs and were very disappointed. We bought some snacks and looked around for some food for Ben. He really couldn't have anything, and we didn't want to attempt it since we were traveling. 

We looked at the whiskey inside of one of the duty-free stores.  We probably should have gotten in line sooner because we didn't realize we had to go through a customs/passport check to get to our next gate. It was not clear at all.

The line was long and very slow. The airport was not prepared for this many people coming through Amsterdam. We eventually had to get in the quick connection line when we saw that our flight was an hour away from boarding. We had to be granted permission by the airport staff. Luckily, this line went quick, we got our passports stamped, asked us a few questions and we jogged to our gate because they were already boarding people. I was sweaty and tired by the time we got there.

At our gate, there were tons of kids and their chaperones from Salt Lake City doing a choir concert in Portugal. We got on our flight, got comfortable and I slept part of the way to Lisbon. We were given water and Stroop waffles as a snack. I did write in my journal for a little bit. Ben listened to music and slept most of the way. 

After about a 2+ hour flight, we finally touched down in Portugal. We were patient getting off the plane, grabbed our stuff and went into the terminal. We used the restroom and then followed directions for baggage claim. We had to wait a little bit to get our bags off the carousel and headed for the exit. I seriously thought we would get stopped customs, but we didn't. Maybe we had to in Amsterdam because that is where we entered Europe?

Ray had arranged a ride for us from the airport to the hotel we would be staying at in Lisbon.  We went to the pickup area and didn't see the person that was supposed to pick us up. We talked to one of the people in charge and he took care of it for us and got us a driver. We went out to the parking garage to wait for our driver. He showed up after a few minutes, helped us put our bags in the car and drove us a couple miles to the Hotel Inn Express, where Brenda and Ray were waiting for us. He dropped us off, we met up with Brenda and Ray, checked in to our room, cleaned up a bit and then sat in the hotel lobby visiting for a while. 

Ray found us a place to have dinner that was within walking distance. He wanted to avoid driving the car as much as he could in Lisbon. I didn't blame him. It's confusing driving in a foreign city. He pulled up the address for Maria Canela and we made the short walk. Just like any city there were some unsavory parts.  We just kept to ourselves while we walked. We found the place, looked at the menu and went inside. 

We got seated and ordered water and our food. I had a Portuguese bitoque, which is something I could definitely try and make at home. Brenda said just about everything comes with fries. I told her that was the case in Peru and Ecuador as well. 

We chatted about the last few months, the wedding, the adventures they've gone on since the moved to Portugal and the things in between. We just let the conversation go however it wanted to. The food was excellent however, I wished that my fried egg was runnier, oh well, we paid and walked back to the hotel. We made plans for tomorrow before heading up to our rooms. Ben and I were running on fumes at this point. He isn't used to traveling like this and I've had plenty experience with it. We both got in showers (our bathroom had a real bidet), relaxed for a little bit, talked to my Mom and Trish and then went to bed around 9 p.m. Portugal time. 

With the short naps aside, we were up for more than 24 hours and flew through several time zones. This was my first experience being more than 3 hours ahead of home. I was excited to go to bed but more excited to go explore Europe together!

Next Adventure: Honeymoon:  Euro Trip - Day 3