Road Trip to Lisbon

Last weekend we took a road trip to the country's capital Lisbon.  It is only a 3 hour drive, so thought we could use a change of scenery and wanted to spend some time in the city.  We stayed at a marginal hotel, my bad, but it was in a great location that allowed us to walk everywhere.  I wanted us to stay in a central area and thought we should be "adventurous" in our hotel choices, but was not pleased with the bed comfort, or toilet seat cover that had rips all over it.  It was not dirty, just not very nice, or what the pictures made it out to be.  Our time in there was limited and we'll know better next time.

Saturday we explored downtown (Baixa) visiting Rossio Square, Praca do Comerico, Santa Justa Lift and seeing the numerous statues and monuments they have located throughout the city.  We had lunch at a little cafe in Rossio Sqaure Saturday afternoon, where we were continuously interrupted with beggars and men trying to sell us sunglasses.  No thank you, we have ours on.  After we ran around and let AB get some energy out, she crashed in the stroller so we sat outside and had a bottle of wine and a pastel de nata, a famous Portuguese egg tart pastry.  Our waiter interrupted us and told me I had to take my camera and phone off the table, as the crime is bad and people could come by and grab them and run. Pickpocketing and snatching personal items is a big thing in Lisbon, especially the areas we were at, so were warned to watch our belongings.  Check...

Saturday night we ventured to Bairro Alto, a neighborhood of TIGHT, narrow streets lined with restaurants and bars.  Of course we were hungry at 7:00, so were in the district much earlier than when things are happening.  After driving around for awhile looking for a place to park, we stumbled across a sushi restaurant where we dined on an all you can eat sushi buffet.  Not exactly what we were looking for, but with a 2 year old, our travel choices have to be conducive to her.  The fish was super fresh and there was a great variety to sample.  Fortunately next door was a burger joint, so we got AB some nugs and fries that we took into the restaurant with us.  Classy.  The people in there were so nice and one lady would come pick up Annabelle to show her all the fresh fruit and let her pick out which ones she wanted.  We were going to go across the street to an outdoor cafe that overlooked downtown for a nightcap, but it started raining as we were leaving, so figured we better head home.

Sunday we strolled down to Starbucks and enjoyed our morning people watching and sipping on my favorite...Vanilla Latte.  It tasted so good!!  We then drove down to Belem, walked around an outdoor market and visited Jeronimos Monastery, which was so picturesque and beautiful.  We did a drive by Torre de Belem, but could not figure out how to access the entrance via car, so said hell with it, and soaked it in through our drive-bys.    

Overall we had a wonderful time in Lisbon, but were excited to get back to Porto.

 The famous Mozart Living Statue.  This guy plays a living statue of Mozart...we had to get a pic with him.

 Pastel de nata and a bottle of vino to warm us up.

 So excited to be at Starbucks...we had to snap a picture.  And yes, I got two lattes...by accident.

Jermonimos Monastery.

So in the middle of the square this weird woman was standing in the middle of a flock of birds feeding them and kept putting bread on top of her head, so they would eat it off her head.  It was so odd and disturbing that I had to take some pics.  Reminded me of that scene in Home Alone, but don't see her coming to our rescue.

Picture of our hotel...looks cool right?  Errr...

The drive between Porto and Lisbon is filled with beautiful countryside views, so I tried to snap some photos along the way.  Portugal also put a ton of their money into their motorways, two highways between the cities, that are nice and wide, part of why the country is so poor, but made for a smooth ride.

Andy Gone

Andy had to take a last minute...and I mean last minute like 8:00 Friday night booking a Sunday morning departure flight, to Poland.  I was not thrilled about him leaving and being alone here for a few days, but we survived.

We had a couple stretches of sunshine, so were able to get out and having the car allowed us to go to the mall everyday!  I decided I am going to start cooking a new thing each week, so thought I'd start with hummus this week.  In order to avoid the grocery store experience being a complete disaster I made my grocery list in English and then translated everything into Portuguese.  I thought for sure it would make the search easier and if anything could stop and ask people to help.  Well the experience was pretty much a complete disaster.  It took 1-1/2 hours to get the 10 items that we needed.  I continuously was stopping people asking for help, of which resulted in me feeling like I was on a wild goose chase.  Needless to say I came home with the items that I could find and proceeded to make the hummus sans tahini.  I even had the pleasure of opening my car of beans with Andy's pocket knife, as we do not have a can opener.

The best purchase was the "baking powder" that I needed for some muffins...well I got sent home with yeast!  We'll see how long my new cooking spree lasts!

Getting Back in the Swing of Things

We survived our first week back and are working on getting adjusted.  More or less, our clocks have changed, it's more the lifestyle and pace that will take more time to adjust.  Annabelle seems to be doing well and has picked up right where we left off.  She remembers her things and keeps calling this her "new house".

The weather has been awful, which has eliminated most of our normal activities.  We were able to get out two times last week, but both were interrupted with huge downpours.  The first day we headed out the sky was blue and sun was shining. Annabelle and I ran down to the park and were playing until I looked behind us and the sky was dark grey and within seconds it was pouring.  The weather is normal for this time of the year, but the amount of rain and excessive rain fall is uncommon.  The wind speeds and strength are super high and have created a lot of damage to the beach walk-ways and beach front bars/restaurants.  Saturday evening they shut down the main road that runs parallel to the ocean, as they were expecting waves 17 meters (50 ft.) high.  We have had hail two days as well...yes it hails in Porto.  Who would have thought living on the beach you would get hail?

We are still waiting on our household and personal items, which is about to put me over the edge.  I received a call last week that additional paperwork was needed, as well as a residence permit.  We have been waiting on our stuff since August, so not sure why we are still battling no one knowing what needs to be in place in order to release 7 months later.  Gurrr.

Overall we are getting settled back in and trying to stay active, despite the poor weather.  It took no time to start frequenting the mall food court for meals, going to the mall for our "outing", despising driving and feeling like major foreigners.

Sky when we went down to the park.

Sky 10 minutes later.

 Lunch on Saturday...Annabelle drinking water out of a wine glass. Thought it was cute...random.

She still loves her birds.  Was on the phone with the Portugal customs agent when Annabelle went running down and chasing all the ducks and birds. Unlike the birds on the beach, these did not move and in turn came running after her.  I'm starting to really dislike birds!!

Pretty Woman

From day one as we walk down to the beach there has always been the same woman who sits on the stone wall, smoking her cigarette and barks something at us, which I clearly can't understand.  I even took a picture of her the second week as I found her Portuguese commentary to be entertaining and her to be very odd.  If I leave at 8:00 in the morning she is there or if I leave at 4:00, she is there.  She is always there!  And regardless if we are cruising by on the sidewalk next to her, or in the middle street sidewalk, she will try to talk to us.  My response is always, "Bom Dia or Boa Tarde" - good morning or good afternoon.

Weeks later I was talking to my BFF, Bob our security guard, and asked if he knew why that woman was always there.  Well...he came to inform me that she is a prostitute!  Has been working that corner for a long time.  She gets her men there and then takes them back down the alley into the park.  Sick, sick and sick.

So, of course me being me...I was determined to get a picture of her up close.  The next week I brought my camera out with me and was acting like I was taking pictures of the buildings and she looked down and said "No, no".  I then said, "Ohhh...I'm taking pictures of the buildings...not you."  She couldn't understand me, but don't think she likes me anymore.

Prostitution is in fact legal in Portugal.  It is illegal for any third party to profit from prostitution, but straight up prostitution is legit.  According to the internet, in the mid 2000s there was estimated to be 28,000 prostitutes in Portugal of whom at least 50% were foreigners.

Up Up and Away

Our flights back to Porto were a success and we arrived on time to sunny skies for a brief period.  Annabelle did a wonderful job, yet again, being lugged through airports for 24 hours straight, and managed to keep herself under control with only about 3 hours of sleep total!!  Thank goodness she loves airplanes!

Our flight out of KC was delayed an hour due to inclement weather and our layover in Dulles was only an hour and 20 minutes, so we were nervous about making our flight and our luggage getting through to Porto.  The moment we landed in Dulles we took off sprinting through the airport, story of my life, Andy with all the carry on luggage and me with purse and AB.  I swear my back is going to be out at 35.  We thought Annabelle would sleep for half of the 7+ hour flight to Frankfurt, but decided to stay awake until 2 hours left in the flight and was awaken with 45 minutes left, as they turned on all the lights and started to prepare the cabin.  We had a 2 hour layover in Frankfurt where we got to grub at the United Club, thanks Andy, walk around like zombies and catch our final flight into Porto.  Annabelle was wide awake at the start of this flight as Andy and I were taking turns head nodding trying to do anything to stay awake to keep her entertained.  She finally crashed...on the floor and slept for an hour!  

A few things we've learned having done this a time or two now:

- We are always running through airports to catch our flights so wearing anything but running shoes and workout gear is not wise.

- When traveling with AB, we will no longer take the United path that puts us routing through Frankfurt, only the direct from Newark to Porto.  Navigating through an additional airport and getting on a third airplane is too much with a 2 year old.

- There are some weird people in this world...and avoiding germs and sickness is not an option as you sit on the planes that are filled with people blowing their nose and hacking up their lungs.
- Night Terrors - We experienced night terrors on our long flight back...not from us but the older gentleman sitting in the row next to me, who proceeded to snore SO loud the first 45 minutes of the flight and then later was having horrific night terrors,  shouting and moving all over the place that the guy in front of me had to wake him up as it was getting uncomfortable and scary for the others around.

- Patience is a Virtue - let's be honest when traveling internationally you run into people from ALL over the world whose cultures are NOT as frantic as the American way, so when you have 20 people on the moving walk-ways that just stand and block you from getting by...well get used to it.

- While it's awesome that they offer free movies on the flight, flying with child leaves NO time to watch a movie, pull out a book or even rest your mind for a second.  You are ON...the entire time.  Phew.

- Trains to Planes to Buses to Walking out on the tarmac - there is a lot of getting on buses to take you out to the runways to then board the planes, so we need to consider the weather and not be standing in the bitter cold with only a cotton long sleeve shirt as we wait to board.

Home for the Holidays

Fortunately due to some last minute travel needs, Annabelle and I were able to fly back to KC a couple weeks earlier than initially planned.  This date could not come soon enough and was counting down the hours by the time it got close.

To spare everyone from the longest blog post EVER considering we were home for 2+ months, I'll just highlight the two month trip home.

Flying Back Solo - We flew as a family from Porto to Frankfurt and then Andy headed to Poland and AB and I headed to the US of A!  I was nervous about flying alone with her for a 9 hour flight, followed by a 3 hour flight, but she was a rockstar.  Our little girl did such an amazing job keeping calm and listening to me as we sprinted through Dulles, seconds away from missing our connection.  We discovered money on our flight, of which kept her entertained forever!  They ended up placing us in the row that allowed for the bassinet, so she took a 2 hour snooze in the crib, which allowed momma to have herself a much needed glass of wine and restore some energy.

Surprise We're Home - Because we got to move our flights up early I wanted to surprise my sisters, so we in fact got to do just that.  The first plan fell through due to sick babies and my sisters being...well my sisters, so we did drop-ins at both Kim and Liz's humble abodes to get priceless reactions!!  Annabelle was over-the-top stimulated and excited that she just shook for 20 minutes straight.

Family and Friends - It was SOOOOOO amazing seeing family and friends.  Every second we spent with them was such a treat.  Going from solitude to non-stop plans was the black and white we needed!  It was so amazing to see friends that don't live in KC and thank them so much for making the trip to see us during such a crazy time of the year.  For those that we didn't get to see we wish we could have and will hope to once we are back in June!

Holidays - There is nothing better than spending time with your loved ones during the holidays.  Andy was able to be in the states for both Thanksgiving and Christmas with us, so loved that we were able to spend time with our families.

Cousi Time - We got LOTS of cousin time!  Annabelle was so happy being with her cousins and getting to play with them almost daily.  She looks up to Avery so much and just wants to nurture Addison and Will.  We also got to finally meet our sweet nephew Finn!  He is so cute and Annabelle loves calling him "Baby Finn".

Eating Out - I jokingly said I was going to gain 10 pounds while we were home for the holidays and I think the joke is on me.  Cactus Grill frequently called my name, while seeing friends almost always consisted of a meal out.  We got to capitalize on the end of football season, watching our Chiefs while enjoying queso and buffalo chicken dip every Sunday!

Annabelle Turned 2 - Yes, our little is 2 years old!!  Unlike her first birthday bash, we kept this very low key and celebrated with close friends and family with last minute plans.  Just being back in KC and being able to celebrate there made this year just as special for us!  I think I celebrated harder than anyone else, but clearly was excited to be celebrating the best 2 years of our lives!!

Flights back to KC:

GO Chiefs:

Thanksgiving and Plaza Lighting Ceremony at Pauls:

 Friends:

Christmas Fun: