Africa - Lisbon, Thursday, February 23, 2017

Today is Tuk Tuk tour time.  We really enjoyed our sidecar trip yesterday, so we decided to double the fun today with a Tuk Tuk tour.  Our driver, Miguel was waiting for us this morning right after breakfast to take us on a Lisbon tour by Tuk Tuk.  Now I've been in Tuk Tuks before, but this was the "limo" of Tuk Tuks.  It was a very clean, neat, six passenger Tuk Tuk WITH seat belts.  

Tuk Tuk Time.

Stevie Tuk Tuk touring.

Tuk Tuk-ing along.

We set off in search of interesting Lisbon sights.  Miguel took us to several beautiful overlooks in the city.  Lisbon consists of seven hills.  I think we covered all of them today.  

One of our first stops was to visit the Jewish Quarter.  However, it was so small ... we renamed it the Jewish Eighth.  Puleeeze!  No offense intended to my wonderful Jewish friends.  It was lovely, just small!!  

Our visit to the Jewish Quarter was a bit underwhelming.  But a worthwhile stop.  

While wandering through the small Jewish Quarter, we found a "farmer's market style" tent.  This is where Lorri drew "first blood," purchasing candied ginger and fresh almonds.  Ladies, man your purses and let the shopping begin!  

Shopping at the farmer's market.

Even though the Tuk Tuk was very nice, it was still a bumpy ride on the cobblestone streets of Lisbon.  My head is still vibrating from the jolting ride.  

One of the seven hills scenic overlook.

Another one of the hills.

Lori and the Tuk Tuk

Just because I can.

Relatively new to Lisbon, this is now Tuk Tuk Territory!!

We also stopped at "Time Out," which got rave reviews from other members of our group.  We found it to be a not so "upscale" food court and vegetable market.  The most interesting thing was the vegetables.  They were HUGE.  This head of cabbage is larger than Stevie's.  They must have some powerful fertilizer in Portugal.

Have you EVER seen such a large head of cabbage?

Time Out vegetable area.  The veggies were HUGE!

Miguel dropped us off at Bairro do Avillez, a lovely restaurant owned by Michelin Star Chef, Jose Avillez.  Avillez has the market on fine restaurants in the area, owning five other fabulous restaurants:  Mini Bar, Belcanto, Cantinho do Avillez, Cafe Lisboa and Pizzaria Lisboa.  Wish we had time to try them all!! 
 

Bairro do Avillez Restaurant

Bairro do Avillez was very inviting with fresh hams hanging over the deli bar, high ceilings and lots of sky lights to let in natural light and beautiful plants hanging throughout the restaurant.  The food left no doubt as to why the chef was awarded a Michelin Star.  Quite tasty.

After lunch, we decided to walk back to the hotel.  Using Stevie's iPhone map, we ventured across Lisbon, up the hills and down the narrow unmarked streets until we finally found our way back to the Four Seasons Ritz Hotel ... conveniently just in time for happy hour.  

The elevator was on auto pilot to the Lobby Bar.

Stevie and Lorri hard at work in the Lobby Bar.  Nice office, girls!

It's really bad when the bartender says, "The usual, ladies?"  Well hell YES!

Tonight, we had a welcome gathering and dinner for all the members of our National Geographic expedition at a beautiful museum which used to be the home of a very wealthy Portuguese gentleman named Antonio de Medeiros E Almeida. 
 

Antonio Almeida

The home was incredible.  The man had no children, so when he died, he donated the entire home and all of it's contents to the city with the understanding that NOTHING could be sold.  Everything had to remain in the home.  He had an amazing collection of watches that surprisingly surpassed Stevie's.  I didn't know that was possible!!

Didn't know ANYBODY had more watches than Stevie.

Two musicians entertained as we wandered through the home.  Since Jac and Jeff gave me a guitar for Christmas, I've been practicing my skills and of course jumped in to play a few tunes. 
 

I hit a few sour notes (like ALL of them) but had fun.

Check out the back side of this guitar.

I was playing a Portuguese guitar.  It had no back and twelve strings.  The sound was similar to a banjo.  And, by the way, I had no clue how to play a 12 string guitar.  So thank God nobody noticed me attempting to play.  I quickly returned the guitar to it's owner and moved on.

Oh come on.  You know what we're saying here!!

AND here!!

Almeida's dining room.  He entertained many dignitaries here including Princess Grace.  Looks just like Stevie's dining room in Houston.  

The game room at Almeida's house.  Where's the tv?

Almeida's office/library.  

Cloak display.

Just cutting up.

Because we can.

Grand Staircase to the dinning area.

Stevie's new clock.

After dinner, Lorri and I decided to walk back to the hotel instead of taking the van.  It was only a ten minute walk to the museum from the hotel, but the return trip took us 45 minutes.  We were so engrossed in conversation that we missed our turns and ended up on the wrong road.  

Lost in Lisbon!!  We look very scared!!  NOT.

It reminded me of the time I got turned around in Central Park, in the rain, in the dark, and wandered for hours before finding my way to Jacqueline's house.  But here in Lisbon, I finally pulled out my phone, turned on the data roaming, and map quested the hotel to get directions.  That'll likely be an expensive mistake. But we made it back in time to get our suitcases out for pick up at 10:00 and one more visit to the Lobby Bar.  Sounds like that's all we've done here, but not really!!  

More conversation than drinking!

Tomorrow, we leave for Tanzania.  With an early 6:00 a.m. "bag call," and a 7:00 departure time, I better wrap things up with this blog and get some sleep.  

The wifi in Tanzania is less than stellar, so I may not be able to update this blog until we move on to another spot.  So please be patient and check back often.

Love to all.

Africa - Lisbon, Wednesday, February 22, 2017

After very little sleep last night, we hit the ground running this morning.  Literally.  Lorri, Stevie and I went for a morning walk around Lisbon followed by a workout in the fabulous Four Seasons Ritz Hotel gym.  

Morning walk around Lisbon.

Located on the top floor of the hotel, the gym has a running trail that wraps around the building overlooking the city. 

View from the gym.  

 

Trying to out run the calories, Lorri and I hit the gym.

If this wasn't enough to get the heart started today's activity certainly did.  We decided to go on a motorcycle sidecar tour of Lisbon and the Portuguese sea side. 

Beginning in Lisbon, we traveled the entire southern route to the western most tip of the European Continent.

     

Lorri called the side car.  I'm clinging to the back seat of the bike.

Stevie hops in John's side car.

Our guides, John and George cruised in to the hotel drive with their Russian and Italian Motorcycles with sidecars.  With some trepidation, we strapped on our helmets and loaded up. 
 

We're ready!!

Only two sidecars were available today, so one of us had to ride on the back of the Italian Motorcycle. 
 

This simple strap was the only thing between me and getting bumped off the bike.  Scary!!

With a white knuckle grip on the simple strap attached to the seat to keep my ass from bumping off the back end of the bike, we set off on our tour.    Weaving in and out of traffic didn't seem to phase John and George, but it was a harrowing experience for the three novice bikers clinging to the sidecars and seat strap.  As we made our way out of town, we settled in and began to enjoy the ride. 
 

Side Car Selfie.

John spoke excellent English.  George spoke only a few words of English, but that didn't stop him from pointing out sights around the city.  We tried to decipher what George was saying, but mostly just politely nodded and said, "Oh, that's beautiful."  And Lisbon is truly a beautiful city.  

The ride took us along the shore line through many little beach towns until we reached Cascais, where we stopped at John's favorite little coffee shop for a break.  

Bijou de Cascais Coffee Shop.

John, being a guide, in the truest sense of the word, would NOT allow us to sit at the lovely outside tables.  Those were for "tourists," he said with distain in his voice. 
 

Cappuccino at Bijou.

I wonder what the heck he thought we were.  But we enjoyed the cute little coffee shop the delicious coffee and cappuccino.

John gave us an historical rundown on Cascais and was particularly proud of a statue of former President Rei D. Carlos, who John undeniably resembled.

John and President Rei D Carlos.  Amazing resemblance.  

I have no idea what the heck we're looking for???

After our coffee break, we loaded up again and continued down the coast line to the little town of Guincho for an amazing lunch at Porto ta Maria.  Known for fresh sea food, we had Snapper prepared Portuguese style, which was roasted with tomatoes, potatoes and spices.   As you can see from these photos, it was incredible!!

Our waiter explains our choices for lunch.

Local Snapper Portuguese Style.

Local Snapper, Stevie, Lorri and Julie style.  So tasty!!

After lunch, we headed back toward Lisbon with one surprise stop along the way in the little town of Belem.  

Pasteis de Belem special pastry.

This is our SECOND serving.  What a treat!!

The Pasteis de Belem, is an infamous little pastry shop.   I use the term "little" loosely.  The place seats 450 patrons, has 120 employees and sells over 20,000 pastries daily.  Owned by the same family since 1837, the pastry recipe was passed down by monks who perfected it.  It has remained a family secret for decades with only two chefs trusted with it.  Locals don't come by the pastry shop often, so when they do, they always order at least two of them.  Since John was not allowing us to behave like tourists, we had no option but to have two pastries.  Yum!!

Folks patiently wait to place their pastry orders.

Lining up outside for pastries, John says this is a short line.  It usually goes around the block.   Reminds me of LeVaine's.

We finished up our tour of Lisbon around 5:00 - conveniently known as "happy hour" in most parts of the civilized world.  Being a civilized group, we quickly checked in with the National Geographic group to pick up our credentials and then headed to the Lobby Bar for cocktails.  

Lobby Bar for happy hour.  It's the civilized thing to do.

The hotel has the most gorgeous display of orchids EVER.  It's difficult to describe, so I'll attach a photo of the huge display.  

This "tree like" display of orchids is stunning.

We settled in to the comfy seats in the lobby bar, enjoyed a few cocktails and revisited our exciting day while we downloaded movies and tv shows on our NatGeo issued iPads in preparation for our journey across Africa.

See what happens when left unattended for a few minutes.  We absconded with the bike and sidecar!!  Look out Lisbon!

My turn in the side car with John at the wheel.

Lorri's turn in the sidecar with John.

Lots of picture taking!

Clinging to the back of the bike with George.

Die hard bikers.  

Time to get some much needed rest.

Africa - The Adventure Begins - AGAIN, Monday & Tuesday, February 20-21, 2017

Time to move again.  So it's off to Africa with National Geographic and two wonderful friends, Stevie and Lorri.  I'm meeting Stevie and Lorri in Lisbon along with 42 other folks for a trip around Africa.  We'll be visiting places like Tanzania, Madagascar, Cape Town, Rwanda, Botswana, Namibia and more.  I'm so excited to explore these amazing countries, learn about their culture and see the flora and fauna.  And to get to do all this with such amazing friends ... well, that's priceless!

I'm so sad that my friend Pat had to cancel, but alas, grandchildren take priority over play time and Pat is expecting a beautiful new grand baby in a few days.  We'll miss you Pat.  Please let us know when your new baby arrives.  We hope all goes well and we'll try to have enough fun for you too!

As I sit in the PHX Club lounge at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, waiting to catch my flight to London with a connecting flight to Lisbon, I wonder about the people here and what brings us all to this space at this time.  I hear British accents of folks clearly heading home.  And the unmistakeable southern accents of folks going abroad.  Perhaps for the first time.  That's certainly the case if they are from Arkansas, yes??   It's easy to pick out the couples who are married.  In fact, I can almost tell how many years they've been married by the glazed over looks in their eyes as they play word games on their iPads, or sit quietly reading The Times while sipping a glass of champagne.  The rather short rotund lady across from me snacks on every cookie and sandwich snack from the buffet, while her husband sneaks a peak at ME.  He must be REALLY bored!!  And he just winked at me.  I almost laughed out loud.  Wow!  If I were with my friend Monica, she would have the low down on everyone in the place by now.  She would know where they live, how many children they have and what their favorite colors are.  Green for the guy who winked at me.  I'm just guessing because his wrinkled shirt and socks are a disgusting green to match the accents on his back pack and green iPad cover.  Oh my gosh, he and his wife almost had a conversation.  Oh wait, she just said, "Will you get your crap out of the way so I can go to the bathroom and get more popcorn?"  He just grunted and moved his green clad foot out of the way.  

My flight to London has just been announced, so I'll somehow tear myself away from these interesting characters in the PHX Club and move on to the British Airways Boeing 747-400 that will take me across the US and the Atlantic Ocean to London.

Settled in to my little compartment on BA  0288 to London.

After 9.5 hours in the air, I've landed in London.  As I await my connecting flight to Lisbon, I want to take a moment to give thanks to my wonderful friends and family who helped me get here.  I'm so blessed to have such an amazing support group who helped me navigate some of the most difficult times of my life.  I don't need to go into the details of 2016, any one of which would make a top selling "country and western song," because you all know what a crappy year I had.  However, I'll never forget July 28th at 10:30 a.m. when I walked out of the radiation department at Moffitt Cancer Center, surrounded by 50+ dear friends who came to celebrate with me as I "rang the bell" to mark the end of a victorious cancer treatment!!

Ringing the bell!!  Treatment over!  Kicked Cancer's Ass!!

Damned if I didn't come out on the other side stronger, healthier, happier and more at peace than I've been in years.  I'm back to climbing mountains and conquering the world!!  All thanks to YOU!  So please take a moment to pat yourselves on the back and accept this heartfelt thank you.  
 

CamelBack hike in Phoenix, AZ.  I'd say "I'm back!"

If this paragraph leaves you confused and wondering what the heck happened ... well, I guess we don't know each other that well.  Perhaps you should be grateful.

OK!  Enough drama.  While I slept across the Atlantic Ocean, Tuesday, February 21st rolled in   and we landed in London's Heathrow Airport.  I'm ready for this great adventure to begin and it's almost time to board my connecting flight to Lisbon.  

After arriving safely in Lisbon, I met Stevie and Lorri just in time for cocktails.  We had a great dinner accompanied with lots of catch up conversation and many laughs.  Many more to come, I'm sure.   I think the excitement of the day has finally caught up with me and it's time to get some sleep. 

Dinner at the Four Seasons Ritz in Lisbon with Lorri, Stevie and I.