New Books!!!

I am an Amazon Prime member.  Which means that I purchase so much stuff from Amazon that it's worth it to pay the annual fee so I don't pay shipping on my purchases....as long it's eligible for Amazon Prime. So our daughter buys stuff on my account (and she does reimburse me) so she doesn't get charged shipping. Sometimes she puts things in the cart and doesn't complete the purchase. Which is no big deal, except for when I buy something and don't bother to look at the contents of the cart before clicking "next" and completing the purchase. Then when the stuff arrives, I'm surprised when there's a little something extra in the box.

This time there were two new books in the box! They are the coolest books too. I highly recommend them...especially if you have a little boy, since the main character in the two books is a little boy.

I read the books a couple of times and then J read the books a couple of times. They are FABULOUS! I am a little concerned that E thinks every time he walks in the door there's something new.  Oh, who am I kidding? I'm not concerned. If I was concerned, I would stop getting stuff...and I really don't see that happening...or not happening.

Back in the USA

We were all ready to go home. This is not going down as our most favorite vacation. I was a little worried when we checked in at the Lisbon airport and my passport wouldn't go through. The pleasant, but zany clerk was have issues. Finally, she called over her supervisor, at our firm request, and she had been entering the numbers incorrectly. We were so relieved when the passport passed through the system.  It was going through my mind that I may be spending a few extra days in Lisbon....and as lovely as Lisbon is, I was so ready to be back in the USA.

Oh, and we ran in to many Canadians. Their economy is much better than ours, so they have extra money for travel.  There were very few Americans that we saw or talked to. The Americans we did see were mostly on pilgrimages/tours with their church.

One improvement on our flights, the inflight entertainment has been greatly enhanced. Each seat has their own screen and many options to choose from.  I think I watched 8 movies on the return flight. They had music, movies, and television shows. Sad to say that I did not read one book.

We headed straight to the doctors on our return. We each got antibiotics.  Dave is  now on his third round. We're still waiting for a full recovery.

Next year we're going to Washington DC

This and That on Lisbon

We did try to eat at dinner. The three of us were getting weak. Michael was taking our resting as a time to go downstairs to the gym and run on the treadmill....just rubbing it in.

We ended up eating at the Hard Rock Cafe...something we NEVER do.....

 And then a bride came in to take photographs. We never figured out why the couple came in here for photos.

We did continue our new tradition of mailing a postcard to the grandson while traveling.  We thought we'd send him one from each country, so we were able to go to the post office. At least we think we were at a post office. We're not quite sure. But our grandson did receive the postcard, so it all worked out fine.

For our last dinner, we went back to our favorite restaurant and sat outside. We asked them to not allow any smokers around us. Since we are now regulars, well, they kept them at bay.

As we walked back to our hotel, we noticed that the little cafes in the median strip had pulled out the big screens to show the soccer game. The places were packed. They do things really late at night here too.

Lovely Lisbon

This is the favorite part of our trip.  It's really too bad that we're not feeling better.  The weather is great. The people are wonderful here.  It is funny that the Portuguese don't care for the Spaniards. They told us we got sick because they don't know how to cook in Spain.

The are steep hills around the city so there are plenty of funiculars around.  We hopped on one and took a look around.

There are beautiful views......

Many of the buildings are covered with tiles.....really very lovely.

Lisbon Tour

Yet another tour, arranged and paid for prior to departure on this trip.  It was yet another multi-lingual tour. And we felt like we were just circling around and passing the Hop On/Hop Off bus. This could just be the final straw on tours......

We ended up bailing on this tour too...midway.....we walked out (we did let them know) and snagged a cab back to the hotel.  Here's why.....

The only time we've seen gypsies, is at one of the stops on this tour.....

I Live in the Land of Oz, Who Knew?

Jessica worked long and hard on the costumes...except for the one I purchased at Costco months ago....and it turned out so adorable.

The tin man is not loving his hat....

The lion is not loving his mane.....he walked outside with his G.Pa and pointed to the planes.

The Scarecrow tried to get the tin man and lion to get their photos taken...with Dorothy joining in.

Then we moved outside and tried to get a group photo.....Scarecrow has some explaining to do.

Out of all the photos, this may be the only one with all four smiling faces, at least I think the tin man was smiling....difficult to tell.

Favorite Lisbon Restaurant

We found our favorite restaurant, the very first day, for our very first meal in Lisbon. This was a recommendation from the hotel. They sent us to a typical, local place to eat.  It was FABULOUS!

The place was packed...with locals....inside and out. The smokers are outside, so we opted for inside. We ordered soup (since three of us are still feeling puny) and put rice in it. The bread in Portugal is great too. The fried potatoes are like potato chips back home. And doesn't that salad look fabulous? That's Michael's.

We loved this place so much that we ended up dining here three separate times.