Chasing Summer –

October 13th, (several friends asked me to date the entries so they know about when they occurred)

Yay, after 4 months of delays, the Odyssey is on the move.

I spent the past month in Canada again, rescuing my brother, sister-in-law, and their Husky from a failed engine 8 hours in the mountains, visiting with friends, and heading into the mountains again for a look at some fall foliage.

Once the Odyssey finally left Belfast after a few false starts, the itinerary had completely changed to allow for late starts and hurricane season. I figured the easiest place to join the cruise was in Lisbon, Portugal, where it would be stopping for one day.

So, on Friday, October 11th, I hopped on a plane in Calgary and flew to Lisbon via Amsterdam. I had one short hour in Amsterdam to switch to my connecting flight. Guys, I just made it!

I never sleep well, if at all on the planes, so I arrive groggy and tired. I arrived in Lisbon at lunchtime on October 12th, and after collecting my bag, I hopped into a taxi to get to the port. Mistake – and I know it. Never take taxis from airports, they are the most expensive mode of transpo.

Uber or Bolt were posting 8-9 Euros, but there were a lot of people waiting in the area, and I didn’t want to wait. So I took an official taxi that ended up costing 50 Euros.

After getting on board, I dumped my bag and decided I needed a short nap to function more than a walk around Lisbon. At 3, there was a meeting of all the new people who boarded to go over the emergency locations and procedures.

Groggy as heck, I met up with friends for dinner on board as we pulled away from Lisbon. Apparently, my new blue hair, as opposed to the pink hair I had the last time I was on the boat, has traumatized some people.

Now I gotta say, I have been on boats of all sizes, but my first night here was rocky. The boat is not a huge mega city-size cruise ship, but she ain’t tiny either. I could feel every swell. Walking down the hallway was a hilarious dance from one side of the hall to the next.

I went to bed by 10:30pm and, except for a pee break at around 4:30am, stayed in bed until 9:15am. Even then, I could have stayed sleeping longer except breakfast is done at 10, so I figured if I wanted something before exploring my first port, I needed to get up.

Luckily, the first port of call is Portimao, which can be done in a short time. There are usually boats that take people to the cliffs and to see the caves, but the wind today meant the smaller boats were not going out, and exploring town on foot was the only option.

For about three hours, I wandered the streets and took in the high lights. the website Portimao (Portimão) Portugal – An Algarve Tourism Guide (algarve-tourist.com) was a good resource and had a walking map with the top sites highlighted.

I started the walk by leaving the boat at the port and headed to the Museu de Portimao about a 10-minute away. I’m not into museums, so I didn’t even check to see if it was open on Sundays and kept walking. My first love-it is all the storks with their nests high on pillars that look like they were built for that purpose.

From the museum, I walked up the promenade to the Jardim Visconde Bivar.

At Jardim 1 de Decembro plaza, there are ten blue and white tiled paintings displayed on the outskirts of the plaza with a fountain in the center. Each painting depicts an important historical event for Portugal or the region.

A short walk later took me to the city hall, Camara Municipal de Portimao.

Heading inland takes one to the Igreja do Colegio and Nossa Senhora da Conceicao, which are the college and main church of Portimao. At the square out front, I stopped to have a drink with several other passengers who had found their way there.

With a few stops at mini-markets to find a small clock and other treasures that was it at stop one.

Tonight I need to remember to set my clocks ahead an hour for Cadiz, Spain.