Day 1 – September 3, 2002 – Flight to Frankfurt and Lisbon We left home at 11:30 or so and went to Denver to see Nanny, my mother in law. We took her some things, a plant and visited her for 15 minutes. We then decided to get on the road as we had no seats on the Lufthansa flight. We got to DIA and we were the second group in line. Problem: THEIR COMPUTERS WERE DOWN. It took us ...
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Day 2 - September 4, 2002 - Arrive Lisbon We got to Frankfurt, Germany at 12:20 PM and we had to ride a bus to get close to the terminal. Once in the terminal, we rushed to the other side of the airport to get to gate A-14 and there was a long line for the flight to Lisbon. WE MADE IT. The plane was 3/4 full and they served another meal. We did not eat. Alcohol also. I slept for ...
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Day 3 - September 5, 2002 - Lisbon to Albufeira (2) We had gotten the wake up call at 7, luggage out by 7:45 and then breakfast. Breakfast at the hotel was excellent. The bread was great as was the cheese and the coffee was very dark just the way I like it. Gennie had some eggs and bacon but the latter was like jerky. We were at the bus by 8:30 and the rotation is going to be ...
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Day 4 – September 6, 2002 – Algarve Excursion During the night, the temperature of the area went down into the high 40's – COOL!We slept with our door open and we could hear the bars down by the beach with their music. We got a wake up call at 7:30 and went down to the nice breakfast at 8:15. Fruits, eggs, all sort of breads, cereals, just about anything. We were to leave at 9 ...
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Day 5 - September 7, 2002 - Albufeira to Evora Day 5 ALBUFEIRA to EVORA We got up at 7:30 with our wake-up call. After a shower and packing, we had the two suitcases out the door and went down for breakfast. As yesterday, coffee, juice, great Portuguese bread, jelly, butter and cheese. One could have eggs, bacon, and all sort of sweet rolls but I have not been in the mood. ...
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Day 6 - September 8, 2002 - Evora to Viseu We woke up this morning early (6:30) and went to the fourth floor for breakfast. Mom had nothing and I had the usual bread, butter, cheese and jelly with coffee and real orange juice. We got in the bus at 8 AM and were on our way. Many people are complaining about the AC but the tour guide told everyone that if they were cold they ...
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Day 7 - September 9, 2002 - Viseu to Oporto We slept with the window open and it was nice and cool. We got up this morning with our usual wake-up call. It came at 7:05 AM and we were dead asleep. We had 45 minutes to get the luggage out so we had to hurry a bit. We then went to breakfast, the usual and then got on the bus. The city was covered in fog and it was cool. We drove ...
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Day 8 - September 10, 2002 - Oporto A 7:30 wake up call and then a nice continental breakfast. Their bread is always excellent and with butter, strawberry jam and cheese it is a nice breakfast. Juice, some fruit, yogurt it is a nice way to start the day. We were ready to leave on the sightseeing tour of Porto and Gaia, across the Douro river from Porto. Looks like the same ...
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Day 9 - September 11, 2002 - Oporto to Tomar We had an early morning, 6:30 wake up, and then out by 8. It was cool as we stood to get on the bus but the day ended up to be a scorcher. Hottest day we have had in Portugal. I wore long pants so I was uncomfortable most of the day. As today is September 11th Mom gave US flag pins to several people, and our guide and driver. As we ...
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Day 10 - September 12, 2002 - Tomar to Lisbon Wake-up call was at 7 AM and then a nice continental breakfast. Problem was that there were four tours in the same hotel and there were many people trying to get breakfast with us. We had 45 minutes to get a shower, dressed and luggage out and then 45 minutes for breakfast. It worked well but we had to stand inline for the buffet - ...
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Day 11 - September 13, 2002 - Lisbon We got up, had our breakfast and were out of the hotel at 8:45 on a sightseeing venture with our guide, Jouiz. She is the regular tour guide for the Best of Portugal trip but is expecting a little girl in December. She was good but not as fluent and diverse in her presentation as Miguel. We took a bus tour of the city beginning by seeing ...
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Day 12 - September 11, 2002 - Lisbon to USA We got the wake-up call at 4 AM and I was sleeping very soundly. We were out of the room by 4:37 and as we got to the lobby the concierge called the taxi that Trafalgar had booked for us. We got to the Lisbon airport around 5:20 and went to find the check in. There was no posting on the overhead board nor mention of what gate. We ...
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