Azores & Madeira: Portugal's Unspoiled Archipelagos Day 2

Day 02 - Tuesday, April 11, 2023 – Flight from Munich to Lisbon, Portugal – Meet Trip Experience Leader for a Welcome Drink - Freedom to Explore

The Lufthansa flight from Denver to Munich was excellent – we had fabulous service from our professional crew. The scheduled take off time from DIA was 4:10 pm which gave us a lot of time to get ourselves organized and settled in for the nine hour and forty-minute journey across the US and the Atlantic. Our goal was to have enough time to actually get some sleep so that we will be rested when we arrive in Europe.

We arrived in Munich at 10:00 am and we were welcomed into Germany. Our layover in Munich was almost four hours. This time was taken up by going through the international customs and the European Union security for our flight to Lisbon. Once we enter the European Union, we were to free to enter any of the EU nations.

The flight to Lisbon was on TAP Air Portugal, a new carrier for us. The service was also excellent and after our three-and-a-half-hour flight we landed in Lisbon at 4:00 pm. We flew over the rugged Portugal countryside and saw thousands of solar panel arrays, some in the middle of nowhere.

As we came closer to the city, we saw the coast and the Belém district. The Belém Tower and the Monument to the Discoveries were very visible and reminders of our previous visits to the city.

After collecting our bags and passing through customs, our O.A.T. representative, Garsa met us at the terminal entrance. She introduced us to João who drove us a short 20-minute ride to our centrally located hotel. As with most of the city hotel destinations chosen by OAT, we were within walking distance of many places to eat and a beautiful park.

We were the last of this OAT group of 16 to arrive and our Tour Director Henrique was gathering everyone in the lobby for a welcome drink and brief introductions. We also have the pleasure of another experienced OAT member, Filipa who is joining us for this adventure.

After a lively hour of getting to know each other, we went on a walk around our hotel neighborhood. Henrique and Filipa gave us suggestions for places to eat, where to find ATM machines, and safety pointers in this big city.

As we hadn’t even opened our bags before we went to the welcome meeting, we decided not to eat with the group but went to a little sandwich shop and had a delicious ham and melted grill cheese sandwich.

Back in the room, Gennie did a little laundry and Vic organized photos from the day. After spending the last 24 hours sitting in an aircraft or terminal, we were ready to shower and stretch out.

Accommodations: H10 Duque De Loule - - - Meal: B & L on Flight