Back Roads Of Iberia: Spanish Paradores and Portuguese Pousadas Day 1

Day 1 – Friday, March 24, 2017 - Flight to Munich, Germany

Our Monument Hill weather has been mild all winter. Now the first week of spring, the weather forecast was for 6 to 8 inches of blowing snow and blizzard conditions. Schools in the Lewis-Palmer District and other services were already closed for Friday. Our friend, Tim agreed to come a day early to be with Buddha, our cat and stay at our house during our adventure in Spain and Portugal.

To avoid the upcoming storm, we made a reservation on Tower Road, very close to Denver International Airport. We drove to Denver Thursday afternoon and enjoyed dinner at a nearby restaurant and then spent the night out of the storm’s reach.

We woke up Friday morning to reports of school closures all along the Front Range. The interstate was closed from Colorado Springs to Castle Rock and they even closed the Air Force Academy. We knew we had made the right decision to come north early.

The weather in Denver was 39 degrees and blustery but the clouds were high and there was no moisture on the ground. We heard the sounds of flights leaving all morning and when we checked our Lufthansa departure we were on schedule.

After breakfast we showered and got ready to make the short distance drive to the shuttle parking area. Pikes Peak Parking was closed, a busy time for Spring Breakers, so we went directly to Mt. Elbert Parking.

The airport terminal was crowded with lots of groups traveling together. The Lufthansa gate was not busy as their international flights depart later in the afternoon. We were able to check in and get rid of our big bags at 2:00.

The gate agent gave us an invitation to the United Lounge on Concourse B so we settled in for a few hours of peace and quiet. At 4:15 we went down to catch the DIA Train to the A Concourse and Gate A 41 for our overnight flight to Munich.

We have a very short layover so we will post the first day’s journal in advance. We will catch up with GarciaTrips when we arrive in Lisbon, after our connecting flight, and the first day in Portugal.

Thank you all for following our new adventure. Please let us know you are along with us by posting a comment as you read of our wanderings on the Iberian Peninsula. Vic is very excited to practice his “mother tongue” of Portuguese and then speak Spanish as we travel through Spain.

Because of the positive response from our interesting facts and sayings about India, I will try to include a few pearls of wisdom about Portugal. When we arrive in Spain, we will give you more information about the second country of the Iberian Peninsula.

Portugal has had the same defined borders since 1139, making it the oldest nation-state in Europe.

https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/Interesting-Facts-About-Portugal