Portugal - Land of Rainbows and Port Wine

We packed the Passat, its so full. The trunk is a bit smaller than the Octavia, we had a bag in the back with us, but no biggie. It took us about three hours to get back to Lisbon. We took the old highway, the more scenic one, for most of the way, then got on the toll road. It was 18 Euros on our way down, we took the toll road the whole way. Today we only paid 5, and then another 2 or so to cross the big bridge. It’s a suspension bridge similar to the Golden Gate bridge. The plan was meet Al & Pat for lunch at Bethel at 12:30, but we sat in traffic right before the bridge for so long. We didn’t make it. Change of plans! (a part of us wished we’d taken the same taxi guy (in his same sweater) from yesterday, it would have cut our travel time in half) We did see a few rainbows while driving, since it was rainy on and off. We saw rainbows - even a double rainbow, so intense - when we were in Lisbon before.

We decided to go back to our favorite little restaurant in Sintra for lunch! It was where we went with Al & Pat before, and got goat chops. Mmm. So today we had baked goat, with potatoes and rice. Oh and cheese and bread and olives! YES!

Then we went to another one of the ancient castles, near the Palace we went through. it’s a Moorish castle from the 15th century. What I didn’t realize is it was more like a fort, no roof. Perfect kind of thing for a rainy day. And hail too, actually. Brrr. But the castle (fort) is neat and fun to explore, especially for Nicole who was so chic in her high heels. (We were planning on changing before coming). There’s lots of little steps all around, and narrow walkways atop the walls. We may have attempted the hike to the top if it weren’t for the hostile weather. And Nicole’s shoe situation.

We had our last coffee top in Sintra, such a cute little town! Full of big old houses and tiny little roads. And then finally we got to bethel and had a nice evening with Al & Pat. They are so adorable! He pulled out his "special" port and let us have a taste.

Tomorrow we will be up at 4:30am, and off to the airport. See you soon, Western PA!

(Lauren) Oh no, I broke the flan
(Nicole) No one’s getting in my camera.
(Corey) Do you want some cheese with that goat?
(Lauren) Until this moment, nothing artificial will pass these lips

Monday Monday

Our last day in Albufeira. Too bad it wasn’t what we planned.

Our poor car was carted off last night, and we were picked up by a taxi to go home. That was like, actually, 3:00 am this morning. The taxi ride was crazy! First of all, it was a Mercedes hatchback thing, and he was driving 130 km/h … on tiny little mountain town roads. He was following our GPS, and I think it was having trouble keeping up. Basically we were home in 2 minutes.

The irritation continued when we finally called Europcar back to see when our replacement car would arrive. There answer was as informative as last night : Oh, we didn't know you had a problem. Our computer shows you still have your car.

So they sent the taxi back for me and Lauren to take us to the next town where they had a new car for us. Haha it was the same taxi, same driver, wearing the same bulky sweater. And away we went!

The nice lady at the Europcar in the next town was like: where's your car? Why are you here, I didn't know anyone was coming? But she was helpful and made the calls and soon got us in a sweet WV Passat.

But! We left the GPS cable in the other car, we realized today. Grrr. Thus began the most difficult hunt of the day: where is the Octavia? It was nowhere. No one knew where it went. Finally we got word that it arrived in Faro and we could go retrieve our things. Sounds simple enough, but somehow the car wasn't there when we asked the less-than-friendly man at the desk. His shoulder shrugs weren't exactly improving mine & Lauren's glares, and magically the tow truck pulls in just as he's on the phone. Yay!

It was a bummer it took us ALL DAY to get this worked out. We're most bummed that we couldn't meet Peter & Anna for service, since Lauren had an appointment to visit the one lady again. So we will meet them for coffee tonight to say goodbye. And then we're off to Lisbon in the morning. We will be at Bethel with "Uncle" Al and "Aunt" Pat for lunch, and then we'll probably check out another castle in Sintra. We're hoping to get some bacalhau, since we've been spared the experience the entire trip.

What will you miss about the Algarve?

(Corey) The mountains, and the ocean. And all the pleasant Dutch people... okay, mainly just Watson.
(Lauren) Meia de leite, and $2 bottles of wine.
(Nicole) Not the weather. But definitely Robs and Watson.

Quotes?
(Lauren) Its not Friday, its not thirteen. But its still a bad day.
(Keri) The car is not arrived until this moment.

What's all the Racklet?

It’s a rainy morning. Again.

One of our new favorite people - Doug - gave the talk this morning. This is our last meeting with the Albufeira congregation! They all said they’d love to have us back again…. Hmm…..

After a spot of lunch (cleaned up the remnants of food, like cheese, and ice cream) we drove West to Lagos, to catch a boat tour of the grottoes along the rocky coast. I got to use my Portuguese (I think it was somewhat lame after a weekend of Spanish corruption) to ask for directions to the right beach - Praia Dona Ana. We were the only ones there! And actually, no boaters in sight, just a fisherman. So we just explored a little, the view is spectacular! Its funny, the fisherman was watching us the whole time, and others too. I don’t know what it is with us, or if its just Portuguese, but people stare

Since we came via the highway (or motorway to the English here…) we took the scenic way home. And Corey was co-pilot and tends to trust GPS to a fault, and we were ended up on some tiny back street, which turned into a dirt road, then a dirt path with terrible ruts, and then pretty much a field, and wouldn’t you know, it came back to pavement and we were just one round-about from our apartment!

Now we are at Peter & Anna’s house for the evening - I made some “rice-krispie” cookies, Portugal style. The bag of marshmallows were half strawberry flavor, and I picked out a fun chocolate, star-shaped cereal. We wanted to make them an American dessert, but go figure, we couldn’t really find the ingredients for cheesecake or pumpkin pie. For dinner we had racklet - put some boiled potatoes on your plate, then grill some yummy things for on top - like cheese, bacon, onions, olives, etc. Its a special grill thing and everyone has their own try to make whatever they want!

And, our car has bit the dust. It won't start, and we're waiting for a taxi now. Hopefully we'll have a new car by the morning.

What do you all have to say?

(Lauren) Watchtower, right??
(Nicole) Pass me the paprika, please.
(Corey) Skype me when you're sober.
(Anna) Pass me the gherkins.
(Peter) Ahh, don't scrape the pans!!
(Lauren) If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

Pass the Paella Please

Manuel & Pili are the best. Enough said.

After breakfast (a feast of bread and coffee - oh, and more of that awesome cake) we were supposed to see the sights of Sevilla with some of the other friends from the congregation, but, go figure, it rained. Manuel said it never rains in Sevilla. Well, that’s what happens when some Pittsburghers visit, we bring the weather with us. Its ok, Manuel pulled out the guitar. Turns out his father, him, and his son are all excellent flamenco guitarists. See for yourself:







Pili had a little secret of her own - a couple of flamenco dresses in her closet! She had as much fun dressing us up as we did “dancing” in them. Our moves are a tad rough.

Pili was in the kitchen the whole time, making something delicious - the ultimate Spanish meal, Paella! The pan was huge! Full of rice and seafood creature squigglies. (I just ate, didn’t think about it). Reuben, Annabelle, and baby Reuben came to eat with us. That baby is so adorable!

What do you think came around the corner after we stuffed ourselves on lunch? The rest of that chocolate cake! She ended up wrapping it up and sending it with us. Mmm. Along with a bag full of other delicious things. Finallywe had to say goodbye, pry Lauren’s fingers off the railing, and head back to Portugal. We stopped back in town again to shop a little more, it was really crowded, and we only got lost a little. The streets are so cramped and don’t often go through to other streets. And our car was by the store “Corte Ingles”, and finally we realized there are three buildings in close proximity that with Corte Ingles. Good times. Lauren got her magnet, so all was well.

I’m glad to be back in Portugal, where I can understand what’s going on. Heh, heh, I didn’t think it would be so hard for me to switch back to Spanish for a few days…. Wrong. I could hardly even say “Pili, tenemos un regalo para ti.” It was like torture. Lauren coached me for hours, and I somehow managed to tell Pili we got her a present, some chocolate olives. I quickly corrected it with some Portuguese “temos um presente para você”

I liked all the bridges and buildings, the architecture was interesting and pretty. What was your favorite part of Spain?

(Corey) I like all the little streets, and there’s NO room so everyone is double parked.
(Nicole) Hmm, where do I begin? I just liked eating - I liked everything we ate! And I’ll probably not drink coffee again until I return to Spain, because it will just be a waste of time.
(Lauren) I loved discovering what I will pursue in the New System, a lifetime of flamenco!

Any good quotes from today? Mine: Oh no. Everyone get your raincoats on!

(Lauren) Come on here, baby!
(Nicole) How’s your mum? Is your mum on the mend?
(Corey) I’ll just be three seconds…
(Lauren) Two coffees…… and a churro? How many churros do you want?

Flamenco on My Mind

Snoozed til noon, wow. But, we didn’t get to sleep until almost 4 am. We had no idea what time it was, and Pili was just letting us sleep. She’s another one on our adopted Auntie list. She got us some warm bread and Serrano ham, peach jelly, coffee, …. And… wait for it…. The leftovers of the big chocolate cake and hazelnut spread came around the corner! Yes! And I even drank the coffee, and liked it! We had a visit from Pili’s daughter, sister and brother-in-law while and mother today. We met the 10-month old grandson last night, so that pretty much makes the whole family. I keep speaking to them in Portuguese, its so hard to remember Spanish. Lauren keeps me on track with the Spanish.

The Skoda felt a lot better today after a good night’s rest. Didn’t we all …

We drove into town near the Tower of Gold, and went to some shops. We found a lot of nice things, bought a few. Perhaps mine and Lauren’s shining moment - a fabric store! It was full of nice stuff, a lot of polka dots, which I figured out later is a common pattern in Flamenco dresses. We only had a couple hours, since we had an 8:00pm reservation at the best Flamenco show in the city!

Of course Pili wanted to feed us before the show, more soup and cheese, olives, bread, mussels. Yeah, Lauren put a dent in those. But we just made it to the show, the traffic tried to ruin our plans. Its on a narrow, old, little back street in the old side of the city, and we did some crazy parking on the curb and spent the next two hours in Lauren’s Flamenco dreams! (She was really excited) The one guitarist is Reuben, Manuel & Pili’s son. And one of the four women dancing is Annabelle, Reuben’s wife. The entire show was so fantastic, each performance just got better. There were three men on guitar, three men singing, one woman sang, four more women danced, and a man danced. It was so loud and exciting and colorful and full of emotion. At the end everyone was on stage doing their thing, and the castanets were jamming and heels were clicking and hands were clapping. Just wonderful! Sorry, there was absolutely no picture taking allowed. Everyone needs to come to Seville and see it for themselves someday!

We went walking around afterward, and stopped for some food. It was a different place, the menu had things like meat and cheese plates to dinner with scrambled eggs. So that’s what we got! And some dates stuffed with blue cheese. Oh how we’ll miss eating in Europe!

(Lauren) I’m so stinkin’ excited, I’m so stinkin’ excited!!
(Corey) Vale!
(Lauren) This castanet fits like a glove!
(Nicole) Oh no! There’s four girls in the garden!
(Man from balcony) Hola!
(Keri) There’s definitely something going on in the garden…
(Corey) Doing it Slim-Jim style!
(Lauren) I’ve just realized I’m in the wrong profession, I want to be a full time Flamenco attendee!

Dregs of Pittsburgh, Filtered

We were late, again, to the meeting for service. Doug’s like: “Just like Americans, late for every war”.

Today we four girlies got split up and paired up with the two older couples: Watson & Wilma, and Dorothy & Allen. Corey and I were off with Watson and Vilma in their awesome Skoda (we all were instant friends since Monday since we are both driving Skodas) and for the next 25 minutes or so all we heard was some Dutch conversation and poor map reading. Finally we found our street and were out walking around looking for some English speakers. No one was home for us at first, we kept finding homes all closed up, summer homes. But Corey and Vilma had a nice conversation with Scottish man.

Lauren talked with another British woman, who accepted a Bible brochure. And Nicole met a German man, and picked some more pomegranates along the way. They were cruising around with the Birds in their British car, with the steering wheel on the right side.

For lunch, Dorothy and Allen treated us all to some Piri Piri chicken, a local favorite. it’s a small red pepper, and nice and spicy. The restaruant was huge, and they started us off with our favorite - bread, soft cheeese, olives and sardine pâté. Wait, what? Yeah, it wasn’t that good, but Lauren, our resident tuna-hater couldn’t get enough. Then came the huge plates of chicken, tomato salad, and fries. Little did we know, this meal was to the be the best food we’ve ever eaten. Ever. The chicken is natural, the oil is extra virgin olive oil, the spice is so good! Even the fries are so fresh and tasty! You just can’t get this in the States. Then they just made us get some dessert, so we shared some creamy and meringue torte things….. Yum. The best part was all the glances we were getting from the other diners and wait staff - ha ha ha typical Americans, just can’t get enough to eat

We headed back over to meet Peter and Anna for the afternoon, but somehow a huge feast of Piri Piri chicken made us a tad sluggish. Peter knew that a hike up a mountain was just what we needed, so off we went, and found quite a few English speakers along the way. I chatted with one lady, she didn’t have much time but took some articles to read later. I was walking with Joe, from London. We got a mutual kick out of each others’ accents, he told the one guy “it was lovely meeting you today” ha ha ha, why can’t I talk like that?

It was also then that our little bubble was burst, and we found out our dear new friend Watson’s real name is Jan, like John, in Dutch. Um,….. Where did we get Watson from? Honestly, we don’t know. We traced it back to Corey telling us that was his name, but she can’t remember who told her. Or, who she misheard. Ha ha ha, but we can’t stop calling him that, since its all we’ve known. And we’re pretty sure he answered to Watson, so oh well. And anyway, they’ve been calling us all kinds of wrong names, so its fair. And just for fun we started giving everyone new (and in our opinion, improved) first names.

Next we were on our way to Espanha! Come on Seville! Its about a two hour drive, but they are an hour ahead, so it will be like three hours. And no checks or stops along the way for going into a new country.
Everything was looking up, and then. Well, then the incident. Had some car trouble. Its not really something we want to talk about. But, the important thing is no one got hurt, and we made it to our destination. Just turned our 2 hour trip into about…… 8.

Our sweet family was waiting for us, til 2 am. We were so happy to see them! We actually had never met them. Lauren’s and Nicole’s families are good friends with Dan & Linda, who now live in New York, but had lived in Seville for many years. Dan & Linda are good friends with Manuel & Pili in Seville, and so they were so happy to have us all come and stay. And let me tell you, they are such an adorable couple! What do you think she asked us as soon as she got us in her living room? “Are you girls hungry?” Pili, I could just kiss you! Wait, I did already - Spanish hellos involve little cheek-to-cheek kisses. She had soup ready and some pork, and then after everything brought out a big round chocolate cake, and set down a new jar of chocolate hazelnut spread in front of us. What?! Is there a better way to end your day, after long, looong ugly trip? mmmm

Quotes, quotes, who has a quote from today? Even I have one: So, like, … … do you guys wanna do tapas?

(Nicole) Aw, look at that little cow in the field -- oh wait it’s a person.
(Corey) Doing it fatty-style!
(Lauren) Piri Piri chicken takes all your bad memories and turns them into gold.
(All of us) Hi Watson!

Hiking the Algarve Boonies

Half-way point!

This trip has been amazing. We can’t even stand it.
Today we did service all day long! Yay! This is what we came for! We met Peter and Anna early, and another sister Marika, from Lisbon, but initially from Oregon, and headed up into the mountainside. It was still a little rainy, and really foggy. But we found a spot to park, split up and headed out to some known English-speakers. Nicole and I talked to Gary, but he let us know he wasn’t a religious man. I suggested that the Bible is worth looking into and we would be happy to leave him a brochure to help him to that, but still no interest. That’s fine, we’ll keep on going.

Well, then we headed on down the road, and actually, never found the rest of them, so we just hung out under someone’s porch to wait out the rain until the came back. Turns out Lauren and Anna had found plenty of people to talk to. The best was their last person, a girl in her 20s named Anna, who wasn’t raised in a religious household. Lauren was able to read 2 Tim 3:16,17 about the benefits of looking into the Bible now to have a more successful life, and Anna accepted the brochure. Lauren will hopefully find her again on Monday and talk to her some more.

Nicole and I were just having a good time looking at all the snails. There’s lots.

Well, it rained, so we headed to a little café. Got some coffee. And a really yummy croissant. It was cute, Lauren and Anna wanted another coffee, since we waited out the rain for an hour, and the lady had to ask for their cups back to wash them, since she only had so many! (We were the only ones there) Just like Panera …

Then we headed over to a different mountain, and walked up, down, and all around. Corey and I managed to get the whole way to the top of one driveway, and the man came out, and I introduced ourselves. Well, he wouldn’t even tell us his name before he was directing us back down his mountain. Well, at least it was a good hike…. All in all we found several houses that we can visit again, so we were happy with our day. Nicole and Marika were nearly attacked by a dog, she’ll tell you the story in person sometime.

We ran to the little ceramic store just down the street after we got home. It was fun, the store was really neat. I think the best part was being, as Corey calls it, Googled. (She misspoke ogled) The construction workers that so rudely woke us up on Monday get a kick out of us every day, and then some drunk guy outside a bar tried to talk to us as we left the store. He’s like “Hello ladies. Hi babe!” We didn’t flinch and just kept walking. Now they thought it was funny “You need some company tonight?” Oh, ha, ha. Yeah, what exactly made you think we came around here looking for you? Sheesh. You'd think we were walking the 1-2-5 (the infamous route that has 'ladies' along the way. We saw them today, in daylight. Classy.

Corey picked a pomegranate, we ate it with our last soft cheese and quince jam. it was so delicious. I can’t even tell you. And leftover pasta with some homemade garlic bread.

Meeting was so nice! Its always so neat to see how no matter where you go in the world, the meeting is the same and the friends have so much love! Look who had a demonstration today - our very own Nickel and Courtney! Meetings around here start later, this congregation was at 7:45, and some in Lisbon were at 8:00pm or later.

OK ladies, let's hear what's on your mind -

(Lauren) Shoot first, ask questions later.
(Corey) To cap it all off, no, you’re wrong.
Nicole is unavailable for comment, she’s attending to her sore ears from a long afternoon with Cappy-Pap.

The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in Portugal

Somehow we managed to wake up on the dreariest morning yet, and pack a lunch and head out to meet Peter and Anna and the rest of the group for the ministry. It rained the whole trip in. And it rained all morning. And it rained and got fog-ier as the day went along. We all dragged a little, Corey has a cough and Nicole made friends with a sore throat.

How do we drive out on dirt country roads? Well, the rain was unrelenting, and all we could manage was to stay in town and investigate a few of the tall apartment buildings to see if any English-speakers were home. Not today, just a few people that spoke to us in Portuguese. Well, we decided to call it a day, and try again tomorrow.

Just an fyi, we all agree it would be really cool to move here. And the local Witnesses are certainly doing their best to encourage us in that direction!

So, it was a good day for driving and seeing more of the countryside. We headed up to Alte and Loulé for the little shops. Lots of ceramics, wines, shoes, clothes, hats and scarves. Everything we love! We all found some things to purchase, can’t tell you what, some things are presents J

The best part about the rain was it washed our clothes, again. We had clothes on the line from yesterday that just hung on overnight since they never dried. Well, we came home to them extra soaked. They may never dry.

We also hit the grocery store and got a few items for dinner, its Mediterranean night again! Notice the big dried cod hanging next to me - we found our sought after bacalhau! Oh did it stink! And right by the chocolate….

Our cheap wine is not as pleasing as last night’s most excellent choice. But the little cured cheese, quince jam and fresh pomegranate are sooo tasty with our bread and olives!

The ladies are ripe with quotes today:

(Lauren) Its official, I am Rusty Jr.
(Corey) Guys, turn off the lights, we have dishes to wash!
(Nicole) OH, just glanced at my watch and realized it was time to take my courage pills.

You're so Manky

Today we could have slept in, since we’ve been packing a ton of adventure into this trip. We just had to be at the meeting for the ministry at 2:00pm. Great.

So at 7:30am, just like good construction workers, work commenced RIGHT NEXT DOOR on jack hammering the hillside away to build, probably another apartment building. Ugh, we managed to deal with it all morning.

I got a nice surprise in the mirror this morning - my left eye completely blood shot. It turns out Lauren started us off over the weekend with the pink eye, then Corey had it for a day. Now its me, and my eyes were scratchy and puffy all day.

We washed some clothes in the tiny washer…. It took about 2 hours for one load. No, that’s not one of my typical exaggerations, the girls threw their clothes in before they left for a walk on the beach, and came back to find the water just draining. And they’ve been hanging out on the line since lunch and they’re still not dry. I made applesauce with the two bags of softening apples. It turned out great! We ate it for lunch, along with some ham & cheese paninis. Then off to service!

They cleverly split us up, so Lauren headed off to do telephone witnessing with Peter and Anna, Corey and Nicole went with Watson and Wilma from Holland, and I was with Doug and Sharon and Robs. We all had a blast! Just listening to everyone talk in their British accents was cracking me up! And no one could read a map, so we were lost for most of the time. I did get to pick some oranges off a tree, and an almond, and a pomegranate. There are loads of orange trees, just full of oranges right now. Mmmmmm. Robs told me about the “poor” law, that you can’t get in trouble for picking just one fruit off a tree.

We were out in the country, the villas are spread far apart. The one house had some ducks and chickens, and Doug called them “manky” - but it sounds just like “monkey”. I’m like - monkeys- where?! And they all laughed. So now everything is “monkey” to us. We also passed a field with a shepherd and a herd of sheep! So quaint! And then up the road were some sheep, each with a little lamb! And I also so a few kittens running around.

Oh, and poor Wilma couldn’t say any of our names, so we are now known as Corrinne, Terri, Nickel, and Lori. I also got called Chloe. And Manky.

Sharon told us to head over to Silves later, and there was a huge Moorish castle from the 12th century, we got there too late to tour, but it was neat to see the outside. Then we drove around town and finally ended up at a wonderful restaurant recommended by Peter and Anna. We all shared a huge plate of pork and potatoes, corn porridge, salad, bean soup, and a fruit plate for dessert. Oh, and the best red wine I’ve ever, ever drank! I’m going to try and find a bottle of it at a store…

What is everyone’s favorite quote from today?

(Lauren) Always know where your glass of wine is.
(Nicole) Its not everyday I get to pick olives and almonds with an older Dutch lady speaking Flemmish.
(Corey) The man I talked today said “I’m Roman Catholic, but I believe we came from monkeys. I don’t belive there is a God.”

Lost in Albufeira

10:00am - time for Sunday meeting! We had clear (yeah, clear) directions on how to get to the Kingdom Hall, just follow the road we came on and turn left then right. One problem was it was dark last night when we came, and evidently couldn’t remember anything along the way. We were lost. More than once. We did finally make it to meeting 35 minutes late.
I had expected more people who are learning English, like the English congregations in Brazil. But here its mostly native speakers from all over, like England, Switzerland, Germany, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Wales, and US. And how about the coincidence of the century: one of the girls at the meeting, Jess, lives in London, and said she will travel to the one and only, Recife Brazil in January for three months, to visit the English congregation in Boa Viagem! WOW! I was there! We’re getting together on Tuesday to show her the pictures I have on my laptop.
This afternoon we hit the grocery store, and then walked down to the beach. Oh it was a perfect day for it! But the wind was cool, and the water cold. We couldn’t help but squeal the first time it splashed us all unexpectedly. I’m sure this beach gets packed out in the summer, but it was almost dead now. Perfect for taking lots of pictures along our walk. What was neat was twice today we passed other Witnesses out walking around with some magazines in their bags. We stopped one couple to say hi. That will be us tomorrow!

Tonight we decided to make our own Mediterranean dinner - olives, goat cheese, quince jam & crackers to start. Then some wine with our baked pasta with ham and olives. Nicole made it, it was just wonderful. I love the food here! Then we had to have some dessert, so off to the grocery store we went, we had 8 minutes before they closed. We picked up some ice cream and chocolate - and let me tell you, it was the best 4 Euros we spent.

Let’s see what everyone’s favorite part of today was:

(Corey) I liked walking on the beach and seeing the cliffs.
(Lauren) Wandering around Albufeira, and hiding behind the bush at the Kingdom Hall as people passed.
(Nicole) I loved that my jeans got wet on the beach.

Nice. I think mine was popping the circuit breaker, twice in one evening. Only us!

Saturday

This morning we headed up the mountain to the town of Sintra! What a lovely little place, tucked away in the hillside, plenty of estates and castles to admire. We headed straight for Palácio de Pena, the Queen’s summer home, at the top of the mountain. It was a narrow, sharply-winding brick road the whole way, and we finally found a spot to park, then it was another tram ride to the top. But just look at this place! Its spectacular, and the view is too. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside (under penalty of death) so hope everyone likes the tremendous amount of outside shots. There were tons of little towers and corners and rooms and passage ways. Lots of fun to see. We didn’t have time to see the gardens, it would have taken us three more days I think.

Then we headed back to our room to pack up, and after lunch we said goodbye to Al and Simone and headed to the airport to pick up Nicole! GPS took us the long way, along the coastline, which was nice, but not when you’re late picking up your traveling friend. We finally got to the pick-up area, and were trying to find her, when the policeman informed us we were in the wrong lane, and only taxis could be in this section. Well, we were completely parked in by taxis, …oops. Just then we saw Nicole and we pointed to her and explained we would be quick, we were just picking her up...well that changed everything! “THAT’s your friend? I hope she’s my friend too!” he exclaimed in Portuguese, making the five other policeman crack up and start smiling and waving at her standing helplessly on the other sidewalk. We quickly shoved her and her suitcase in the car and bid them good day!

Then we were off to Albufeira, a town in the Algarve (a name for the area in the South of Portugal), near Faro. It only took us about two hours, on a highway through the country side, with hardly any other traffic. We weren’t sure what the speed limit was, but it mustn’t have matter, since people were FLYING past us.
We met Doug and Dot, originally from the UK, who showed us to our apartment for the week: its Amazing!
The couple who own it live in New York City half the year, and they generously let us stay while they are away. This area is nearly completely tourist-ic. There are plenty of apartment building, one after another, the whole way over to the coast. But hardly anyone is here! This is such a seasonal area. The restaurants were offering us 10% off our bill, or a free glass of wine to entice us in, but most of the places cater to tourists and don’t seem to serve the best quality or authentic food. Finally we found a little place set in a wine seller that offered us some free wine, and served lamb and pork chops and salmon and goulash. Which is exactly what we ordered! And it was delicious!

Now let’s hear from the girls, their favorite quotes from the day:
(Nicole) “What does this say, hake?”
(Lauren) When all else fails, wear the cardigan with big buttons.
Corey - is unavailable for comment, she’s in Luxembourg

All We Did Today Was Walk & Eat

Well, what can we say? It was the best day of our lives.
Breakfast with the Bethel family - fresh meat, cheese and bread, homemade squash preserves (YUM!), and Pastéis de Nata. OH the Pastéis de Nata!! Our friend Tina (who is from Portugal) told us specifically to try the Pastáis de Belem when visiting Lisbon. These Pastéis de Nata are the same thing, just not the original. They are like a flaky pastry cup filled with wonderful creamy custard.

After breakfast we met a sister from Mexico, 87 years old. (If you have the video “To the Ends of the Earth” see her get her Gilead diploma from Br. Knorr at the convention at Yankee Stadium) and got a tour of the facility and met just about everyone working there, and happened upon the classroom during their break. Then we roamed around the little garden area and soon it was 12:30pm and time for lunch! Green bean soup, shepherd’s pie, lettuce salad, and fresh oranges!

Then the day was wide open and we wanted to see the city. We drove through the round-abouts and (got lost at first) finally found our way to Belem. First we explored the Torre de Belem, an old, old tower with cannons and lots of steps and little spaces and prison cells in the basement. Then to the bakery that makes Patéis de Belem! It was quite a walk, but so worth it! Mmm, hot & fresh - and somehow even tastier than the ones at breakfast! The bakery was packed full of patrons, clearly a local favorite.

The next trick was to find the right train to take us to black-horse square in Lisbon, and we walked around seeing the sights. Somehow we managed to score some hot, fire-roasted chestnuts for free! They were like butter, just melting in our mouths. Then we stopped by the port area and the steps just keep going into the water. And you know, of the people I asked for directions today, in my special way of using the Portuguese language, no one spoke Portuguese! They all answered with "sorry, I speak English".

Something so sweet and unexpected was the bag full of juice and apples and cheese waiting for us when we got back to our room! Simone had gathered up some extra things and wanted to make sure we would have some food for the week. The brothers and sisters here have been so hospitable and kind, its such an honor to be a part of this.

For dinner we took Al and Simone to their favorite restaurant in Sintra, a nearby town. It was such a quaint little place, and we got goat chops! I would have been satisfied with the plate of olives, fresh cheese and fresh bread that they set on the table first. WOW. I can’t lie, I had 12 olives. And obscene amounts of bread. And we ordered a carafe of the wine of the house - amazing. And what’s dinner without dessert? How does almond torte and hazelnut ice cream sound? Good? Yeah, it was. We were all yummy sounds at dinner, Al and Simone were cracking up. I tell you, you just can’t get food like this in the States!

(Lauren) Best. Day. EVER!
(Corey) I shall eat goat again.

Flyin' Around

Pitts - Paris was an hour shorter - so we landed at 1:45 am - 7:45 am Paris time.
Cool - plenty of time to get through customs, re-check our bags, grab a snack, and catch our 1:20 pm flight to Lisbon. Well, turned out, our bags went through, we didn’t have to re-check the. Customs was all of 5 minutes to get a stamp on our passports, and we found ourselves at Paris’ side with four hours to kill.
Eiffel Tower anyone?
We managed to dodge the old women asking us long questions in French to ask the information desk guy where we could ditch our big bags for the morning, and figured out the train ticket kisok and jumped on the train to Paris! By Lauren’s excellent directions and calculation, it should take an hour by train, then a 10 minute walk, and voilé! The Eiffel Tower is ours to behold and photograph. Oh the thrill of it!
A friendly, artsy French lady made conversation with us on the way, informed me if I’m learning Portuguese and visiting Portugal I should have read up on Fernando Pessoa, the famous, FAMOUS poet that I’d never heard of. Ok.
Well, as it turned out, we got a little lost, the maps were in French after all. And the train wasn’t exactly the express line, so our four hours were quickly ticking by. We got to “Notre Dame” station and the guard instructed us to wait for “Vick” (say it in your best French accent, its fun) the train to take us to our last stop, we had to realize that our time had run our, chances were gone, Eiffel was out of our reach. Sadly, we headed back down the stairs to our train back to the airport, had some quiche (and a croissant!) for lunch and waited like responsible young ladies four our flight.

Humph, the flight left 45 minutes late.

As in, we sat in our seats on the plane for around 45 minutes until we could finally leave. We all fell asleep actually, and they kept making announcements in French, but, yeah. It was only a two hour flight, but it sure felt longer! Especially with a sniffling guy beside you and a loud one behind you. Oh the joys of flying. I’m glad that was our last one until we leave, I couldn’t take anymore.

Corey, how did our short time in Paris make you feel?
(Corey) I was surprised. Everyone seems to make Paris to be a big deal, but the side we saw was nothing special. It was slummy. Maybe next time we’ll get to see the “other side.”

Welcome to Lisbon! It’s a crazy airport to navigate. We’re a little bummed we didn’t get our passports stamped, but there was no line for that. We just walked out. But first we freshened up and got dressed to head to Bethel! Our rental car is a Skoda Octavia, and its reminds me of a Honda Accord. Big enough for all of us and our suitcases! Lauren’s expert driving got us to Bethel in no time - we just got lost in some round-abouts, one took us into a mall parking lot… good times.

For those unfamiliar, Bethel means “house of God”, and Jehovah’s Witnesses have several branch offices worldwide, like this one in Portugal, affectionately termed Bethel homes. Most are used for printing Bibles and other books and literature, like the Watchtower and Awake magazines. There is no more printing done in Portugal now, it has been moved to the Germany branch. But there are still offices and other work that are carried out here.

Bethel is, in a word, amazing. The grounds are beautiful, the building is so lovely and clean. We got there around 5:00pm and everyone was done working. We will tour in the morning. This home houses 57 volunteer workers. And a special Ministerial Training School is being held, so there are around 30 extra people staying here presently.

Our hosts are Al and Simone, they are originally from Canada. They are so friendly and kind, and had us up to their apartment for dinner - so good! And she snagged us some chocolate mousse for dessert--- too bad we didn’t have the cameras ready for our pure initial reactions after the first spoon-full. Oh. My. Word. SO. SO. GOOD. Delicious. Amazing. They tell us it’s a typical Portuguese dessert - yay!

Lauren, how did our afternoon in Lisbon make you feel?
(Lauren) It made me feel giddy as a school girl! It was one of the most thrilling experience I’ve had in a long time. To be taken care of by complete strangers here in Bethel has been exhilarating. I’m still trying to wipe that goofy smile of my face!

Tchau

Here we are at our departure gate. Sitting. Waiting. Waiting for Lauren. She's probably getting her full-body scan and pat-down.
In about an hour we will be up in the air, on our way to Paris. Yes, PARIS - we have a layover there. Its pretty exciting.

We got some money exchanged. Our pockets are full of euros now. Yeah, right.

Corey, do you have anything to add?
(Corey) I can't wait for my airplane food! And watching movies til I fall asleep.

Cool. Now we are observing the elite Delta members heading over to their special elite lounge. ooh lala. We will settle for common seats. :)

OK! Next time you hear from us we will be in Europe!

Countdown

This time next week four Americans will be in Portugal!


1 Euro = $1.36
2 weeks, 17 November - 1 December.
3 countries to visit along the way. (Portugal, France & Spain)
4 fine ladies, ready for adventure.
5 hour time difference.
6 hours to spend in Paris.
7 dollars per gallon of gasoline in Portugal.
8 movies per person, potential in-flight viewing.
9 countries use Portuguese as their official language.
10 hours flying time going.
11 players on a futebol team, Portugal's most popular sport.
12 hours flying time coming home.
13 opportunities to eat bacalhau for dinner, Portugal's popular dried cod dish.
16 years old is the legal drinking age in Portugal.
18 years old is the legal driving age in Portugal.
19 C = 66F average high temperature for November in Faro, Portugal.
23 dollars for one international driver's permit.
25 years, our average age.
26 letters in the Portuguese alphabet after the 1990 Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement went into affect, adding K, W & Y.
27 members of the European Union, including Portugal, France & Spain.
28 years of our combined full-time service.
37,01 N, latitude for Faro, Portugal.
39 our average European shoe size.
40,27 N, latitude for Pittsburgh, PA.
109 is Portugal's rank by size, 35,672 square miles.
351 international telephonic country code for Portugal.
646 congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Portugal.
6,532 feet is Portugal's tallest mountain Estrela.
12,800 congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses in USA.

The experience: Priceless!