Bom Tarde

Bom Tarde! (Good afternoon) I can’t believe that our first port has come and gone so quickly! I wish that I could say that I got to see tons in Lisbon but, alas, the job did not permit me to get off the ship much. So unfortunately I don’t have much reflection to share on Portugal. I did do a 2 hour city tour to get familiar with the city, however I was so utterly exhausted that it was difficult to focus or retain anything. I got out of the city twice – once to visit Tomar and Batalha – two places with big monasteries. One built in honor of the defeat of the Spanish and one where the Knights Templar were based (some believe that all of their treasures and the Holy Grail might still be hidden there). The second time I got out of the city was to visit Sintra – a quaint, small town about 40 minutes outside of Lisbon. Along the way we stopped at the spot that is the western most point in Europe. That’s kind of cool to say I’ve been there. Sorry I don’t have more thoughts or impressions to share. Hopefully I’ll have more time in future ports.

We are now headed across the Atlantic. It was a little rocky the first day out but it has since smoothed out and the weather is beautiful today. Hopefully everyone will stay healthy and the weather will stay nice so that we have an uneventful crossing. We are slated to go through the Panama Canal on October 1st so I will write again after our stay in Panama.