December 22, 2005

12:00:01 am Thursday, December 22, 2005 - Lisbon, Portugal; London, UK; Chicago, USA.  

My final diary post. I'm writing this ahead of time; hopefully, the day will unfold as expected. Flew from Lisbon to London on British Airways, then from London to Chicago on American Airlines, the final leg of 20 on our around-the-world ticket. Altogether, including these two, we took 104 flights this year. Our first flight leaves Lisbon at noon, our second flight lands in Chicago at 7:10 PM, plus a 6-hour time change. The year has been phenomenal, but naturally, we are very much glad to be home. I've captured all of my meaningful summary thoughts in other recent posts (click on the Lists category), so I'll close out now.

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December 21, 2005

10:58:58 am Wednesday, December 21, 2005 - Lisbon, Portugal - Mostly Cloudy, mid 50s.  

I took another walking tour, this time of Lisbon's Old Town. Deanna sat this one out, as she is still not feeling well. I'm well on the road to recovery, still coughing, but otherwise about 90% normal. She is about four days behind me though. The Old Town guide said that about half of the homes in the area, built in the 18th Century after the 1755 earthquake, still do not have running water. Can you imagine this? There are public baths in the neighborhood where residents shower and use the toilet. Our two nights at Ayer's Rock, Australia--where the only rooms available had shared bath facilities a short walk away--taught me how different it would be to have to go outside every time you needed to use the toilet or run some water. I had not heard of a similar area like this on our trip where such a high percentage of houses in a central part of a city in a developed country did not have running water. The guide said that as owners renovate units, they install water. There is a lot of renovation, but I would have thought this would have completed a few decades ago. Portugal joined the EU in 1986 after all.

In the afternoon, I went to the city museum. It had some interesting drawings of the 1755 earthquake, but no English. I breezed through in 15-20 minutes.

Overall, I liked Lisbon. I would not necessarily want to spend more time here, although in summer more time could be called for. From the plane on the way in it looked like there are beaches close by. The city is a reasonably good bargain for Europe--like Spain, it is cheaper than the rest of Western Europe. It's a bit more expensive than Eastern Europe, but definitely more developed, so I'd have to rank it, again along with Spain, near the top in terms of European value for money.

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December 20, 2005

06:10:56 pm Tuesday, December 20, 2005 - Lisbon, Portugal - Sunny, mid 50s.  

I went to the Military Museum in the morning. Deanna stayed in the room resting up for our afternoon walking tour. She did not miss anything. The museum had limited English, and was mainly a collection of weapons, with no insight provided. Like many museums around the world, the building was more impressive than its contents. The walking tour focused on the areas affected by the 1755 earthquake that destroyed the city. While Lisbon was inhabited in the Roman times, it is a relatively new city because the earthquake meant the city started over 250 years ago. We stayed the second of three nights at Clarion Suites Lisbon. Our room has a kitchenette, allowing us to eat breakfast and dinner in the room. After a year of traveling, this is probably the best hotel amenity we could ask for.

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03:33:18 am Monday, December 19, 2005 - Marrakech and Casablanca, Morocco, Lisbon, Portugal - Overcast, mid 50s in Lisbon.  

Two flights, Marrakech - Casablanca, Casablanca - Lisbon, on Royal Air Maroc to get to Portugal, our final destination of the trip. Portugal is the 65th country we have set foot in this year. These are our 101st and 102nd flights of the year. Two more flights to go--Lisbon to London and London to Chicago in three days time.

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November 17, 2005

10:44:57 am Spanish Diary II, French Diary III  

Wednesday, November 9, 2005 - Barcelona, Spain - Rain, low 60s.

We tried to take a walking tour, but a downpour soaked everyone, so after 15 minutes we quit and received a refund. Most of my clothes were at the laundry, so I dug out a t-shirt and shorts and froze the rest of the day. In the afternoon it poured again and I was soaked again. Further, I was unable to upload any pictures to our website as none of the internet cafes had picture editing software. Actually, I found one that did, but I was not familiar with the program, rendering me clueless to operate its Spanish version. When you are out of the country for a year, some days everything goes wrong and you feel helpless and today was one of those days.

Thursday, November 10, 2005 - Barcelona, Spain - Partly sunny, mid 60s.

Made a last-minute decision to take a walking tour of the Gothic Quarter this morning as the sun broke through the clouds just before 10 AM. After lunch and a walk down the La Rambla, we split up with my mom, Bill, and Deanna shopping while I went to the Museum of Catalunya (Catalan)History. I expected it to be small, unimpressive, with limited English, but instead it was new and modern, with translations. The exhibits were also in Catalan and Castilian (Spanish). These two languages look about 80% the same to me, with many words spelled identically and others being close derivations of each other. While I can respect that Catalans have a historically separate identity, today any separatist desires from Spain seem pointless to me, especially with so little difference in language and with everyone knowing Spanish as well.

Afterward, I went to the Gaudi sites that everyone else hit yesterday. His architecture looks like melted ice cream, or buildings you would expect to see in Alice in Wonderland. Deanna and I picked up the laundry at 8 PM, and then the four of us had a late dinner around 10:30 PM, a normal eating time in Spain. I believe this was the first Thai food we have been able to find since Berlin; it was excellent.

Friday, November 11, 2005 - Barcelona, Spain; Andorra; Bordeaux, France - Cool, highs 45-60, depending on location.

Bill's birthday. Deanna got up early and ran to Dunkin' Donuts to get some sugar-fried American happiness for Bill. We left Barcelona and drove to Bordeaux, France. Bordeaux is just a stopping point for us on our way to Normandy, but it was really nice, with old well-maintained buildings, parks, and public walkways. We stayed one night at 4 Soeurs (4 Sisters) Hotel. The owner spent half a year in Moline, Illinois several decades ago and commented that he always liked Americans because they were so friendly to him.

The drive to Bordeaux was eventful. We stopped for lunch in Andorra, a tiny country of less than 50,000 people, high in the Pyrennes Mountains between Spain and France. Shortly after the French border, we were pulled over in a roadblock. Andorra is a low-tax country, so French people buy goods there, and the police set up roadblocks to catch those not declaring their purchases. We bought only lunch and gas--the cheapest so far in Europe at just under $4 per gallon. The French customs officials instantly lost interest in us once they realized we were American, although they did point out that we had no rear license plate. Someone stole it in Andorra while the car was parked in a parking garage! Thankfully, this did not happen in the Balkans where we could have had a lot of trouble getting across the border. The front plate was still in place as the front of the car was inaccessible against a wall. We have special red plates. We think they indicate that the car is leased, or that fees to operate the vehicle in all European countries are paid, or both. Whatever the color designates, it is of value to someone. Bill instantly bonded with his fellow cops, having his picture taken and showing off his Land Rover Club of Chicago card to a policeman driving a Land Rover. The lack of a plate did not seem to bother anyone, as our story was unlikely to be made up (or maybe it was just the power of the Land Rover card). Being a national holiday for the end of World War I, there was no place open to get a new plate anyway. Not far down the road, we were selected in a second roadblock, with the same loss of interest once it was obvious we were not French. Bill was disappointed he did not get to flash his Land Rover card a second time.

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