Day 7

Porto to Lisbon – Saturday September 28

Today’s drive didn’t start until 11:00. We showered and packed. I headed out for a walk to the nearest Starbucks. It was a perfect fall morning. The streets were full of locals and batches of tourists. I spotted several young ladies who were modeling for their dress shop. They had set up in the back of a small van with a sheet providing privacy. Welcome to Porto on a Saturday morning.

Halfway to Starbucks, I spotted a beautiful coffee shop – I can always get SB at home so I popped in, sat up at the counter for a croissant and coffee. So enjoyable. They had a case full of vintage ports – too bad our suitcases are already full. Back at the hotel, we met the same driver from yesterday, and off we went for a three-hour drive to Lisbon.

We drove through the forest fire area again. Storks build their nests in the tall power towers. The four of us need much more frequent potty stops. Every 40 kilometers are service areas with a first class cafeteria. We filled a small sack with juice and goodies at the first stop. The suckling pig looked delicious. As we drove south we began to see more grape vines – the fall red color indicates grapes for a red wine while the green vines are producing grapes for white wine. We began to see fields of olive trees then cork trees. It takes 25 years for a cork tree to yield its first cork, then every 9 years they can be harvested again. The tree should live long enough for 40 harvests. I did the math 9×40 = 360 years + 25 to get started = 385 years. WOW! And cork is Portugal’s #1 export.

A road trip tip – Several times we wondered where we were or how far along we were. I called up my Apple Map and expanded it to give us a picture of our location. Really nice!

The second pitt stop yielded more juice and snacks + a roasted chicken lunch for Karen. The driver pointed out a bridge 14 kilometers long designed by the same person who did the Golden Gate Bridge. Back to yesterday’s bridges – some were designed by Effilel as in The Effilel Tower. We were told he was from Portugal then others said he was French. I guess I should look that one up.

Our dinner is just a short walk from our hotel. We met the rest of “our group” from Boulder in the lobby. Jane Holzman was on the ride I did across northern Spain almost 30 years ago. Leslie and Scott Westfall rounded out our group of seven. Scott has sold business jets for many years and Leslie is the one who did all the work arranging this adventure. We are all anxious to start the ride tomorrow.