Well we have been to Spain, Italy and France dozens of time but have never made a trip to Portugal and so we were definitely overdue! Isabel and I had planned a trip to celebrate our ten year anniversary this past September to Prague, Munich, Zurich and Lake Como but in July Isabel was diagnosed once again with breast cancer and so we had to cancel the trip. September through November was dedicated to her testing, then surgery, then radiation but we were blessed to make it through to the other side and so I wanted to do something special to not only celebrate our ten year anniversary but her miraculous recovery and so we decided it would be a trip to Portugal, Spain and France – our Gratitude to God Tour -just the two of us.

We booked the trip and now here we are in Lisbon, Portugal and all we can say is why have we waited so long. Wow!!! This place is amazing and way beyond our expectations!

It is always a test of fortitude to make the long flight over – even when you travel first class – but so worth the effort. We flew via Charlotte to London to Lisbon leaving Phoenix at 11 am on Tuesday, the day after Christmas, and arrived in Lisbon the next day just after high noon. We checked into tour Hotel, the Memmo Principe Real, and got quickly settled and within minutes we were walking the streets of Lisbon. I have found the key to adjusting to the new time zone is to just gut it out and stay awake until the evening and then sleeping a full night – in our case 14 hours to get on the right time zone.

We left the hotel and made our way down the hills and the narrow streets lined with the small and charming streetcars to our first stop, the Time Out Market, an amazing food court in the heart of Lisbon filled with dozens of small unique food and wine venues surrounding a fabulous central court and even though it was a Wednesday afternoon it was packed full of locals and tourists. Isabel and I found a wonderful spot were we procured a charcuterie tray of Portuguese ham, olives, cheeses and bread along with two glasses of Portuguese red wine and our trip was officially kicked into motion. So fabulous and just the perfect way to keep the adrenaline flowing.

From there we walked about a half mile to the Praça do Comércio which is the central plaza situated along the inner harbor. We arrived just as the holiday lights were turned on brining the square to life – absolutely fabulous. From the various vendors, including the chestnut carts filling the air with their delightful smell, to the sea air, our adrenaline was once again fortified as we were now approaching over 36 hours of no sleep.

From the Praça do Comércio we made our way back towards the hotel along the R. Augusta, the main boulevard, lined with fantastic holiday decorations, and street filled dining venues. Absolutely magical!!! We did a little shopping and climber the endless steps up the hills back to our hotel with a lovely dinner at the Lost In Restaurant with a stunning hilltop view of Lisbon.

Finally, it was back to the hotel and to bed after some nearly 40 hours of very little, if no, sleep. After this quick macro journey we could not wait to explore more!