Days 1 & 2: Toronto to Lisbon

So my Iberian adventure officially began yesterday at the Toronto airport and now here I am in a luxurious room in Lisbon writing this. What a wild and crazy world we live in.

The people watching at the airport was amazing. On one side a Hainan Airlines flight was checking in, and on the other side an El Al Israel Airlines flight was checking in. In addition to these two distinct passenger groups there were many Pakistani and Indian passengers added to the mix. The world is a big diverse conglomeration of people that we never really think about because we are so American-centric. That's one of the beautiful things about traveling internationally: we are reminded of our relative insignificance, and it should serve to keep our arrogance in check.

I flew SATA direct to Lisbon and it was a relatively pleasant experience. I sat next to a girl a few years younger than myself and we chatted much of the time. She lives outside of Toronto but has dual citizenship with Portugal and travels there annually. She was gregarious and funny, and she gave me some good insights on Portuguese culture. Except for the incident with the young teenager directly in front of me vomiting in the aisle just before we landed it was an overall excellent flight. I was able to breeze through customs, my luggage was there as I approached the baggage claim, and I was able to get a taxi immediately. My hotel, Heritage Avenida Liberdade, is in a PERFECT location and my room is absolutely GORGEOUS and luxurious and I want to live here forever, haha!

Best of all Chandler arrived from Grenada (after I had a martini and a nap - so refreshing!) and we had a yummy dinner and after dinner drinks. Now we are both on our laptops winding down in preparation for tomorrow's adventures.

~ The Lisbon Hard Rock Cafe is right down the street (the location of my post-flight martini) ~

~ beautiful hotel lobby ~

~ beautiful bathroom ~

~ drinking fountain in the bathroom! ~

~ crisp hotel sheets that smell perfect: like sunshine and bleach ~

~ looking over our little balconies ~