I am in Portugal! Amy was not able to come with me this time, so this will be solo blog posting. I flew from Detroit to Philadelphia on Monday and then on to Lisbon. The flights were mostly uneventful. Our flight to Philadelphia was an amazing 30 minutes ahead of schedule, given the thunderstorms over Pennsylvania. As we waited for a gate to open, the airlines mechanic sitting next to me and I engaged the flight attendant in his worst flight experiences. He indicated in the 1970s he was on 2 evacuation flights where people where killed. One was on a 747 where people were foolish jumping on the slide 80 feet above the ground, rather than sitting, and tumbling/bouncing to an unsuccessful flight. He said the FAA rates planes at 90 seconds for evacuation before the plane will become an inferno. Think of this when you are waiting forever to deplane. He also said in a water evacuation, the tail will likely fill with wasit-high water before people can evacuate. I commented that at least it will hide the fact that you have wet yourself in the process. I love flying!
The flight from Philadelphia to Lisbon was about half full. There were about 10 others going to the same conference on the flight. I mentioned the reason for my trip to the flight attendant and he then played spot the geek with me. It definitely takes one to know one. I think many people missed the flight due to the weather. I had the exit row to myself. I was smug knowing I would easily make it out in well under 90 seconds. I was the second person off the plane after we landed. Customs and baggage claim was no problem. I was able to get some cash at the ATM and caught a bus to the train station.
A sculpture near the Lisbon train station.
The Lisbon train platform. It was warm, but there was a very nice breeze.
The station was large with an adjacent shopping center. I had about 90 minutes before my train so I walked to the shopping center. I also bought some batteries at a little store and practiced my favorite Portuguese phrase: "Eu não falo Potugese. Você fala Inglês?" which means "I do not speak Potugese. Do you speak English?" The woman behind the counter had a good laugh and told me that me Portuguese was pretty good. There was also a big grocery store there. It is always fascinating to look at what sells in other countries. The one thing that stood out was the stacks of dried salted cod (or some other fish). I did not have room in my luggage for such fish, so I settled for chocolate, water, and a fizzy lifting drink.
I jumped on the train, which was at about 98% capacity. I had a second class ticket. Unlike other countries, it turns out these tickets have reserved seats which I found out when the proper ticket holders had me move. I ended up sitting next to a couple of city planners on vacation from Tallahassee. The area looks arid. Lots of pine trees, olive trees, and other dry climate plants. We passed by some agricultural plantings of grapes, corn, and a smattering of other crops. I had to catch another train in Coimbra from the B to the A station. I saw another person I recognized from last year's conference on the train. We had a nice chat and he gave me a very cool beaded bucky-ball.
The bucky-ball. It is comprised of 90 beads in groups of 5 ("pentagons") and 6 ("hexagons").
At the train station I asked about directions to my hotel. It would have been helpful to have the address in addition to the name. I had a map, unlabeled, with the location of the conference hotels. The train worker seemed to think he knew which dot was my hotel. I set out and walked about three blocks. I looked up and much to my surprise and delight I saw my hotel. By then it was hot and I was ready to be done with traveling. I worked on the final details of my talk for tomorrow.
The view from my hotel room. The conference is at the university that is visible on the hill in the distance.
My room is fairly large by European standards. I have free wi-fi internet access and there is complimentary breakfast. I'll see what that is like in the morning. The beds were more comfortable than the plane seats for power napping.
I went to a place for dinner near the train station that was recommended by the hotel attendant. It served Portuguese/Italian dishes. My travel book does not have good food dictionary and the server spoke as much English as I speak Portuguese. I ended up ordering an fish entree the server said was good. It was a bread bowl with some potatoes, fish (probably cod), topped with sauteed onions. I found it very tasty. The restaurant also had a fado performance tonight. Fado is a popular folk music with acoustic guitars and soulful singing. It was entertaining and I stayed longer than usual. I also had a piece of delicious chocolate cake for dessert.
I walked back to the hotel about 10 pm local time. It is very pleasant outside. Low humidity and temperatures in the 60's/70's. I am looking forward to a nice quiet night.
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