Mary HAD a Little Lamb...

Well, we didn't quite get that good night's sleep. We are still getting used to the time difference so we tried to go bed pretty early (like 10pm) which is actually 5pm so we both woke up an hour or so later like we'd just taken a little nap. Luckily, the coffee here is amazing and super strong - even Steve has to put sugar in it. It's cool - there are coffee and pastry shops just about ever block and you go in and have a little cafe standing right there at the "bar." We can definitely get used to that. The food is great - just look at our picture of one of the many butcher shops. Last night, we had some excellent seafood and we just finished off a bag of roasted chesnuts.

Lisbon is beautiful and our hostel is in a great section overlooking the river. There is cobblestone everywhere and lots of painted tiles and terraces on the buildings. Yesterday and today so far we have toured around the areas of Baixa (mainly shopping), Alfama (lots of history with twisty cobblestone roads), and Belem (more historic sites including a huge old monastery). I think we've realized we are basically going to be spending the next five weeks just walking.

Tonight, there is a 5 euro Portuguese meal at the hostel for dinner at 9pm (dinner is late here - perfect for us) which we are going to go to and then tomorrow some more sightseeing and then off to Madrid. We think we might take the bus over to Spain - it's a good deal cheaper - so wish us luck. Hopefully, we'll find some faster internet over there so you can see some of our (many) photos - most of which are Steve standing in front of this or that monument.

We'll write back soon.

Our 1st Day!!!

Well, we made it to Lisbon without any problems. It was a long and cramped plane ride. It is very beautiful and very hilly. The hostel we are staying at is very nice and clean. Better than a Holiday Inn, except we share a room with 2 other people. They seem nice, and are visiting from Australia.

We are still tired, and we are looking forward to a good night's sleep. The coffee here is great and inexpensive. The scenery is outstanding with a lot of history.

We are trying to post our pictures, but the internet connection is slow right now.

Pre Flight at the Walls B&B

Kelly and I are all set for our trip. We leave in about 3 hours. We have all of our bags packed. Our bags weigh just under 13lbs. Hopefully, we will be updating this page every 2-3 days with stories and pictures. Our picture link is in the upper left corner.

Its been a long few days getting everything together, double and triple checking bags, passports, etc. Kelly is very excited about having breakfast in Lisbon tomorrow.

Thanks to all of our family and friends for all of your help and support. We will be thinking about you often, and of course, we will be talking with you. Five weeks will go by fast and you will have to see our faces again.

A special thanks to Neil and Kathleen(Steve's Mom) for watching Maggie, Sammy, and Sunny.

The Walls B&B was excellent as usual. Food arrived within 5 minutes of our arrival, and the service and conversation was excellent. Thanks again, we will be back shortly.


Steve and Kelly

21 Days To Go

We are getting pretty excited with only 3 weeks before we leave for our trip. We think we have just about everything we need. Kelly still has to get a shirt, but thats about it. Steve did recieve his passport, it only took 3 weeks for the expedited service. It looks like are bags will be carry on compliant.

We bought airline tickets from Morocco to Paris and Paris to Dublin. For both of our one way tickets to Ireland, we paid $36.00. We are going to rent a car for the remainder of our trip in Ireland for about $150.00. This way we can get around a little faster.

It's Official

We bought our airline tickets today. We leave from Philly at 8:20pm on October 10th and arrive in Lisbon at 8:30am on the 11th. We are very excited. We got our backpacks and are ready to go. Since we are going to the Notre Dame game (if they show up, but thats whole different blog), we will be trying out our sleeping sheets this weekend. Our return flight leaves Dublin at 11:15am on Nov. 16th and arrives in Philly at 2:00pm. Its amazing it takes 12 hours to get there, but only 3 to get back.
Can anyone recommend any Bed and Breakfast places near Philly? I hear the Walls B&B is pretty good.