Our guide, Roberta, was waiting for us at the airport. We were in and out of there quickly, amazed that we did not have to clear Customs again. As long as the countries visited are in the European Union, tourists only have to hit Customs at the point of entry.
Roberta was a doll. She was from Brazil, but lived in Spain and spoke fluent Portuguese. She quickly became one of the girls.
After dropping us off at our hotel, we had time to get settled, then met back downstairs for a quick briefing. There were 15 in our group, but 10 more travelers were added to bring us to 25, a very manageable number…and all adults!
Roberta gave us options for the afternoon on our own. She strongly recommended the Museu Gulbenkian which was within walking distance and free on Sunday. Several of us took off for the museum and FINALLY found what we thought was the correct museum. What we found was the Modern Art museum and weren’t real impressed with the display of “arranged chairs” or the “toilet paper roll” sculpture. We got a little too close to the toilet paper rolls and were admonished by the guard. Feeling totally uninspired, we wandered the grounds and found the cafeteria. After lunch about half of us went back to the hotel. The other half actually found the real museum…right behind the cafeteria. Apparently it was worth the hunt.
Our first night, we had a welcome dinner with traditional Portuguese food. What stands out was the egg and cod mixture that is a company tradition in Portugal. I at least tasted it.
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