Rainy Retreat

The view from the Pousada in the morning

We woke up this morning to dull light - rain and more in the forecast. Here was a sign: time to go home - (not that we didn't have our flight booked for months beforehand). We spent much of the morning organizing our suitcases, adding to them the gifts and souvenirs we had bought while in Portugal.

The library in Alcacer do Sal

The WiFi at the Pousada was so unreliable and weak that I could not finish the blog there, so we headed to the local library in Alcacer do Sal, a historic building decorated with blue tiles. There I was able to send out yesterday's post, before leaving town. Had we had more time and if the weather had been clearer, we would have taken more photos of the town, but that was not to be. We also had to allot extra time for travel today because of the rain.

The statue of Pedro Nunes, a famous mathematician, in Alcocer do Sal

So we made our way to the highway towards the Lisbon airport. It POURED all the way. At times the rain was so heavy and visibility so poor that we considered stopping. Miguel's defrost system was not the best, with the fan at full speed unable to reach the side windows. Good thing there were two of us to keep the side mirrors visible!

Blue sky over Vasco de Gama bridge.

Just before we got to Lisbon, the sun came out and the blue sky returned. The heavy downpour ended and, as we crossed the Vasco de Gama bridge towards the airport, we saw the city in all its glory. What a great way to saw goodbye to Lisbon and Portugal!

Adeus Miguel

Miguel looked great when we returned him to the Avis drop-off area. After all, he had been well washed by all that rain. We said goodbye to our little Lancia and headed for the terminal.

Duty free shop - brought home some Portuguese wine and port

For the next two and a half hours, we did all those things that people do in airports before international flights: check-in, security, light lunch, duty-free shopping and a (surprise) passport check which made us a little late for boarding time. We were taken by bus to the tarmac to ascend to the plane and were off on time.

Time to board. Goodbye Portugal. You have been good to us.

Eight hours later, we were in Toronto, glad to be home. My sister, Pauline, picked us up among the throngs at Pearson and took us to her house where our car was waiting in her driveway. The food was so bad on the plane, that, hungry, we stopped on the way home for a bite to eat. At home, we unpacked and kept awake as long as we could. I stayed up until 11:00, 4:00 a.m. Portuguese time; Bob made it to midnight.