Jill and I had been planning logistics for our first guests (Jill’s sister Stephanie and niece Clara) for a while. The two biggest unknowns in our planning were:

1. How to pick arriving guests up at the Lisboa airport
2. Could we find anything in Europe that 9-year-old Clara would eat?

The smart money had #2 above as the heaviest lift, but the smart money isn’t always right.

We’d asked various friends about the Arrivals pickup protocol at LIS and went into the exercise with what I thought was a solid plan. We timed our arrival well and I dropped Jill at the curb at Terminal 1 Chegadas (Arrivals) as Stephanie and Clara hit passport control. We knew there would be a delay there because minor children can’t use the electronic passport control with biometrics. So I went and cooled my heels at the BP station just outside the airport where there is a cafe.

Jill gave me the play by play and once she had Stephanie and Clara in hand told me she was ready for pickup.

Five minutes later I rolled up to the line of cars that were double-parked loading passengers and luggage, pulled into a recently vacated spot, popped the trunk and loaded luggage while everyone else got belted in for the homeward trip.

So far so good!

I closed my door and belted myself in and as I put the car in gear a police officer tapped on my window. I put the car in Park and rolled the window down. The police officer asked me if I’d “ever been fined in Portugal before?” I said no. And he said something to the effect of “Well, today is the day. Because it’s a 1500€ fine for stopping in an unauthorized location in the airport.” I was plenty puzzled because I’d pulled into an area where there were 8 or 10 cars already doing exactly what I did. I asked the policeman what the problem was and he said there was no stopping for any reason. Jill chimed in helpfully with a “Sorry officer, this is our first airport pickup and we don’t know where we are supposed to pickup arriving passengers. Can you tell us what we are supposed to do?” The officer then said “MADAM! There literally three massive parking structures all around you.” If you know me, you know I’m a rule follower so at this point I’m definitely not in my happy place. The police officer asks for my driver’s license and I fork over my Texas DL. He then asks me where we live and I say “São Martinho do Porto.” He shakes his head and he says with derision, “That’s in the north.” He looks at my license and says “Where are you from?” I say “Austin, Texas.” And, I shit you not, he says “Ah, brisket! Do you know how to cook a brisket? We love BBQ in Portugal.” I say “Yes, I do but it takes 18 hours…” At that point he hands me back my license and says “No stopping here in the future. You owe me a brisket.” and waves us off. It’s hard to tell what exactly happened, perhaps there would have been a lot of red tape in issuing a citation to a non-Portuguese driver’s license holder or maybe he was just bored and wanted to screw with us… But I now have ZERO confidence in how to correctly pick people up from the Lisboa airport.

To that end, the next time we have guests we will arrive well in advance and park in the P2 parking structure. While Jill is in the Chegadas hall I plan to seek out a police officer and ask if there is an allowed curbside loading zone for arrivals. I shall report back on what we learn, but we are officially 0 for 1 in the “Smooth Airport Pickup” category.

The drive home was uneventful compared to the excitement of our first law enforcement encounter.

We arrived home and got Clara and Stephanie situated in their respective rooms and they both had a quick Power Nap. While they were napping Jill and I went through the suitcase full of all of the goodies they’d brought at our request (and some very thoughtful things that we hadn’t even asked for).

After their quick nap, Stephanie and Clara were ready to walk down to town for lunch. We stopped at one of our favorite cafés, Esplanada da Fonte, because they have the best cappuccinos in town.

The festival of St. Antonio was in full swing so we stopped for a quick picture of our guests at the Chapel of St Antonio.

This was the first test of item #2 above. I’m pleased to report that our friends at Esplanada da Fonte, produced a perfectly serviceable well-done cheeseburger with chips (French fries) and ketchup packets for Clara!

The entire marginal (main street that fronts the beach) was full of vendor stalls and we walked the length of the street looking in the vendor stalls. Clara got a woven bracelet with her name on it (3€) and got her first glimpse of the Fartura kiosks (more on that later).

Oh, and there was gelato!

We trekked back up the hill to our place and had a relaxing rest of the day. One of the high IQ things Jill did was have Stephanie bring the fixings for “Nana’s Tacos”. Nana’s Tacos are one of things Clara is guaranteed to eat. We made up a big batch that night with plenty of leftovers for Clara to eat for the rest of the trip when she didn’t want what the grownups were having.

The next morning we got up and trooped to Nazaré. Clara was a trooper, as I think we logged about 10 miles on foot that day. We parked in the marina parking lot and did all the things in Nazaré, including riding the funicular up to Sítio and back.

We spent the weekend close to home because Stephanie was fighting off a cold, but we took Clara into town on both days as the festival of St. Antonio was reaching its crescendo.

We had lunch at another of our favorite cafes and then we took Clara to see the tunnel that leads from the bay to the Atlantic.

While walking to the tunnel we’d seen our Portuguese teacher, Leonor, who was supervising the festooning of the family boat for the next day’s boat parade. She generously offered us a boat ride around the harbor once they were through with the decorations. That gave us about 30 minutes to kill…

That was just enough time for FARTURAS!!!!

We all walked away feeling like Farturas are the peak of fried carnival dough technology, surpassing both churros and funnel cakes. Unfortunately for future visitors, Farturas do not appear to be widely available outside of festival season, so plan your visit accordingly.

We had a few minutes left before it was time to meet for the boat ride and Clara found a way to use that time….

Each year for the festival of St. Antonio, there are two ceremonial processions. In the first procession the statue of St. Antonio is walked from the chapel where the girls are pictured above, down the hill through town and to the big church. And in the second procession St. Antonio and a host of other Saints and two of the three Marys are all trooped from the church to the Cais (pier) where each statue is put on a boat and the boats parade around the harbor and are blessed by the clergy. It’s an honor to have your boat selected to carry a statue and Leonor’s family had gotten the nod this year.

Leonor’s husband and son took us on a circuit of the bay in the newly decorated boat. Clara wasn’t so sure about it at the beginning, but she agreed that it was a lot of fun once it was over.

Leonor kept us apprised of the timing of the procession and the boat parade and we made a point of being in the gallery on Sunday to support both. It was a lot of fun. The entire community gets behind the festival every year and they seem to love these traditions

We watched the boats take their first lap around the bay to get blessed and then headed off home.

On Monday we made the trip to Sintra. Sintra, about an hour and fifteen minute drive from our house, is home to some of the more famous castles in Portugal. We spent the full day in Sintra and as a bonus to future visitors we learned where to park, how to pay for parking on our phone, and how the hop-on hop-off buses work.

I think everyone enjoyed the castles. The only minor disappointment was I’d promised Clara a troll sighting, but the trolls were apparently shy on Monday. I did show her where they bathed in the caves under the castle.

On their last full day in town took Stephanie and Clara to Praia Salgado (Salgado Beach). It was a super busy day at Salgado.

We made a spur of the moment decision to take Clara to Obidos to see shops and castle there. Obidos is known for its Christmas market and will be taking Jill’s mom there when she comes in December.

And then it was time for Stephanie and Clara to head home 😦

I am pleased to report that we are WAY better at dropping visitors off at the airport than we are at picking them up. LIS has a “Kiss and Fly” lot that’s right across from Terminal 1 Departures and we pulled into that lot like professionals. Quick kisses and hugs all around and, just like that, S&C were off on their journey home!

In summary, if you are thinking about coming to visit us and you can handle a little bit of dodginess on the pickup front, I think we are now well equipped to show you the sights!

In other news:

Intermarché has re-opened in SMP! So we once again have a local supermarket option.

And my friend Nicola has taken me under his wing and is teaching me how to make sourdough bread. This is my first solo effort, but Stephanie and Clara approved so it will be on the menu for future guests.

Now we rest up. Having guests can wear you out.

Adventure is out there!