An adventure in Portugal - April 2017

As we have mentioned many times, Semana Santa in Sayulita is crazy with Mexican nationals from inner Mexico so we always try to leave during that time.  This year our friends suggested we go to Portugal and rent RV's.  We really had no business going because we are building a house using cash but I cannot pass up a chance to travel,  and then throw in camping and I will do whatever it takes to make it work.  So I took two weeks vacation in April which gave me the whole month off.  I knew we would need standby travel time on both ends.  I could write a small novel on us getting to Lisbon but will spare you and me.   With standby travel you do not even being to think about flights until a day or two before.  I needed to know routes and backups so I started about four days before planning how four people were going to get from Puerto Vallarta to Lisbon.  I became so overwhelmed because there were so many options.  Delta at that time did not fly to Lisbon which sucked for us.  We can fly on hundreds of other airlines for a very minimum price so I had all of those choices.  I could also get us anywhere into Europe on Delta and take a European airline, train or bus to get to Lisbon.  But we first had to get out of Mexico.  I also didn't want to pay a fortune for airfare. I had hundreds of scenarios so I finally had to make a chart to figure how in the hell we were going to get there.   I also knew that the plans could change within seconds so I needed it all in front of me.

My color coded chart.  Each country had a different color as well as each mode of transportation.

I soon learned that every form of transportation from anywhere in Europe to Lisbon was either sold out, way too expensive or took too many days.  I had already given us four days to get there and we had to pick up the RV on April 10.  It also didn't help that we were traveling during Spring Break and during the week of a serious shit show of rain, tornados and cancelled flights for Delta. Flights broke down and we had choices to make the could either make or break us including throwing Amtrak in the mix as well as spending the night in either Grand Central Station or the Train Station in Philly.  Ozzy not being comfortable with either decision.

So, to get to Lisbon we flew Puerto Vallarta to Minneapolis, spent the night at the Raddison Blu attached to the Mall of America for two nights.  I have been wanting to take the kids there because of the awesome indoor amusement park so this was perfect.  We stayed there two nights because we were flying TAP Air Portugal out of Boston on April 9.

Testing out our new selfie stick

Boarding passes for TAP

We did it.  We arrived in Lisbon on schedule, met up with our six other travel partners, and Ubered to pick up three RV's.  After being awake since the morning before, spending five hours getting the RV's, shopping and finding our first camp site, Amy and I headed back into Lisbon to see Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds play at an amazing music house.  Dave Matthews is by far my favorite musician, so when I learned he was playing in Lisbon the same day that we arrived I bought tickets.  He played what I think was the best set list I have ever heard from him and I have seen him many times.  I was so happy!!!

Dave Mathews and Tim Reynolds

Beautiful Venue

 Peneche

Nazare

Alex was crazy about the pine cones.  I think it may have been her first time seeing one.

Amarante

Porto

Ereceria

This is unfortunately a post that was begun but never finished.  It was just too big an undertaking to do once we got home and eventually got back to.  So, we will put it in the blog just because though the stories are no longer fresh, the photos are so good we need to be sure our adventure to Portugal was included in the blog in part.