We land in Lisbon...

'Hi Readers,

Well here we are in Lisbon, Portugal.

We were up bright and early today as we had a flight to Lisbon to catch. The desk at our hotel told us that the trip to the airport was more than 20 minutes, and as we always like to be early we left nothing to chance and booked an early shuttle.

Imagine our surprise when we found ourselves at the airport 6 minutes later!!

We got there with more than 2 hours to kill, but as we had to be there early as it was an international flight it was no big deal as we don't mind sitting around and just watching people from all over the world doing their thing.

The flight itself was quite remarkable as we flew over some of the most beautiful snow covered mountains we have ever seen.

Also, seeing just how heavily populated this part of Europe is really stunned us. Even in the mountainous areas there was a continuous line of houses in each valley. Wherever there is room to live, people have built houses there.

The photos speak for themselves.

And just as fast as the snow capped mountains appeared, they were gone and replaced by the Mediterranean Sea.

By the time we landed in Lisbon and got to our hotel there wasn't much left to do but head to the supermarket and buy some fresh verges and steak for tea. After a week of eating out, and the last few nights eating cheese and ham on bickies, this meal was so simple, but probably the one we have enjoyed the most so far!!

Don't get me wrong, I am loving sampling the beautiful foods here, but tonight we just felt like a good feed of veges.

It just so happens that there is a gym around the corner, so as soon as our dinner shopping was done I was around there in a flash. Even though it is Winter here, it is still quite mild, about 15 degrees. When I got inside I was struck with how stuffy it was in there, so I jumped on a bike and pedalled away, but after 15 minutes I decided to pull the pin due to the stuffiness, as well as for the fact that I find the bike so boring even though I know it is good for me.

What a coincidence that the gym is also on a steep street, about 150m in length, so I spent the next 40 minutes doing strides up and down the hill and really enjoying the fresh air. 

After a 3 hour flight today I was busting for some exercise too.

So, what is on the cards for tomorrow? It looks like a fair bit of exploring the ancient and historic parts of the city, as where we are staying is in a fairly modern part of the city. I don't know what to expect, but everything will be totally new which is one of the appeals of travelling.

And to finish off with, my daily sock photo for someone back home who gave me these as a surprise Christmas present, and I promised to show them on my travels. Here we are flying over southern France with Ryan Air on the way from Pisa to Lisbon.

So Readers, until my next post...

Cheers!!