Lisboa
We arrived in Lisbon at 12:30 p.m. on August 8th and just by chance we decided to check to make sure we didn'tt see our luggage coming around on the Baggage Claim since we checked it all the way to Dakar. Well sure enough we saw 2 pieces of our luggage. We had to take it and eventually check it again. We are still unsure about the whereabouts of the third piece of luggage but we are praying the we will see it upon arriving in Dakar.
What an adventure Lisbon was for us. We spent over 12 hours waiting for our flight to Dakar. We expected a 9 hour delay which we thought we would use to our advantage so that we could do some touring of Lisbon. We eventually were able to get ourselves out of the airport on a city bus which cost us 2.35 (Euro) each for a round trip. We saw some of the nice old buildings in Lisbon and saw a castle from afar but we really didnt have the energy to climb the large hill up to the castle. After a little walking around we found ourselves drenched by a sudden rain shower. One interesting note; as soon as it started raining (I mean within about 1 minute) there were these people running around selling umbrellas on the street. How did they know? We did what any good westerner would do when faced with rain in a beautiful European city: we went to McDonalds for lunch. It was actually enjoyable and it could be our last McDonalds for a while.
When we returned from touring the town we were absolutely exhausted so we started looking for a nice place to rest. Unfortunately the Lisbon airport is not very accommodating for those who wish to sleep. There are lots of metal and wood benches and absolutely no carpeting. We slept miserably for a little while then went for another walk. At one of our stops on our walk (we thought we found a good place to sleep) we saw that our flight status had changed. The 9:55 p.m. flight was now delayed and would not be departing until 12:55 a.m.. That was quite a blow to us since we were already quite miserable. We attempted to sleep some more but didnt get very far. At around 7:00 p.m. we started working our way towards checking in. We now had two bags (plus one which was hopefully already in transit to go to our final destination) which put us way over our weight allowance for the flight. When we eventually got to the desk to check in the lady took our bags and didnt say anything about the weight. She then said with a smile the magic words we all hope to hear when traveling: you are going Business Class. She told me she was sorry about the delay of the flight and then just handed me our boarding passes. Business Class we found out meant not only incredibly comfortable seating on the plane (including power for the Laptop) but also we had access to the Air Portugal Lounge as well as an increased baggage allowance (2 x 35 kilograms each). The lounge had every amenity you could ask for including a sleeping room which we quickly took advantage of. Finally we were able to sleep and even eat in comfort. God really does take better care of us than we would even do ourselves. By this point we had been going solid for about 27 hours and had only had about 20 minutes of total sleep and that had been in short spurts.
What an adventure Lisbon was for us. We spent over 12 hours waiting for our flight to Dakar. We expected a 9 hour delay which we thought we would use to our advantage so that we could do some touring of Lisbon. We eventually were able to get ourselves out of the airport on a city bus which cost us 2.35 (Euro) each for a round trip. We saw some of the nice old buildings in Lisbon and saw a castle from afar but we really didnt have the energy to climb the large hill up to the castle. After a little walking around we found ourselves drenched by a sudden rain shower. One interesting note; as soon as it started raining (I mean within about 1 minute) there were these people running around selling umbrellas on the street. How did they know? We did what any good westerner would do when faced with rain in a beautiful European city: we went to McDonalds for lunch. It was actually enjoyable and it could be our last McDonalds for a while.
When we returned from touring the town we were absolutely exhausted so we started looking for a nice place to rest. Unfortunately the Lisbon airport is not very accommodating for those who wish to sleep. There are lots of metal and wood benches and absolutely no carpeting. We slept miserably for a little while then went for another walk. At one of our stops on our walk (we thought we found a good place to sleep) we saw that our flight status had changed. The 9:55 p.m. flight was now delayed and would not be departing until 12:55 a.m.. That was quite a blow to us since we were already quite miserable. We attempted to sleep some more but didnt get very far. At around 7:00 p.m. we started working our way towards checking in. We now had two bags (plus one which was hopefully already in transit to go to our final destination) which put us way over our weight allowance for the flight. When we eventually got to the desk to check in the lady took our bags and didnt say anything about the weight. She then said with a smile the magic words we all hope to hear when traveling: you are going Business Class. She told me she was sorry about the delay of the flight and then just handed me our boarding passes. Business Class we found out meant not only incredibly comfortable seating on the plane (including power for the Laptop) but also we had access to the Air Portugal Lounge as well as an increased baggage allowance (2 x 35 kilograms each). The lounge had every amenity you could ask for including a sleeping room which we quickly took advantage of. Finally we were able to sleep and even eat in comfort. God really does take better care of us than we would even do ourselves. By this point we had been going solid for about 27 hours and had only had about 20 minutes of total sleep and that had been in short spurts.
How well I remember walking the streets of Lisboa and that "wonderful" airport! I just couldn't help but cry when I read that they upgraded you to business class and you were able to get rest! God bless you both !! You are great. Mom
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