Monday, June 30 –
Today is Ken’s birthday – a big one, without mentioning numbers. We celebrated Ken’s birthday at sea with molten chocolate cupcakes we made on board. The candles got recycled. We lost our wind and finally turned on the engine, motoring for the next 24 hours.
Tuesday, July 1 –
Another beautiful day. Seas are still very lumpy and we have all decided this is getting old. To make the best of it the collective cooks prepared a full breakfast, complete with bacon, cheese eggs and fruit. For dinner, which is the noon meal, we were all treated to a beautiful presentation of ceviche from our freshly caught tuna. Yumm. The main course was pork tenderloin with roasted potatoes, green beans and cabbage salad. Everyone was happy!
Wednesday, July 2 –
Land ho! Mainland Portugal came into view about 8 am and we watched the shoreline and cities become clearer as we drew closer. It is always a beautiful sight after days at sea. We are a salty bunch and seeing nothing but water has its own beauty which we love and have no fear of, but the anticipation of spending time touring Lisbon is exciting. We arrived at Oeiras Marina, located at the mouth of the Tejo River, which runs along the side of Lisbon. Oeiras is about a 20 minute train ride from center city Lisbon. It is more convenient getting in and out of the area as well as being safe and less expensive.
Our first order of the day was laundry so we could get that out of the way before heading off to sight see. What – only one washing machine for a marina??? I have 5 loads to do! We bit the bullet and started in, figuring out the Portugese instructions to use the washer and dryer. Three loads that night and 2 the following morning early and that task was done.
