Yesterday was comprised of a number of adventures. We were due to pick up our rental car at the airport around noon. After another wonderful breakfast at our hotel in Lisbon, we checked out and the hotel arranged a cab to the airport. All was going well until we realized that I left the hotel with the keys in my pocket. They were real keys and the hotel called us and told us they needed them returned. I suppose we could have asked the cab driver to turn around but we were already half way to the airport so we decided to continue.
When we picked up our rental car we discussed whether it would be better to just pile the luggage in the car and take a cab back to the hotel with the keys or just go for it in the rental car. We decided on the latter and, GPS in hand, we headed into the monster known as Lisbon traffic. We made it to the hotel unscathed and then headed to our next destination which is a resort near the town of Obidos and Caldas da Rainha.
It was supposed to take about an hour to drive there, but I had my Google maps set to avoid toll roads ( I didn’t realize it!). We initially got on the freeway and were zipping along when the GPS told us to exit right before a toll booth. We then proceeded to head over hill and dale through the back roads of Portugal for the next hour and a half. It was an interesting way to go and the narrow, winding, up and down roads often reminded us of Mr. Toad’s wild ride at Disneyland. The good news is, we saw lots of beautiful country and thanks to GPS we never got ’really’ lost!
We eventually made it to the Marriott resort where we decided to camp for the next 3 nights. It is right on the ocean and is a beautiful property. So far, we are batting two for two on the hotels. The only down side is that there are not really any shops close by. There are three restaurants in the hotel but if you want to go somewhere else, it’s a bit of a drive.
We wanted to go to the grocery store and the pharmacy so we headed out once again on the back roads of Portugal. We found a small supermarket and pharmacy in a little town about 5 miles away. We got what we needed and found our way back to the hotel. It was quite a day exploring the back roads of Portugal but we got all settled in and are planning to spend the next three and a half days exploring the towns of Obidos and Caldas da Rainha in addition to talking to a realtor or two. The adventure continues.
