PLANES, TRAINS, BOATS AND TROLLEYS

There are so many ways to get around in Portugal, and we used them all! The first thing our tour guide did in both Lisbon and Porto was to hand us each a little 3-day card she had purchased for us, that not only allowed us access to all public transportation but also got us discounts or even free entry into many of the local museums and attractions.

We rode trolleys...

The Famous #28 Trolley in Lisbon

trains...

Train Station in Porto

took a river cruise down the Douro river...

and, of course, there was a marvelous underground metro system in both Lisbon and Porto which we utilized every day. Why-oh-why can't we have something like that in Texas? Just think of all the drunk-driving fatalities we could avoid if only we had decent public transportation!

Even their turquoise-topped-taxis were lovely.

Unfortunately, this guy below never came out to offer me a ride, no matter how long I lurked around his bike.

Note The Picnic Basket and Flower

Of course, our  favorite way to get around when we travel is by foot, because that is where all the very best discoveries are made -- like this fabulous tea shop we stumbled upon after we rode the trolley all the way to the end and decided to work our way back to our hotel on foot.

Alas, now we are back at home, where we must depend on our cars for absolutely everything!
 

IT STARTED OFF WITH A BANG!

Sorry to go so long with no word, but when one gets the chance to go explore a new part of the world, one really shouldn't waste too much of that precious time messing around on social media -- especially when one has a hunch that this may well be one's last such adventure!

So where did we go? Portugal! We headed for the airport mid-day on Wednesday 5/1, but by the time we got to our hotel in Lisbon, it was lunchtime on Thursday. Since we couldn't get into our rooms that early, our Wimberley tour guide had decided we'd drop our bags off and go have the famous Bifana sandwich that Anthony Bourdain made such a big deal about in his Lisbon episode. It got me to wonderin'... about the fact that I don't believe I ever heard Anthony Bourdain say something was actually bad on any of his shows. And if he never said anything was bad, how could you trust him when he said something was good? Case in point -- this was not a bad sandwich, but it was certainly not a great sandwich. It was a piece of pork on a piece of bread, and you could add regular yellow mustard if you wished.

We wandered around until time to check in, then collapsed on our beds until time for our Welcome Dinner at the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Lisbon, Café Martinho da Arcada.

Grouper

Now this food was pretty darn good. But one thing you will notice is that the Portuguese aren't really into spices. Pretty much everything you eat, be it fish or fowl, will have been cooked in olive oil and chopped garlic, and that's about it. Nor did I ever see salt and pepper on the table. I probably could have asked for it, but didn't want to risk insulting anyone.  After dinner John spotted a little kiosk across the road selling Ginjinha, a sour cherry liqueur, and he ran across the street to grab a glass. Why? Because Anthony Bourdain said he had to!

Never saw him drink another one after that.

The next day was supposed to be our easy day. Instead of a grueling walking tour up and down steep cobblestone streets, we got chauffeured around in tuk-tuks - something like a golf cart on steroids, holding six passengers each and sitting much higher off the ground. Easy enough to get in and out of at the beginning and end of your trip, when they provide you with a step stool. Not so easy at the stops along the way, when you have to back out while searching blindly with your foot for the one little toe-hold on the side.

We made it almost to the end of the tour without incident, but then Hubby's camera bag got him tangled up and caused him to trip on the way down from the tuk-tuk and go splat on the sidewalk. So you might say this trip started off with a bang! No biggie, right? Unless you take blood thinners. Then you'd better pray you didn't hit your head, otherwise you might find yourself being life-flighted to the nearest hospital with bleeding in your brain! Been there, done that. Needless to say, I watched him like a hawk the next several days, which my hubby really, really hates! On the plus side, he went splat right in front of a really cool place called Time Out Market, a giant food hall where you can try all kinds of good stuff. We lucked out by nabbing one of the last spots in their Academia, where they serve a meal of the day at lunchtime, and teach classes in the afternoons. It was delicious!

We followed that up with a leisurely walk back to our hotel, some unpacking, a nap, and then dinner at this lovely little tapas bar that we had passed on our way down to the river.

Not a bad start to the adventure, all things considered.

THE BUTTERFLY FANDANGO

After more than 10 years of hearing about the amazing Butterfly Festival that happens every year here in Wimberley, at the Emily Ann Theater, we finally got to see it for ourselves. Why did we wait so long, you ask? Well, this is something best shared with a pint-sized explorer!

 So much to see and do, plus butterfly releases every half hour.

Butterfly Bait

Waiting For Release

He Caught One!

Plus there were lots of fun crafts...

Making Caterpillars

 train rides...

and Sno-Cones!

So much fun, in fact, we wore the poor kid to a frazzle.

Now it's Mimi's and Papa's turn to head off on a little adventure of our own. Catcha on the flip side!
 

IT'S OPEN! SORT OF...

When the big red food truck disappeared from in front of Agave, my first thought was "Oh no! I guess he just wasn't getting enough business to make it worth his while." But then we noticed cars in front. And, finally, spotted that little red neon sign in the window. Yes! They are finally open! Sort of.

I say "sort of" because, as it turns out, they are still doing their cooking in the food truck, which was just moved around back. Based on that, and the fact that they set up a couple of port-a-potties and a hand washing station outside, I'm guessing they still haven't tackled the septic issues that have kept it shut down for the last eight or nine years. But hey, at least we finally got to see the inside, after all those years of wondering!

They have added quite a few things to the menu, and plan to keep adding as the business grows.

Not bad, not bad at all. Still, I'll be a whole lot happier when I can get tea and other beverages served over ice, in a glass.

HAPPY EASTER!

There's a church right down the street from my daughter's house that is doing it's darnedest to serve the young families in the community. They have M.O.P.S. groups, they do a great pumpkin patch in fall and, at Easter, they pull out all the stops. Never having seen any of this myself, I wasn't quite prepared for what that entailed.

First of all, there was the petting zoo.

GOATS!!

Then they had not one, but two choo-choo trains, taking all the littles for rides around the parking lot at all times, so the waiting lines moved quickly.

They must have some great barbecues here, judging by all the heavy duty pits lined up in that shed you see in the background, and the second shed to the left of it which is filled with firewood. I'm wondering if that rusty metal thing to the right of it isn't a smoker?

Then, there was all this bouncy madness for the older kids.

Last but not least, there were the Easter egg hunts. Many of them, in fact, divided by age groups, rotating throughout the day.

Sadly for Mimi, the eggs were all empty, so there was no chocolate for me to snitch! Instead the kids carried their full buckets (whatever happened to baskets?) outside to a table where they exchanged all their eggs for a little prize or two.

So, out of all these amazing offerings, plus face painting and games and several other things I forgot to take photos of, what do you suppose our Little Goober loved most?

A quiet little playground back behind the church, spotted while on their train ride. Most especially, the little playhouse seen below, with a built in fireplace, stove, and a doorbell!!! 
 

Which he pushed over, and over, and over again, even though it no longer makes a sound.