We are in Lisbon, in Campo Ourique, in our friend’s wonderful condo. We bring Edie, Hannah, Andrew, Joan, Izzy and me. Tomorrow Andrew and Izzy fly home, leaving four of us until Thursday.

After a frantic morning clearing our vacation house in Foz, Michelle and crew left to turn in their car at the airport and kill and afternoon, and we pulled into our taxi for the 100 km drive to Lisbon.

But remember that the Pope is in Lisbon and this is also the home of this year’s Catholic Youth Day, so we weren’t surprised when the taxi driver told us that he wasn’t sure he could get us to our house because so many roads were closed. He said he knew he could get us within about 1 km, but that might be it. What???

Well, it did bring some anxiety to our otherwise beautiful ride down A8. That’s for sure. Hills and farms and towns and more hills and towns on the hills. And then Metro Lisbon – hills and apartments, many of fine design, and even more of pastel colors, especially blues and pinks. Then into an older area of the city know as Campo Ourique, which we were told is filled with restaurants and expats.

It turned out that there was no problem, either with access or traffic and, except for occasional covens of teenage kids, there is no sign of anything out of the ordinary.

We all had lunch at a small casual place a block away, where we got scrambled eggs, two egg omelets, a large salad, a chicken salad sandwich, a cheese and tomato sandwich, an order of stewed mushrooms, a coke, a lemonade, orange and pineapple and mango juices and two espressos, all for about 50 euros.

The afternoon was spent in the condo – how many times can one watch Frozen? I did venture out to find Raffi’s Bagels before they closed at 4. I got there at 3:45, but the bagels were all gone.

We told Hannah and Andrew that we’d take care of the kids and they could go out for dinner. And they took us up on that. Before they left, Edie and I walked to Memorial Pizza, two blocks away and ordered carryout, having time to enjoy a glass of wine on a street table while the pizzas were baking.

So dinner at home. All hands on deck required to get Izzy to bed (we hope). “I don’t like that diaper!!” “Read me that book again!!” Etc

Now it’s quiet.

Tomorrow, without having to worry about nap time, we can start exploring Lisbon.