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So, I went on a 9-day tour of Portugal in November. I haven't been to Europe since 1999 and I went with my dad that time.

My dad dissolved his investment portfolio and split the money between his 5 daughters. My husband and sisters suggested I try a group tour to see if it would suit my traveling goals. The Portugal trip was to be the deciding factor.

The trip wasn't as good as I thought it would be but the people were the best part, as people generally are. So, I really only enjoyed about 25% of the trip and the rest was just not me. I had an underlying layer of anxiety the whole time I was away.

It was a 9-day tour from Lisbon up the west coast to Porto and back. There were 27 people in our group, 7 Canadians, 1 Bahamian and 19 Americans.

I thought going on a tour would be a good fit for me as I don't like to travel alone. But, although, I liked everyone in our group, I wasn't comfortable enough to invite myself into their midst.

I did eat most of my meals with people from the tour group so that was nice. I like meeting new people and finding out all about them.

But, I felt anxious most of the time and I've never lost / misplaced so many items in my life. I lost my water bottle twice but it was returned both times. I lost my passport for a day only to find it in my suitcase at the end of the day. I lost my prescription sunglasses and didn't find them. And, I got lost myself, in Porto.

I spent hours walking up and down streets asking strangers for directions only to finally text my husband my frustration at being lost. So, he in Canada, helped me find my hotel. It turned out, I was only a few streets away but the street I was on ran perpendicular to the street the hotel was on so that's why I never found my hotel.

But, let's start at the beginning...

JD drove me to the Toronto airport on November 19 for my 10:45 p.m. flight to Lisbon, Portugal.

Apparently, you're supposed to sleep on overnight flights but I was really uncomfortable in my narrow, hard seat on Air Portugal so sleep did not come.

I arrived in Lisbon at 11 in the morning of November 20. The day was just me on my own. I didn't meet the rest of the group until the next day. I spent the rest of November 20 at the hotel getting settled in. And, I did nap for a couple of hours.

November 21 was the city tour of Lisbon. I discovered that despite having ear buds to listen to the information about the places we visited, I missed most of it just because I wasn't paying close enough attention. That's one of the reasons I don't "read" Audible books.

What I do remember from the 21st, were these really cool stone sculptures, which were part of the Monument to the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos) located in Lisbon, Portugal. It commemorates the Portuguese Age of Exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries, a period when Portuguese navigators played a leading role in charting unknown parts of the world.

After this, we went to look at a monastery, I think but when we were done with that, our tour guide, Bea, went to a local bakery and brought back to the group freshly baked Portuguese custard tarts aka pastéis de nata to eat and they were yummy especially because they were still warm from the oven.

Lisbon also had a Christmas market set up downtown. It was only officially opened that night so everything wasn't set up yet.

Around 11 a.m., we were told we had free time for a couple of hours so if we wanted to get lunch, this would be a good time to do it. The bus was to pick us back up at 2:00 p.m. People were told that if they didn't come back to the bus, they'd have to get back to the hotel on their own.

I was invited to hang with two ladies from Prince Edward County, Ontario and the woman from the Bahamas, who was also traveling solo. We mainly just wandered until we found a restaurant that looked suitable. The restaurant we decided on had tables outside with blankets on the chairs for anyone who needed one and that was me, I needed one. It was a chilly 20C so I ordered caldo verde, which translates to green broth. Caldo verde is a traditional Portuguese dish. This soup had a smoky sausage in it as well as cabbage, I think.

The other ladies weren't planning on going back on the bus but I wanted to grab a nap before the Fado show we were to go to that night. So, I left the restaurant before the others were done in order to get back to the bus. The hardest part was finding the bus location again but the Christmas Market helped as the stop was nearby.

I did have a nap and we were picked up at the hotel for the Fado show around 6:30 p.m. Fado is traditional Portuguese music that expresses deep thoughts and feelings. I enjoyed the show despite the music being something I wouldn't normally listen to.

Day 2 (November 22) had us driving to Sintra. Sintra is known for its fairytale-like landscape, featuring palaces, castle and gardens, which earned it a UNESCO World Heritage status. This sounded like something I would like.

What I didn't like was the climb up the hill to the palace we were to see. I quit my climb about 3/4 of the way up, just before the palace's well system. I wasn't the only one to quit. One other lady also had had enough so we waited together. She was from Massachusetts and worked in the arts' field where she was responsible for applying for grants. She was stressed about it since the current President has cut money to the arts.

It looked like there were other ways to get up the hill rather than with our feet but we weren't offered anything else. My right knee was sore for two days afterwards.

I had lunch with a couple from Peterborough, Ontario in Sintra's downtown area and afterwards, I went shopping. I bought a pretty yellow, blue and white condiment dish for me and another one for my friend, AC. I was hoping to find salt and pepper shakers I liked, too but didn't have any luck. This is what it looks like sort of.

Day 5 - November 23, we traveled to Óbidos first. Óbidos is known for its cobblestone streets and its medieval walled town. Cobblestone streets might be pretty but I'm very surprised that I didn't fall at all during the whole tour as a lot of the streets were cobblestone and had dips and uneven ground, which were hard to navigate sometimes.

After Óbidos, we went to Nazaré, which is notable as a premier destination for surfers as waves can get quite big. However, on November 23, there were no surfers as the waves were only about 3 metres tall.

I had my favourite fish meal in Nazaré, i.e. Grilled Gold Bream. It was quite tasty. I had lunch that day with 2 women from Kansas. They were both travel agents so it was interesting talking to them about this tour.

November 23 was also the day I thought I lost my passport. I normally kept it in my theft-proof purse but it wasn't there so I felt really anxious all day about it. It was a Sunday so if I had to go to the Canadian embassy, it would have to wait until the next day. But, fortunately, after we arrived to our hotel in Fátima, I found it in my suitcase. Whew!

I don't really understand why we stopped in Fatima. There's a famous Catholic sanctuary there but we didn't arrive to town until around 6 p.m. and it was dark and raining so not really conducive for going out in and we left before 9 a.m. the next day so there was no opportunity for me to see it.

I did go out to find dinner but all the nearby restaurants (including the hotel's) were closed due to the Sabbath. Good thing I brought some snack bars from home.

Sister 3 (S3) told me before I left for the trip that if I wasn't having a good time to text her and she would rescue me so I texted her that morning when I was feeling really anxious about my passport and she replied asking me if I wanted her to call me but I declined at that point in time because we were already on the bus and I thought I might cry and I didn't want to cry in front of a bunch of strangers. So, I asked her to call me that night instead, which she did so we had a nice chat. I was feeling better by then since I'd found my passport.

November 24 was Day 6 of the tour and we drove to Coimbra from Fatima. Coimbra has the oldest continually operated university in Portugal and maybe even in Europe. It was built in the 1200s, 1260, I think...????

Here's a sculpture I saw that I liked:

For lunch in Coimbra, I ate with the 2 ladies from Prince Edward County again and the lady from the Bahamas. I liked all 3 of them but I liked the 2 Ontario ladies best. I ordered caldo verde again but this time, it came without sausage pieces. It was good. For dessert, I had a chocolate eclair. I haven't had a chocolate eclair in a thousand years. I still enjoyed it immensely. I have a nice photo of the 4 of us at the restaurant but I don't want to share anything so personal. No offense but I like to keep some things to myself.

From Coimbra, we drove to Porto. We were going to stay in Porto 2 nights. The lady from the Bahamas and another couple from Colorado and I went to the second Fado show in Porto, this time. AND, .... it was so much better than the one in Lisbon. And, it went on really late (past 11). We didn't get back to the hotel until almost midnight and I needed to unwind before going to sleep so I knew I'd hate having to get up at 7 the next morning for our day trip and boat tour of Porto. Here's a video from the Fado show in Porto:

The food was better at this Fado show, too. I tried clams for the first time and was surprised by how small they were and how little taste they have. The rest of the group really missed out on a nice evening. But, we got back to the hotel late and I knew I didn't want to get up early and I was signed up for the boat tour but I was feeling undecided about the boat tour as it wasn't as warm out as I thought and I get motion sickness really easily and there was a wine tasting at the end and I don't drink wine, so, I didn't feel like I'd be missing out on much.

I normally sleep 8 to 9 hours a night but since I had been in Portugal, I was averaging about 6 to 7 hours sleep a night so I was already tired all the time and our days were active so I decided to skip the next morning's excursion with the group and sleep in. I told the woman in the couple from Colorado to let our group leader know and slept in until about 9:30 and then went and got breakfast before the kitchen closed at 10.

I was happy to sleep in but that was one of the last good periods of the day because I went sight-seeing and shopping by myself and got hopelessly lost.

Did you know that Portugal is one of the largest producers of cork? Did you also know that model train layouts often use cork as the underlay of track? And, finally, did you know it was hard to find here in Ontario?

Well, I wanted to find some cork for my husband who is into trains but I couldn’t find it because the street signs in Porto were few and hard to find and I’m severely navigationally-challenged and I especially have a hard time reading Google Maps.  I really have to do something about that because now that I’m doing more navigating on my own, it’s frustrating having to have your husband phone you to walk you through the directions to get back to my hotel from his phone in Canada.

And, Porto is very hilly so it was hard work trucking up and down those streets over and over again.  I did have a big, Greek salad for lunch that day and that was a high point as I hadn’t had a green salad since I got to Portugal.  And, I went into the train station in search for a bench to sit on for a while.  The train station had been part of the tour’s itinerary that day but cancelled because there was construction all around the area and I definitely knew that as I had to navigate it, too but once I got in inside, it was worth it as it was so pretty.

Hilly Porto photo:

Sao Bento train station:

So, I didn't find the cork but I did order some online as it had free shipping and didn't cost a lot. I haven't received it yet but I hope it's useful to my husband.

I had made dinner reservations at the restaurant on the 17th floor of our hotel for 7 p.m. that night. And, I literally got back to the hotel around 6:30 p.m. after trying to find it for hours. I texted my husband that I was lost and he asked me about businesses in the area and deduced that I was on a street running perpendicular with the street the hotel was on so that's why I couldn't find it. With his help, I made it back to the hotel within about 20 minutes.

The dinner in the restaurant felt like a reward. I started with a leek soup and then had their rib-eye steak and ice cream for dessert. It was all quite tasty.

Wednesday, Day 8, had us driving back to Lisbon with a stop in Aveiro on the way. Aveiro is known as Portugal's Venice as they have canals everywhere with boats transporting people.

I was afraid to wander much because I didn't want to get lost again so I just checked out the stores near the Aveiro sign, which was where the bus was picking us up.

We got back to Lisbon around 6 p.m. I just checked in and packed everything for travel back to Canada.

I went down to get something for dinner at the hotel's restaurant. The couple from Colorado invited me to join them for dinner. I had a really yummy grilled veggie couscous salad. Afterwards, I went back to the room and went to sleep early as we were being picked up at 8:30 the next morning.

I got up at 6:30 a.m. the last day. Had breakfast with the rest of the Canadian people as we were all leaving together.

A couple from Ajax, Ontario were part of the group but I hadn't had much opportunity to talk to them previously, which was too bad as they were really nice. The man in the couple was very helpful at the airport with getting us to the right lines.

The flight home wasn't as bad as the flight there. I didn't try to sleep this time so maybe that's why. I watched 2 movies -- Freaky Friday and Freakier Friday. I also watched 5 episodes of Friends and 5 episodes of The Big Bang Theory.

The flight was very dry and one of the flight attendants filled up my water bottle for me. I didn't like either of the meals they provided -- a pasta with a rosé sauce and a sandwich that I didn't like.

I don't understand the math for the hours involved in getting home. We left Portugal at 11 a.m. Portugal is 5 hours ahead of us. I got into Toronto at 2:45 p.m. The flight was 10 hours long. I was really tired. And, it was snowing.

JD drove me home and then went back out for dinner. I asked for chicken wings, garlic bread, veggies and blue cheese for dinner.

I also asked for a large Greek salad without dressing for the next day.

Pan-European firm Claret Capital Partners has just launched a new €72 million Opportunity Fund, earmarked to provide follow-on funding for its high-performing portfolio. The London-based company has backed a number of European success stories and this provides a welcome boost. With an aim to support the continued growth of its portfolio, Claret Capital Partners has… This content is for members…

Barcelona-based traveltech company Exoticca takes off with €20 million

As travel continues to hit the headlines, Exoticca has just closed a €20 million investment deal. The Barcelona-based startup is now planning to jet set its growth plans by hitting up the Americas.  The travel and tourism industry has had a busy summer and it’s not over just yet! After a couple of months of… This content is for members only. Visit the site and log in/register to read. The post…