I have no idea where to begin!

Perhaps the best place to start, would be our flight from the USA over to Portugal.  Here we are having just met up at the Philadelphia International Airport.  With plenty of time before our overnight flight, we enjoyed some dinner and cocktails, in hopes it would help bring sleep on when we boarded the plane.  Even with double captain's & diet cokes, I don't think either of us slept very well.

We arrived into Lisbon on schedule and cleared immigration without delay.  In fact, by the time we got there, the arrival hall was empty.  It was nice to get through quickly, especially having read about significant delays just a few weeks earlier.

We had airport transfer service pre-booked using GetYourGuide for around $25 for private car service.  Our driver was onsite and ready when we made it outside the baggage claim area . . . so off we went to our home for the 4 nights in the Capital City.

At the Ramada Inn, we were greeted by their friendly front desk staff who informed us that our room was ready.  Nice since check-in was scheduled for after 2:00pm and it wasn't even noon yet.

We got our luggage up to our room on the 14th floor; freshened up a bit and headed out to take in what we could independently using the METRO train service.  It was convenient to have the station just outside of our hotel.  With a daily rail pass for 7.50€ each, off we went!  We didn't really have any particular destination in mind.

The METRO was relatively easy to navigate, even with having to switch trains once we decided to head for the downtown waterfront area.  The stations and trains were very clean, and at no time did we feel in danger.  I enjoyed seeing the beautiful tiles Portugal is known for, throughout our journey, even on the underground platforms.


We made our way to Cais Do Sodre on the Tagus River.  There we walked around a bit trying to see what caught our eye for lunch.  There were a lot of options for both food and beverages, but we agreed we'd like something a bit more like a patio sit-down dining experience.  After strolling the waterfront, we made our way to Capricciosa Italian Restaurant, known for their wood-fired oven pizzas.  At just 18€/$22 USD for a shared pizza plus soft drinks, we felt dining in Lisbon was very reasonably priced.  Their outdoor terrace seating was the perfect place to enjoy the nice fall weather overlooking the water.
Our 12" (30-32 cm) ham & mushroom pizza was ample for us to share, and had exceptional flavor. It really was the perfect mid afternoon meal after a long travel day. We were easily back to our hotel by
nightfall, ready to settle in for a good night's sleep!



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