Portugal 2010

I do not even know where to start with Portugal. Compared to my many voyage this far in my life- it was pretty tame. Minus night 1. But we won't go there. That's part of the "whatever happened at Lux, stays at Lux" motto. I know... you don't get it. Had to have been there.

So we started the trip by flying 8 hours over the Atlantic and arriving at what Europe considers a 4 star hotel. We would consider it a modern Super 8. But, Hotel Florida definitely gets props for trying. The decor...ikea meets beetlejuice (picture noted above was Tom & Meg in the lobby). The rooms were named after movies and had cheesy movie posters on the wall. We got blade runner. Ugh. But, the lucky folks next to us got Audrey Hepburn. Ugh. Wish we got that. Instead we tortured them with them with late night romps and much carrying on. Oh well :)

After a nice 4 hour nap, we realized that my translation to Trindade was "we welcome you and can't wait for you to eat here". When I showed it to the concierge...she informed me the translation was "sorry no reservation".  So, they suggested a restaurant in Chiado called "sacramento". wow. Amazing. Delicious. Tom & I both had filet mignon, with a tomato mozzarella salad, amazing white wine and a mint cheesecake for dessert! Megan & Harris split a $70 sea bass-which they raved about. After spending hours with wine and talk....we headed out to the night club. You can see the pictures. We have the memories.

The rest of the trip was pretty much eating, drinking fabulous wine & sagres, sight seeing and exploring this new and exciting culture. Some highlights:

• Sintra- WOW! Breath taking views. About an hour outside of Lisboa

• Hard Rock Cafe- Where you go when you cannot try new food anymore & are American

• Castle of Jorge- First sight seeing spot in Lisboa & Favorite!

• Coffee- Smallest coffee on earth. Even starbucks could not get it right!

• Greve Greval- So Harris tried to fly out of Lisbon when the entire country went on strike. Not fun.

• Trinade-Bruno
• Aquarium- Highlight alert- Sea Otters! See video below.

• Moamba- I needed a Xanax to try this food...but overall impressed. Minus the flesh paste.

Overall- Amazing fabulous time with amazing fabulous friends. Traveling to Portugal and Europe opens your eyes to new cultures. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire trip & look forward to sharing the memories with all!