Feb 10.   I know, I know....what kind of blog is this.  Invite everyone except the Pope and Santa Claus to share the adventure and then provide no adventure.  I read somewhere that you need to build curiosity to a massive crescendo in order to gain the reader's interest.  I guess not writing anything didn't work so I will try to be more diligent.

So here are the facts.  We got nicely positioned on the flight to Heathrow, with a bulkhead seat.  Soon to be followed by a very large bag of headphones, presumably meant for the economy plus travelers to watch/listen to movies etc.  Too bad, Johanne's broken foot needed support.

The flight was uneventful.  Watched two movies, The second was Rush. Liked it .. Drank as much free booze as I could get.  Johanne slept the whole way. I  passed out for a few hours and awoke ready to conquer the day.  ie. drag Johanne and 33 guests from terminal 5 to terminal 3.   It all worked out very well.

6 hours later and a few more drinks in the Heathrow priority lounge we left for Lisbon.

Lisbon was wet.  I did the city tour with the group.  Johanne rested the FOOT.  The tour included visits to a monument celebrating the 1974 emancipation of Portugal from a dictatorship, the King's Palace in Belem, as well as a Moorish tower used to protect the port from unwanted guests back in the day.  Pretty sure it was before Jesus was out of diapers.  But I can't say for sure.

I needed some sunglasses, and as luck would have it, there were extra street vendors around, otherwise known as Gypsies.   By extra, I mean there was at least three street vendors for each of us.  I felt like a ticket scalper at a Justin Beiber concert surrounded by hungry young girls anxious for a chance to get the prize.  Sure enough one of them would figure out a way to whisper that his glasses were the only ones that were real fakes.  The rest were cheap copies of the fakes, and for 5 Euros I could have which ever pair I liked.  Pretty good considering this is the same guy that wanted 25 Euros, 5 minutes earlier.  In the end, I didn't buy any as Johanne wasn't there to tell me if they looked good.  I did however, enjoy the vigorous tongue lashing that my entrepreneurial friend got for driving down the market price.

One very cool thing was the tile surrounding the Monument of  the Discoveries. While the ground was completely flat, the manner in which the traditional tiling was laid gave the impression that you were walking on waves.  It was impressive.  The monument was equally impressive, carving of the early sailors with the Queen of Portugal in the background.  Likely one of the few times in history where  a member of the Royal family would be anywhere but up front.  Check out the pictures.

 The Queen is the one with the smallest moustache.

Enough of the history lesson, we are off to the Algarve.

Arrived in the Algarve on Feb 3rd.

 We have met the guests many times during Happy Hour from 5-7 every night.  Wine  is 1.25 Euros and they like to pour about half a bottle for each glass.   Romans's may have invented wine making, the French may have perfected it, but the Portuguese win hands down how to serve it in large and inexpensive quantities.

Our group has grown to 85 guests, which has kept us very busy planning and executing their excursions.   Johanne never ceases to amaze everyone with her Google like knowledge (for those over 40 that is kid speak for a encyclopedia brain regarding travel).  The Travel Porn Queen's legend grows. While Johanne does all the heavy lifting regarding travel plans for the guests. I too have been forced to play travel host and take people golfing.. It was a tough job.  However, being a good team player, I stepped up to help.... 54 holes later,  I think I have done my part!

I played three different courses.  The Algarve is a golf mecca.  There are two basic styles of golf here. Hilly target golf and umbrella treelined parkland style.  The winds are strong and make club selection tricky.  The European Senior Tour Q school just finished up last week.  We played the same courses that were used for the final two rounds. Shot 81 and 77 in very wet, windy conditions.  I stopped counting the playing partners scores when the hit north of 110. Still an enjoyable three days.  More golf to come with a friend I met during our last visit to Portugal.

The tour leader job is slowing down now, as most of the group is organized.  Johanne and I are taking her wheel chair for a ride today.  Going to find some big hills to roll down.  whoha can you hear the screaming.

Cheers, be well!