My parents still had a few weeks with us so Brian and I decided to do a very quick trip to Portugal, just the two of us while we had willing babysitters. Though it was a short trip, it was the longest we've ever left the children. We left the house Friday at 4am and didn't get back until dinnertime on Monday. In addition, we've never flown to another country without the kids so this was a new experience for us after over 13 years of parenting.
Our flight was early on Friday, but guess what?! I was able to NAP on the plane! I brought a short homeschooling book and read nearly the entire book on the flight as well. So relaxing!
When we arrived in Porto, Portugal, we caught a shuttle immediately to the car rental and rented a car for 4 Euros! I don't even know what that was about, but I do know that if we'd brought the kids it would've been a lot more. Travelling kid-free is so cheap! Score one point for kid-free travel. Brian got behind the wheel and drove me straight to Fatima. We spent the rest of the day there getting back just in time to return the rental. The rest of the trip would be in Porto and we would need only a metro and our legs for transportation from then on.
I hope you don't get sick of me in all the pictures. Brian kept making me stand in them since he had no children to force to be in the pictures. Strike one for travelling kid-free since it means not having children to be in all the pictures and then I have to do it.
Notice that I am wearing my rain coat in all the pictures. That is because it was rainy and foggy the whole day. The basilica was where we headed first to see the tombs of two of the children of Fatima. Then we went to the Rosary followed by Mass at the Chapel of the Apparition built in the exact place where our Lady appeared. It has only three walls and is somewhat exposed to the elements though it is covered.
We tried to go to the museum to see St. JP II's bullet inside the crown, but we were first told to come back at 1400, so we went to have lunch. Then we came back at 14:20 and the nun said to come back at 1500. This time we were only 5 minutes late and we were allowed to go in. The nun didn't speak much English, and it was not clear why the opening time kept changing until we got down there. It was a partially guided tour and began with a short film.
After the museum, we made a few stops in the shops to buy some gifts and then began the two hour drive back to the rental car facility. We then had to catch a shuttle back to the airport, take the metro to the office to get our apartment key and then back to the metro to go to our apartment. We had a late dinner and the day was done.
No comments:
Post a Comment