We made it! As we sat in Dulles waiting for our plane, I do admit to also waiting for the next thing to go wrong. And less than an hour into our flight, when “a doctor or medical professional” was paged by the flight attendants, we had visions of turning right around and heading back. But apparently we were fated to get to Europe after all. We made it!
Our goal for our stay in Lisbon was to seat ourselves firmly in the correct time zone. With that in mind, we took it super easy, tourism-wise. We got up late, but didn’t stress about what we were missing; came home before we crashed, even though lots of folks were still out and about, in time to take cold showers and go to bed. And with only one fairly sleepless night (the second night is the worst!), we have (mostly painlessly) made it!
Not to say we were lazy all the days long. We did a lot of wandering aimlessly. We came across lots of purple trees (jacarandas, we think), lots of winding streets and stairs, squares festooned for St Anthony’s Day soon, and a cloister in the midst of excavation.
We made a special trip to the modern art museum on the water front, which left us so tired we had to rent electric scooters to get home (more COVID-friendly than the metro, true, but honestly just more fun).
And we will come back at the very end of our trip to do things again. It feels like a very safe and accessible city. And still interesting and exciting, with lots to look forward to in two months. Off to Coimbra on the train now — see you soon, Lisbon!
Magrilless 
I’m so glad you guys made it! Have so much fun on your adventures to come, and just know that here at the Purcell household, we’re thinking of you! (But not like a stalker) 🙂