Moving into Work Mode

We had 300 kms to drive and all day to do it. So we had a big and very yummy breakfast in the hotel and then got confounded by Google maps, which must not have been up to date on all the horrendous construction in Porto. We finally made it out of the city, only to be messed up again by intersecting super-highways and weirdly placed toll booths.

But finally we were on the right highway heading in the right direction. I gave Joe several choices of places to stop en route, and he chose Conimbriga, a Roman city founded in the 2nd C BC. Things were great there till the 3rd C AD, when a wall was built to stop the invading Germanic tribes. But the city fell in the 5th C. What remains are some really nice mosaics, ruined baths, a forum with a few columns standing, and a big part of the wall. What’s especially nice about this site is that it’s totally out in the countryside, so you can really get a sense of the layout and the expanse of the city.

Now here we are in Lisbon, in the same old same old hotel. Two of the doormen recognized us —not surprising since they have been working here for 18 years, which is as long as we’ve been coming!Read more