Tram Travels on the Tagus

LISBON--The sun is coming up over the roofs of Lisbon, visible from our Corinthia Hotel window.  After a very good night's sleep, we will head off with the group we met last night on the tour for a visit to sites of the city.    Yesterday, we arrived with no hitches, though United's seats lack comfort and space.  The trip was just less than seven hours, five of them spent fast asleep with the help of an Ambien.   Absolutely no problems, even the light dinner we had at Chef Geoff's at Dulles from their limited menu was adequate.

Lisbon has trams-- old trams.  Known as electricos, they navigate the hills of this beautiful city as it overlooks the river Tagus.   Route 28, apparently the longest, runs through neighborhoods that may have been built after the huge earthquake of 1755--it caused the auto-da-fé,  mentioned in Voltaire's Candide, a ritual witch burning that was part of the Inquisition--but the result was a beautiful city of grand streets and little warrens of homes up and down the hills.  Route 28 is an adventure through this.  The trip takes about 90 minutes along streets some barely wide enough for the ancient trams. 

We met the other members of the Odyssey tour over dinner.  We are a group of 16 from all over the United States, all with interesting histories, ranging from teachers to business people, as far as we can tell mostly liberal, all white, several of whom have done these Odyssey tours before.  We hope to enjoy their company.  Our guide is Marco Ceglia who is originally from Naples and now resides near Cadiz in Spain with his wife and four month old baby.  He's great.

The hotel accomodation is excellent, a large room with a fully-equipped bathroom--the bath taps require a learning experience.  The food last night at dinner here was excellent, though not spicey.   An excellent squash soup, followed by bacalhau over spinach, and a small tart for dessert.  The Douro white was pleasant, though the white port served during the get-together meeting was much better, a sweeter but not over-cloying aperartif.  Off on our city tour!