We flew TAP. Same flight but unrelated reservations as Kim was returning earlier after a side trip to Paris. We were blessed that our flight was scheduled for later then most Boston/Lisboa trama events. The flights I have taken other years always got in at like 6am. This one left at like 10pm and got in at 10amish. I was in a window seat. I have gotten comfortable enough with 6 hour flights that I do not need to spend the extra money for an isle seat. It was the Wednesday after the Monday marathon so there were a number of runners. I assumed the man next to me was a runner returning to Europe. He did not seem to want to talk. I had to wait for them to go to the bathroom. I passed the time easily, some sleeping, reading, games. The man did engage with me at the end of the flight. He is an internist in Indiana. Originally from India. Very anxious to be retired and do more traveling. He and his wife also had a daughter on board and were going to a wedding in Spain?
The line for immigration was its normal cluster fuck. I mistakenly hoped that getting in later would be better, but no such luck. We snaked back and forth for a hour? Earlier a man standing in the gangway had checked our passports and vaccination card. No one asked to see the Covid test we had been required to get!!
Now onto the metro. I remembered the basic layout and a metro employee helped us use the machine to buy a 2 day pass. We accomplished the line change and got to our stop but then were faced with non-functioning escalators. It was all we could do to get the luggage to street level. Then more drama. Kim was having trouble communicating with the airbnb contact. The contact was not answering the phone and insisting on sending the entry codes in a way that Kim could not receive. I took advantage of the situation and convinced Kim to drag DOWN hill to the office where I buy my Portugese phone SIM card. Many years ago I managed to leave my iphone in the boarding lounge in Boston and so bought an iphone upon arrival and learned this whole dance of purchasing a SIM card.
KIm was fuming in the corner, knowing that she would have to drag her luggage uphill and fighting to get the airbnb person to respond. I was able to buy the SIM card. It certainly seems to cost a lot more than I remembered! Then I tried calling Kim, who had activated her Verizon phone for operation aboard and of course the call did not go through. A long message in Portuguese ensued. I was able to give it to the SIM seller who said I was trying to call a US number and so would need international minutes. Another 20? Euro.