We have arrived – finally!

For the first time in a long time we had flight issues. Let me share our travel day “fun”.

Everything started out great. The Airport Transfer arrived fifteen minutes early and off we went. When we arrived at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge to enter Canada, there was only one car ahead of us in line. I don’t ever remember there being no traffic whatsoever to cross the bridge. We cruised up to Pearson Airport in Toronto and stepped into the terminal exactly two hours after leaving the house. Awesome!

Awesome, except it was too early to check in, even to drop our luggage. They had a pleasant area to sit in the priority area and we did – for three hours. Ugh!

When the time rolled around, we checked in and then actually zipped through security. From there, we headed to the Air Canada Signature Lounge.

Our flight was scheduled to take off at 10:50 PM, so we would have plenty of time to relax and enjoy a little dinner.

When we arrived at the lounge, there was a waiting line to get in, unusual, but understandable. There are lots of overnights flights to Europe.

By the time we entered to get seated, our flight was showing a delay. We’d now be leaving at 11:10 PM. No worries, twenty minutes can be made up with a good tail wind.

As we were eating, the time changed again. Now we’d be leaving at 11:40 PM. I was getting messages and emails, all saying the same thing: there was a need to change planes and they were waiting on the new one. Since there was nothing we could do, we chose to finish our meal and just take it in stride.

Another notice, now it would be 12:00, then another 12:30 and finally the new time 1:15 AM. Well, ain’t that something.

But that’s not the whole of the story. The new plane would be smaller than the original and would not include a Business Class section. They would call us up to get a new boarding pass once they sorted through things. As they were shuffling around the cabin, we were getting text messages saying we would be in row 3, then row 30, then row 33. When our names were called, we were in rows 3 and 4, but at least we were in Premium Economy.

Air Canada says that there will be a refund for the difference in ticket prices. Wanna bet it’s a discount voucher?

Once we boarded, Sue and another woman swapped, then swapped with another woman and got me and a first round draft choice. So all six of us were able to sit together with our spouses.

Oh, and the flight, smooth and fine. Not as comfortable without the business class seats, but we’re here and we’re safe and happy.

Our Daytrip driver – Agnelo – was waiting for us at the Lisbon Airport when we arrived. I had let him know that we would be delayed and he was monitoring the flight time. He would be driving us up to Porto where we will start our adventure.

The ride was comfortable and took about 3 hours, including a rest stop about half way. Along the way, Agnelo talked with us about places to see and things to do, cultural issues, history, and a variety of other topics. He was so engaging that the time just flew by.

We have used Daytrip quite a few times in France, Italy and now Portugal. In all cases, the drivers were excellent and we were very satisfied with the service provided.

We are staying in an apartment from Torel 1884 Suites & Apartments. Since we’re here for eight days, we thought it would be more convenient to be able to come and go as we please and have a little more freedom to spread out. We have a studio apartment that feels cozy and has plenty of room. We’re located on a street with lots of places to browse or shop, grab a bite or grab a drink, plus we’re close to everything. We can easily walk to all the major attractions, as well as the train station in less than ten minutes.

Our first dinner was at a restaurant called Cantinho do Avillez. Since we figured we might be a little worn out from traveling, we played it safe and stayed close to home. We enjoyed our meals after laughing our way through the ordering process in Portuguese. That said, the wait staff were very kind and encouraging. They all spoke perfect English, so they guided us along when we stumbled and filled in the blanks when we needed help with our Portuguese.

We started with a glass of sparkling Rosè to toast to our adventure ahead. Then Sue and I shared an order of marinated scallops that were delicious. For our mains, Sue had veal cheeks with a mushroom risotta and parmesan, while I had duck confit with curried rice. We both had a glass of red wine from the Douro region that paired with our meals. Oh yeah….and I might have snuck in a piece of chocolate cake to finish off the evening.

We finished our day with a stroll back to the apartment. The stroll is up a small street that is at a 37 degree angle. There was no skipping and singing on this stroll – but we survived!

Tonight will be an early night and tomorrow we will explore.