Agnes and I were up at 7:00 am and in the shower. This was actually only 11:00 pm Pacific time
Sept 24 back in Kelowna as there is an 8
hour time difference. We had a quick
breakfast with Liam and Siubhan before getting in the car at 8:20 am. Liam had said it was only 50 minutes on a
good day down to the Lisbon airport but at this time of day we were looking a
rush hour traffic. Liam made good time
down to Lisbon until we got to within a few kilometres of the airport and then
the freeway turned into a parking lot.
However Liam skillfully maneuvered us through what seemed like a maze of
fly overs and under passes and dropped us at the airport just minutes before
10:00 am. After the good byes and
thanks on the departures ramp they were off.
Agnes and I found the Air Canada kiosk and dropped our
luggage and headed for security. It
seemed pretty easy and then off to passport control to get our passports
stamped. So you are stamped in and
out. As it turned out they had the
wrong date on the stamp but nobody seemed to notice or care. Makes me wonder why they bother to stamp you
out. Finally down to the gate and a
chance to catch our breath. The flight
was on time at 12:50 and while it looked like we had lots of time we got to the
gate only 20 minutes before boarding.
The plane was another of Air Canada’s cast offs now flying
under the banner of “Rouge” and it was cooking hot on the plane as no one
turned the AC on. Once on board we sat
on the ground for 30 minutes before being pushed back. Didn’t get into the takeoff cue. OOPS!
However we were on our way. It
seemed like we were surrounded by hackers.
There was a lady infront of us who coughed almost continuously and there
were two or three others behind us who coughed sporadically. If we
avoid the plague it will be a miracle. The flight was pretty smooth and non-eventful
so I guess that is a successful outcome.
Unfortunately neither Agnes nor I were able to catch a nap during the 7
plus hour flight.
Upon arrival in Toronto we were still 20 minutes late and
now had to clear customs, go through a second set of security screening and
wind our way through the sprawling maze of the Toronto airport going from the
international arrivals gate to the domestic departures. However we sat on the
tarmac for 15 minutes as the ground crew didn’t have the gate ready. I guess someone forgot to call ahead. OOPS! We
did have a three hour layover. However by time all of this transpired all we
had time for was to grab a quick Teen Burger from an A&W and get on the next
leg of the journey to Vancouver.
The leg to Vancouver was a brand new Air Canada plane with
modern seats and built in tv monitors and power points on the seats. Agnes and
I watched the new Guardians of the Galaxy #2. It was
good but not as good as Guardians of the Galaxy #1. Lots of cameos by different actors and pretty
campy. The movie ate up 2 hours of the
5 hour flight. So I still had lots of
time to snooze but just couldn’t find a nap anywhere.
The Vancouver layover was three hours so we had lots of time
to wander down the corridor from one gate to the next. We stopped at a panni shop and had a bite to
eat which really helped to revive us or at least keep us moving. The plane was a turbo prop and it was only a
40 minute hop over to Kelowna. Maybe it
was the drone of the engines but both Agnes and I slept the entire 40 minutes
of the flight.
The luggage rolled off and we headed out to find a cab
home. We opened the door to our place in
Kelowna a couple of minutes before 1:00 am Sept 26. Total elapsed time from our first show to
Kelowna 26 hours. Home sweet Home.
I would like to thank Liam and Siubhan for putting together
and hosting us in Portugal. It was a fabulous
adventure and one Agnes and I treasure. We look forward to our next adventure with
you.
Terry
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