YDYtravelers: I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain and also we visit the Portuguese National Library, even though we didn’t want to

So when I was blogging last night, as I tend to do, I slowly noticed a strange smell. We had the windows open in the living room, letting in the cool night breeze and smells happen in cities, so I didn’t think much of it. Then, a light haze joined the smell. Priorities clear, I finished posting the blog and then looked up to see what might be happening to my surroundings. Turns out this is what was happening: A pretty significant fire was creating quite a bit of smoke down the street, enough to fill our 5th floor apartment with a significant haze. That’s when we figured out that there was definitely no smoke detector in the place. The copious amount of smoke remained undetected. I was the only one awake, so I decided it would be a good idea to share the experience with Jenny. She spent the first few minutes quite disoriented about what was happening and looked out the window to inform me that it was very misty out. Mist. The fire was right next to the fire station that we’d seen down the street, which I think was why we didn’t hear sirens for quite a while after we became smoky, but then the sirens came and our street was closed. We figured that the local fire guys called in reinforcements. Of course we closed up the house and the smoke began to clear, but we decided it was a good idea to prepare in case we were asked to evacuate. Passports and meds and important papers were collected in a bag. And then Jen and I waited for what would come next. Turns out nothing came next. The fire was under control and so at 2 AM, we went to bed, smelling like a chemical campfire.

This morning we work up to rain, which we expected and also dreaded, since today was our day trip tour to Sintra, a town about 30 minutes outside of Lisbon. It is home to Pena Palace, an exquisite structure dating back to the 15th century. Dutiful and courageous, we trekked our way to the meeting point, umbrellas in hand, to begin the tour. We 5 were matched with a friendly woman from Florida, who was traveling solo. It was clear (or foggy??) from the start of the trip into the hills of Sintra that we were in for some low visibility and rainy skies. By the time we came to the castle, the fog drifted around the atmosphere like some kind of dramatic movie set. We commented that Alex would love it and be filming, with the rest of us waiting by the van for him to be done. Instead, four of us began a steepish climb up to the palace, while Mom took a shuttle with our new Miami friend Christina. It was a slippery walk, with fallen leaves on slick cobblestone providing plenty of opportunities to pile in. Having Mom walk down afterwards was nerve wracking and we saw another woman slip and fall right in front of us. We survived the walk and spent the next hour touring the castle interior, which, though absolutely stunning, left me feeling claustrophobic. There was no room to move in the palace, other than to follow the person in front of you and the tour was crowded with folks trying to get a glimpse of the treasures and also attempting to move ahead in the endless line of people. That was not so fun. The wind picked up when we exited, gusting and turning my umbrella inside out. Rain pelted down. And the visibility was quite low (as evidenced by the pictures below). Satisfied that we were able to see the impressive palace and equally sure we’d never want to do the tour again, we headed to the town center for lunch, which was tasty but unremarkable.

We were to meet with our tour guide at the bus stop, but on our way over there, rain pouring down, crowds with open umbrellas (just like us) bumping in to one another, George and I decided to bail on the tour and head home for some quiet time. I was also tired from fire watch duty. Jen, Eliza and Mom chose to move forward with the tour, so we said our goodbyes, and George and I stopped for gelato before Ubering back to the apartment. Maybe 20 minutes later, Jen texted that she had both sets of keys. We were locked out of the apartment and had no way of meeting up with the tour, which was going town hopping on the coast. So, for no other reason than to find a comfortable, dry and peaceful place to wait out the tour, George and I visited Portugal’s National Library. I was really hoping for a grand display of books and other libraryish things, but no. It was a rather mundane building, which was also fine, because we found comfy chairs and turned to our phones to pass time. I was super sleepy and kept nodding off, one time dropping my phone on the library floor. That was quite a loud noise and I felt bad for disturbing the folks actually at the library to do library things. Shortly afterward, we Ubered to the boba tea place near the apartment to finish the waiting. Tea and a chocolate shake were slowly consumed, then a trip to the Chinese grocer followed. And then we see the fam return! Everyone was relieved to be back in the apartment. Apparently, the tour continued with the wild weather and strong winds off of the Atlantic with very low visibility, making the seaside stops a literal joke (there’s a pretty funny video floating around FB, if you’re so inclined to find it. I’m tagged).

Now we sit and watch TV and eat round two of the best chocolate cake in the world. Tomorrow we pack up and head out of Lisbon on the overnight train called the SUD Express. We will travel through Spain and into France while we sleep, and with no WiFi, there will be no blog. Look out for us on the other side on Monday. Please enjoy the incredible views we captured today on our travels.