So Here's Our Vacation Blog...

Sorry, but nothing to photograph yesterday - maybe that’s a plus!  Saturday started out smoothly, didn’t end that way.  Since Marge and I had repacked all our clothes and goodies into four suitcases plus our carry-ons Friday night, we had an easy job Saturday morning just finishing a few things and getting the car loaded.  A quick trip to the airport, easy rental car return, all was uneventful.  When we got to the Air Canada counter to check in, we found out our flight was two hours late because the incoming aircraft was going to be late.  They thought we might still make our connecting flight in Toronto, though, so no worries.

The flight itself was smooth and trouble-free.  As I said after the outbound flight, this Air Canada Premium Rouge is definitely the way to go.  Champagne when you sit down, hot towels to clean up before dining on an excellent meal served on china and linen, accompanied by cocktails or as much wine as you wanted.  While the time away watching first-run movies on a personal iPad.

Found out mid-flight that we were going to miss our connection, and had already been rebooked for another flight two hours later.  Problem was that we had a limo waiting for us at the prescribed time, we weren’t going to be there, and there was no way to reach the service while we were over the Atlantic.  Reached him when we landed, and made arrangements for him to return at a later time.

Made the plane change in Toronto with no trouble, until we got onto the runway and we heard the brakes screeching.  No way was this plane going to Detroit, in my opinion!  After an hour waiting on the runway while the pilot talked with mechanics by phone trying to remotely diagnose or repair them, they decided to return to the gate and change planes.  Now I had to call the limo again and tell him we’d be further delayed.

When all was said and done, we got into Detroit five hours late - 1:00 am - and the limo was not able to wait for us.  Had to search around the airport for a ride, and luckily found a Lincoln SUV with no client waiting to go.  Whew!  Almost had to call one of you for a ride, but luckily not.  Got home at 2:00 in the morning, so that was a 24 hour day for us, and we were bushed.

Sunday after Mass we took time to unpack - clothes in the laundry and a mountain of souvenirs on the kitchen table.  Now for days of sorting and labeling, figuring out who each of the items is for.

One thing about spending so much time in another culture is that we got used to the excellent Mediterranean cooking, and are not ready to return to grilled chicken and meatloaf.  Stopped at the grocery store and loaded up on ingredients for our own home-made tapas and spent a couple hours cooking a delicious meal in olive-oil with different seasoning.  Maybe we'll be healthier one day.

This was without a doubt the trip of a lifetime.  We were able to experience not only new places and different cultures, but met many interesting and friendly people, saw many unique and different architectural and natural wonders, even attended Mass on four Sundays in four different languages (Portuguese, French, Catalan, Spanish)!  We were able to refine our travel planning and rituals so the next time we’ll be able to do more in less time with less luggage.  So next year - Scotland, investigating Marge’s ancestry, and then we’ll see.  There may be another Lisbon / Collioure trip down the road.

Thanks to all of you for reading our blog, whoever you are.  We hope you’ve enjoyed it, even if just a little, and wish that one day you’ll take your trip of a lifetime!

Marge & Mark