First official day of the tour. Rick counts today because we meet Rafael our guide, listened to him tell us the ground rules and then go for a walk around some of the neighborhoods. Lisbon has a lot of distinct neighborhoods. The city was destroyed in a 9.2 earthquake in 1755. After the quake the Earth felt like keeping the party going so there was a tsunami. 80% of the city was destroyed along with 25% of the population. We heard a lot of interesting history of Lisbon along with some poetry from our guide. The model was inspired by the setting and struck a pose.
After the stroll everyone went to dinner on Rick. We sat with Gayla and Nancy. They met on a previous tour and have traveled together ever since. Gayla has been on 16 Rick Steve's tours. Gayla really likes touring. Nancy's luggage got lost but we hope she gets it back by tomorrow before she starts to smell.
During our stroll we came upon a cork store. Everything in the store is made of cork. Portugal grows cork trees everywhere. Here is a picture of some raw cork that was just removed from a tree. I asked to buy it but the lady said that this whole tree was saved to make wine corks for someone named Jenny H.
More Lisbon in the A.M. and on our own in the afternoon. Dinner tomorrow night includes a Fado performance.
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