May 10, 1969

 May 10, 1969

Returning to Kennedy.  Have to dump fuel so we can land.  Thank god we landed ok.  12:30 New York time.  New departure time is 2:00 am!  Corumba!!  WE are going to be 4 or 5 hours late.  At least we are all here safe and sound.  Board about 1:30 am NYT.  Airborne 2:10 am.  Have a scotch and soda and delicious hot patty chicken shell and mushrooms.  Coffee.  Try to sleep and get some off and on, thank goodness.  Just had to brush my teeth around 3:00 am.  Lovely breakfast of French toast sausage fruit and coffee around 6:30 am.  Trip has had quite a bit of turbulence and have had our seat belts on most of the time.  

      We’ll arrive in Lisbon in about 35 minutes.  It’s afternoon here but I have 8am NY time.  Weather is said by pilot to be clear and 70 degrees.  

Lovely sunny day!  Lisbon beautiful!   Flowers, Palms.  Go through customs.  Get lost from tour guide and rest of tour already gathered.  Guide is a woman of German Nationality.  Pretty sharp and efficient.  Former airline stewardess of Colombia air lines.  Flying from Hamburg and Madrid.  Been all over.  All through the states too.  Louis the bus driver seems very capable.  Start out at Hotel for lunch as we are four hours behind everything now.  Hotel is very excellent.  Lunch is tremendous.  Fish entre, some kind of lamb stew, wine, oh soup first.  Wonderful cream puff for desert.  Coffee.  Room is super.  Everything spotless.  In 10 minutes off on site seeing tour.  Beautiful Lisbon Cathedral.  Go to Museum de Coches.  Beautiful rich 17th and 18th century coaches and English coaches.  Bluff at St. Georges fabulous, will go back there.  The bridge is so huge and statue of chest in harbour.  

      Monument of Discovery.  Beautiful modern sculpture looking over river over mouth where ocean meets it.  Have a little over an hour to rest and wash for dinner which is at 8:00.  Fall asleep and feel a little better.  Shower.  Change and go down to lovely dining room.  2 guitarists.  Lovely music.  Four of us sit together.  Miss Hess introduces everyone and sits with us.  Meal:  soup  spaghetti, duck, potatoes, cake , white wine, coffee.  

     Night is beautiful.  Take a walk with sweater.  Flowers, some tropical.  Augustinia elms, palm trees, pines, Eucalyptus trees, olive trees, succulents; everything.  Cross street at risk of lives.  Driving worse than Portland Paris, London and Rome.  Find a sidewalk cafe for refreshments and beer.  Walk and meander back to hotel and retire.