This is my office

All best laid plans can unravel. I was keen to see the storks and other bird life in the 60km lagoon national park. I went to on the day, only to be told that it was cancelled and there was a 6 hour cruise around the islands. So of course I joined that. 

I had half an hour to do a supermarket sweep and get breakfast and enough water that I didn’t melt. So I arrived on board with two pastel de nadas’s and water. It was a long wait until coffee, but me and my new best friends Sue and Scot from Scotland, sitting opposite me on the luxury boat laughed and gossiped as we sped across the water. First to a man made island, with prestine sand, the second to a fisherman’s island where we tucked into a plate of sardines and then to a deserted island. All so beautiful.

The guide was great, very friendly and kept on saying “this is my office”. Wow!  

Did you book this on line?

 Cash is king in Portugal. I can’t remember the last time I used cash at home. All transactions are just an easy quick tap. 

I grabbed with the app for the trains and downloaded my ticket to my Apple wallet, only to see all the passengers with their paper ticket. “Did you buy this on line?” asked the ticket inspector. We I certainly didn’t just make it in canva. 

And that’s another thing - train travel is so affordable, just another thing that our country fails at. It’s crazy that flying to Portugal is less than the train to London! 

No need to ask for directions

 I feel so grateful that I come from a generation where we had to plan our travel, as you know I absolutely love a spreadsheet! Well that’s not the case now. Everything we need to know is in the palm of our hands. 

No need to ask for directions, as you just follow google maps. No need to head to the tourist information, you just search the internet or ask ChatGPT.

We’re loosing our fabulous interactions. No one is chatting on the trains, they’re all glued to their screens. 

I still want to ask for directions!!!!!