Lisbon - New York - Starkville

We awoke in our cheap room (BTW... we DID win a bottle of wine for staying in the cheapest place that night) to head out to the train station, hoping to finally get reliable information about travel to Lisbon.  Great news!  There was a train leaving Faro at 1:30 p.m.  So now we went in search of the Capela dos Ossos (the bones chapel).  It was hidden behind a church in the center of town.  There was no way to simply stumble upon it.  Had we not known to look for it, we would have never seen this very interesting place.

Creepy, but pretty at the same time.

With our mission accomplished we had a little time to kill, so we wandered around Faro, a pretty little town on the coast.  We spotted these kindergarten children out for a field trip.

Then we had lunch at a cafe near a marina.

We boarded out train for Lisbon after lunch and headed north.  Fortunately, we were able to get the info on our Lisbon hotel, so as soon as we arrived at the train station, we grabbed a cab to the Tiara Park Atlantic Hotel.  Only one other person had arrived.  The rest of the teams were still out, so we did not know if they had made it to Fez, Morocco or not.  But shortly thereafter, folks starting arriving.  Yes... they had made it to Fez.  But by skipping the mandatory at Alhambra, they had all forfeited the leg.  It was a victory for Team Weathehekawi!!  (Well, at least we won one leg!)  

Even though it was a moot point now, we wanted to try some of the local foods which Bill had made mandatory for us to try.  The very best thing we had were little custard pies from the Pasteis de Belem.  They were amazing!  

The next morning it was time to head back to the USA.  We flew from Lisbon to London, then on to JFK airport in NYC.  This lovely lady was the welcoming committee.  She kept telling us, "You can't stand here."  

We had two nights in New York, and we spent our last full day with friends David and Natasha taking in the sights of Soho and Greenwich Village.  We visited the Chelsea Market and ended the day at the oldest Irish Pub in New York.

That evening Bill and Pamela hosted our winners' dinner at a great restaurant.  Congrats to Zoe and Rainy... repeat winners and true competitors!  We look forward to seeing you guys again next year!

Sunday we came home.  It's good to be back in Starkville, and to know that our family, friends, dogs, and house are all okay.

Thanks to all of you who followed along as we circumnavigated the globe.  I hope you found at least some of this interesting.  We have had a true adventure, and reaffirmed that David is right when he says, "Life is for doing stuff."