Thus begins three months of travel for me in Europe–without the motorbike. If you are a hard-core fan of my motorcycle adventures, I guess you can just tune back in mid-June, when I return to the USA and a busy riding season. If you are up for other types of adventure, as I am, sit back, relax, and I’ll deliver some juicy bits…
First of all, I want to say how good it feels to be back in Europe. Just sitting in the Paris airport with all the unfamiliar sights and sounds and smells and cultural diversity–OMG I want to much more of this (travel) in my life.  I haven’t been to Europe in about 6 years, and it’s just so good to be back.

The flight from Paris to Lisbon was great, even if I’d been up for about 24 hours. Crossing over the snow-capped Pyrenees was a sight to behold from 30,000 feet, juxtaposed a few hours later against the most amazingly blue seas, white buildings, and red clay tile rooftops of Lisbon.

Dinner was an interesting affair–translations on the menu (is it THAT obvious I’m an American?) proved entertaining: roast kid with vegetables, prime filt with paps frits, black meat. I’d forgotten the arbitrary and abstract things that europeans do to meat (pound it, reshape it, give it unusual textures). And the water? Well, it’s not like being cheap in the USA…when you order water with your meal, they bring you a bottle of water (‘with or without gas?’) that you’ll eventually pay for …so though is from now on I might as well drink wine!

(Cheers to that!)