If Europe is in economic crisis.....

If Europe is in economic crisis, then no one has told the airports.  Construction is everywhere at Heathrow so that travelling from one terminal to another by bus is a maze-like adventure through fenced and pyloned paths, around new multilevel parking garages and glassed terminal structures.  Almost every flight out of Terminal 1 today was delayed -- we actually left almost 3 hours late for Lisbon.  And we had been stacked up in the air for about 15 minutes coming in, so the problems just multiply. There were travellers everywhere.   Maybe choosing London as my transfer point instead of Newark, was not such a good idea.

Lisbon airport is also undergoing improvements on many fronts.  But the 20 degrees at touchdown and the palms greeting you on the tarmac, make for a very different feeling.  There is a bit more easy-going feeling, but maybe that was me -- treking into town on the bus like a local.  I guess I missed the 'backpack through Europe' phase in my 20s, and am making up for it a bit now.  All of the officials and service people here speak English well, so there is no problem with finding the right bus and bus stop.

Did my favourite supper -- bread and cheese!  Had a hard time finding darker bread, not nearly so common here as in Germany.  And so far, the local cheese have been quite mild.  However, add the Iberian touch -- a litre of gazpacho to accompany!  Hotel is basic but fine and close to the main routes I wish to access tomorrow.  

Ah yes, some sleep -- managed only a total of 3 hours in the last 24.