Today was a wild day, but it ended well. We started the day waiting on our “Transfer” to the airport to arrive. She parked on the street in front of our hotel. She grabbed our luggage before we could leave the curb. As a private transfer, her car was not marked. No red stripe to identify her as a taxi, nor was her car emblazoned with an Uber sticker. Her hazards were flashing. The car behind her honked his horn. I didn’t get her name, but we’ll call her Clara. They exchanged heated words. Why? I don’t know. Her retort was gravely and in a language I couldn’t detect. She wasn’t going to be intimidated. Every word she spoke gave the impression she was up for the challenge.

We got in the car and closed our doors. We were greeted with the smell of cigarette and jazz. Okay, I thought. I might like her. The car started to move and out came my name. Instantly, I knew why the car smelledl of cigarettes. '“ Sammie Nixon?:

“Yes,” I said.

“You’re going to the airport?”

Yes was the answer again.

“T4?”

“Terminal 4, if that’s what you mean. Yes.,” I said.

“You flying Iberia?”

That, too, was affirmed.

Clara had already turned the car onto the Calle Gran Via, Recklessly movng from lane to lane. I secretly wished she valued my life a little more. I might not like her, after all. She managed to get us to the airport without an incident. She unloaded our luggage (to which I was uncomfortable) but I got the feeling she was not going to let me interfere with her earning potential. “I’ll get your luggage and you’re going to tip me for doing it.” That’s what imagined. Raymond and I grabbed our luggage and started the process of diving into the mystery we weren’t sure we could solve. Our current clues: Iberia and Gates HJK. Uh, oh.

Just let me say this, the Madrid airport is the largest airport I flown out of. There were people everywhere. And chaos reigned. After printing our boarding passes ( which were already on my phone: please explain why that’s necessary), checking our luggage, undressed (figuratively), and waiting to find out if H, J, or K was the right door, we made it to our gate: K-74. We boarded the plane and an hour later we touched down in Lisbon. We connected with our transfer, left the airport behind, headed to our hotel. We arrived at our hotel around 1:30pm. Our room is amazing. Someone knew I was coming. The architecture in Lisbon is so different from Madrid. I have a friend who’s an architect (Ryan) who would really appreciate the detail and design of the structures here.

Dinner: Rossio Gastrobar. Wow! Wow! Wow! Five out of five stars.

So Rossio just moved to the top spot of all the restaurants we’ve visited here. As we were catching the elevator up to the seventh floor, I overheard a couple talking about how fantastic their dinner was. Now that I’ve eaten there, I agree. Chef Joáo Correia did an fantastic job. Both Raymon and I ordered the special: the waiter described it as roast beef, but what we received waa beef tenderloin with fries, a cucumber salad, and homemade hot sauce. Chef stopped by to tell us the tenderloin was resting. He said he’s bring it out shortly. And he did. On his cutting board were two tenderloins about seven inches in length, and a few jars. He began the process of plating the tenderloins slicing it into thin slices, then place them on the plate. He spooned capers (as an alternative to salt) from one of the jars, poured browned butter from another jar, and finally, from the last jar, he poured the dripping from the tenderloins. He sprinkled white cheddar cheese from England that had been aged for 18 months. All of those flavors blended so well. From the kitchen, Chef brought a cucumber salad that blew me away. The dressing on the cucumber was made using Japanese mayonnaise, soy sauce, and cilantro. We capped it off with dessert: Quindim de maracujá e côco: a custard covered in roasted coconuts, served with coconut ice cream and a passion fruit sauce.

That was the most spectacular dinner I’ve in a while. Such creativity. Kudos, Chef Joáo Correia! I highly recommend Rossio Gastrobar.

Click on the link above for more photos.

wednesday, july 30

thursday, july 31

tuesday, july 29