At Home in Cascais

On Saturday afternoon, we moved from our hotel to the airport with the invaluable assistance of Norma and Juan Rengel. We truly could not have managed without them.

Juan and Will demonstrated their outstanding baggage handling skills both at the hotel and at the airport. They might just have found a new career path. Who knows?

While Will and I checked in, Norma took care of Chili. The only shot I could get of them was an action shot because Chili was insistent on seeing everything and everyone at the airport.

After we finished checking Chili in, Will and I were able to get a drink near our gate only because we begged and looked pathetic.

Pro Tip: There are no restaurants or bars open at Dulles Airport.

Our flight was smooth and only six and a half hours. We arrived about an hour early. But after collecting our luggage and Chili (still locked in her crate) there was about a 90 minutes delay to get her paperwork approved by the airport vet. Once she was released, she hardly paid any attention to Will. We think she was searching for Norma. But, then, who isn't?

That dog has been the biggest surprise through the entire process of getting from Chapel Hill to Cascais. She is alert, curious, wagging constantly, and showing no signs at all of any distress. So all those sleepless nights for the months before our trip worrying about Chili were for naught.

We arrived at our new home in Cascais at around 10 a.m. local time. As we suspected, storage space is limited. We opened suitcases, left them on beds in extra bedrooms, and ignored that challenge for the time being. I immediately took a walk to the local grocery store, about a five minute walk from our house to buy some basics. It took longer than I thought it would because of the language barrier. I bought milk but have no idea whether it is whole milk or some variety of reduced fat.

We broke the jet lag rules and took a nap for a couple of hours. Then drinks and snacks on our patio, a quick dinner, and collapsed for the night. We are both still pretty tired. But all is well and we are starting to get settled. Right now Will is out exploring with our apartment agent's assistant so I expect him to be full of knowledge when he gets back.

P.S. I have installed my new SIM card in my phone. My old cell number does not work for the moment. I am in the process of getting it ported to Google Voice. My new number is +351 93 780 2824. You can also reach me by email (winnie.graybard@gmail.com) or on Facebook Messenger.