We woke to blue skies in Lisbon, having lucked out again with the weather. Leslie was feeling a lot better today. Phew.  We had a leisurely start, since we didn’t need to leave for the airport til 8:30 am, having  mastered the easy Lisbon metro system. 

Check in was fast. There was plenty of time for duty free shopping for others, and for us all to have coffee and a bite to eat.

There were not nearly enough seats at the departure gate. What’s up with that? Then we were bussed to our gate, which seems common in Europe but isnt common in Canada, in my experience. The tiny airport in Prince Rupert buses you out to the island, as I recall - but it’s hardly a major destination. The buses add SO much time to the boarding process. And when our jam packed bus arrived at the plane, we could see that people weren’t moving on the stairs anymore - boarding had come to a complete halt part way through. They took away the rear stairs, left people standing on the front stairs, and we continued to sit/stand on the bus without explanation. I didn’t have phone data, so couldn’t see what the flight status was reporting. After 15 minutes or so, we finally got to board. It couldn’t have been too much fun for the people stuck on the stairs. 

After the mini-drama of loading, it was a full and uneventful flight during which I completely stuffed up, my cold having expanded into my head. 

Then I had a couple hours of  waiting for my late and also full flight to Calgary. It was fun to run into a bunch of former work colleagues heading to Calgary for a week of meetings. Technically, I’m still a casual employee. But I do so little work that I never get to chat with them anymore. I don’t miss meetings, that’s for sure! 

I was grateful for Steve picking me up late in the evening and immediately crashed to sleep. I still had another 400+ km to drive on Monday. I was home mid afternoon after a short but great trip.