I planned to take the weekend in the eastern part of the Netherlands, specifically Delft and The Hague. Armed with free wifi on the trains (which I love) and some train station snacks, it was a very pleasant, sun-soaked two hours to Delft. I had intended to leave my overnight bag at the train station, as I would be going onto the Hague later in the day but their lockers were not available. Thankfully, I remembered reading that one could leave luggage at the tourist office, so I made my way into town.

One of the first things on my list for the day was to catch the number 28 tram. This famed tram route starts in Baixa and climbs up the steep hill into Alfama (which is what most people ride it for) before it heads back down the hill and out into westward districts. I had read that this was a highlight of any Lisbon visit, so naturally I figured I’d check it out. I was warned that lines could get long, so try to get there earlier rather than later. Well, mid-morning certainly wasn’t early enough, as there was already a lengthy queue.

My first full day of Lisbon was actually not spent in Lisbon itself but in a town not far away called Sintra. This place is particularly notable for bursting with palaces and villas. I had bought my train ticket the evening before (4.80 round trip!), so I showed up to the station and just hopped right on the train. Now I knew that Sintra was a popular destination for day-trippers from Lisbon, myself included, but I wasn’t quite expecting the sheer volume that I would encounter.

I had a relatively early train to catch, but I was thankfully only a 5 minute walk to the station. I popped into a bakery just outside the station to grab a couple custard tarts for the road (they ended up being some of the tastiest I'd had yet, probably because they were still fresh!) and went in to find my train. I needed to go just one stop and then change trains to board one bound for Lisbon. I had managed to book a single seat (rather than a seat part of a pair of seats) on my Lisbon-bound train, so I had at least a bit of room and quiet for the roughly 2.5 hour trip.

After a relatively lazy start to my day, I headed off in search of Porto's famed Majestic Café. Opened in 1921, it is a pretty little spot living in the splendour of the Belle Epoque era, with marble table tops, gorgeously engraved leather banquettes and liveried waiters. I ordered their "Majestic" French toast along with a pastel de nata and a hot chocolate, and happily people-watched while I ate my tasty treats. I didn't mind that most were other tourists because the interiors were pretty enough to keep me occupied (and the goings-on of other tourists is always fascinating).

Porto would be the first stop in a brand new country for me! I know very little about Portugal--their culture and even their food (other than their famed egg tarts, I don't know that I've ever had Portuguese food). I usually take the opportunity afforded by getting airfare covered to attend an academic conference to wander for a week or so afterwards. I had literally stared at a map of Europe to consider where to go after Glasgow and thought that a sunny sojourn in southern Europe (particularly after the veritable fall-like weather in Scotland) sounded like a brilliant idea. Hence, Portugal!

My lovely collaborator and hotel roommate Susanne Brouwer had suggested going on one of the conference-suggested day tours, and I was happy for the chance to get out of the city for a day. Organized by Rabbie’s, it was a small, 16-person tour (including several friends from the conference) that took us to Culzean Castle and along the Ayrshire Coast.

I feel like we have had the opportunity to eat and drink at some wonderful establishments and the good fortune of seeing some amazing things here. However, this is the third-largest city in the US, and as such, there is a wealth of unexplored territory. We've started creating a Chicago bucket list filled with all the things we'd like to see and do and eat, either for the first time or re-visited, before we leave.