14 May -- Lisbon

Got up early because the construction crew woke us up.

I am really sick today, my eye is swollen shut, I am congested, my throat hurts, and I have a brutal headache.

Took all kinds of meds and went for breakfast.  Ate at a nice little cafe on the corner.  Good breakfast and coffee. Frank and I have decided that we'll have to get a coffee press when we get home. We both LOVE this European coffee style.

Felt a little better after breakfast and went back on the Redbus Tour. Hoped off at Jeronimo's Monastery. Then we walked back to the discovery monument, Belam Tower, and Tomb of the Unkowns.  We then caught the bus again and headed to Restaurant Ave to get lunch. Ended up eating at a McDonalds!  It was a good deal and decent chicken burgers with fries.

Then we walked back to the hotel and on to the supermarcado for bread for dinner.  We also walked to a bargain center and bought a new duffel to replace my damaged one.  On the way back to the hotel, we noticed everyone walking around us was wearing red football jerseys and heading to the park. We went up to the terrace to see the view, it was spectacular, and noticed hundreds of people heading to the park.  Frank realized that they were going to watch the final match between Lisbon and Seville on a huge screen in the park. At the spur of the moment, we decided to go too.

I put on a red t-shirt and we took off for the park.  When we got there, there was already a huge crowd surrounding the stage with the screen. We followed a group of young people that were cutting through a hole in the fence and squeezing through a hedge to get to the front of the crowd.  I noticed that after we went through the fence, the police came over and sealed it off. We made it in just in time. But then we realized that there wasn't a way out!  We thought we would be stuck for the duration. The crowd was many young men and they were drinking, smoking, yelling, dancing, and pretty much having a great time. We watched the game on the screen until half-time and then we made our way through the crowd snaking back and forth until we got to the back of the crowd and the open fence to get out.  Someone had set off a smoke bomb and the crowd went wild.  We noticed that there were many ambulances as well as hundreds of police here at the park. Also news crews and satellite vans everywhere.  I was worried about what they thought might happen here.