Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1998 15:45:13
Phone call from Julie, transcribed by mom (Jill)

Julie called from Portugal. She sounds wonderful!! She said she had a wonderful time with Shelly and Patsy, and that they are the perfect tour guides and host/hostess.

They left Shelly's house in France and drove all night, until they reached the area known as Torres Vedras, in Portugal. Fabio's family's summer house is located nearby in the village of Paul. They are about 10-15 minutes from the beach and have gone there a few times. She thinks they are about an hour's drive from Lisbon.
***(See #3 and #4 on the "map of driving trip" -- then click on the link back to this phone call)

She was calling from Fabio's grandmother's house, which is evidently close to the house the three kids are staying in, alone. Julie said it was a good thing there was family nearby. After the long trip to Portugal, they were so excited to finally be there, that they jumped out of the car, locked the doors, and ran into the house. You guessed it -- they locked their keys in the car.

They ended up going to his grandmother's house, nearby, and getting a warm meal, and then going to bed with no change of clothes, toothbrush, etc... after a straight through drive. The next day, they got a locksmith to open the car.

They also went to Lisbon to see the World Expo. They spent a full day there, visiting all the exhibits from the various countries, hearing all the different languages, and seeing what each country had on display. Apparently the theme for the Expo had to do with the world's oceans and how to protect them. The kids' observation was that it wasn't a great theme, because countries share the same oceans...so it took some of the individuality out of it and made many of the exhibits very similar. One memorable one was the one from Kuwait. They had displays of the oil fires and prisoners of war, and how the oceans were a part of all those events.

They have spent quite a bit of time visiting with all of Fabio's family. The main language is Portuguese, so Julie is craving to hear some English. Evidently Maren is getting along pretty well with the Spanish she knows, but she, too, is unable to speak Portuguese. There's no phone, TV, or microwave at the house they are in. So, Julie says she's spent a lot of time reading her book!

They are leaving Portugal on Wednesday, July 22. They decided to fly back to Stuttgart. Apparently the ticket for the plane is about $210...but the bus was just as much and would have taken a few days. When she gets back, they have plans to sight see a little more, hopefully getting to Munich and maybe to see the concentration camp museum and memorial. Early Tuesday morning, July 28th, Maren and Julie will BOTH be flying back to Arizona.

We asked how her elbow was doing. It's been 9 weeks since her surgery. She said it's doing great. She's been doing exercises with it, using her bible...which she says is about 5 lbs. That's one BIG bible!

She said she'd try calling again, before they leave for home....maybe from the airport. I'm not sure if "home" meant "Boblingen" or "Payson". I'll either get another call on Wednesday, or a week from Tuesday.

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