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Nate and Shruti are officially on the loose! Here’s a quick glance at our “World Tour” dates for the next 3 months.

On Monday (Jan 5) we rented a car in San Diego and drove up to LA with all our luggage. We were ready to unwind before our big flight to Lisbon on Thursday.

As usual, Nate wanted to have a diner breakfast at the earliest opportunity. We found a spot called Pann’s that had a great retro-futuristic vibe, straight out of the 50s. It’s apparently been a filming location for many movies over the years.

Later in the afternoon we hung out with Neil, Nate’s friend from high school. We ate sushi off of a conveyor belt in Little Tokyo and played bar games in the Arts District. We also visited an arcade where Shruti racked up a high score on a Star Wars pinball machine.

Afterwards we visited Shruti’s childhood friends Raghav and Jagriti at their home and enjoyed some homemade pav bhaji. Nate made a questionable parking decision, so we all took a walk after dinner to move the car and take a short guided tour around the neighborhood.

We wrapped up LA with a walk along the beach in Santa Monica and a ramen dinner with Neil. We learned our lesson about trying to cram too many activities into one day in LA. No thanks, traffic! We were happy to part ways with our rental car the next morning before heading to the airport. We were less happy to do so at 4:30am.

We had a layover in Newark which was uneventful, but there was a medical emergency on the flight to Lisbon where a man needed to be carried from his seat. There was a commotion and Nate wondered if we’d have to make an emergency landing somewhere. Thankfully a nurse practitioner on board stepped in and helped out. We never heard exactly what happened.

Finally, after a day (and night) of flying, we landed in Lisbon airport and made our way to passport control. Since we didn’t go through any immigration process in the US, this was where our fate would be decided. Despite our worries about visa complications, we breezed through without even a second glance. We let out a big sigh of relief and headed to baggage claim.

After waiting for our Airbnb to be ready, we hopped in an Uber (actually a “Bolt”) and made our way into the city. It was a crisp, sunny afternoon. Our driver let us out and our rolling suitcases went tak-tak-tak as they rumbled up and down the rough, cobblestone streets.

Our host Andre met us at the door and we shuffled into the narrow staircase up to our apartment. He was clearly proud of the space (in fact, he owns the whole building) and made a point to show us every detail. Then he unfurled a map of the area and circled about two dozen points of interest. Our jet-lagged heads were spinning by the end, but we were grateful for the help (and the bottle of wine).

Once Andre left us, we stood on the balcony and took in the evening air before promptly collapsing for a nap. Soon we’ll explore this strange new city, but today is for rest, recovery, and writing to you. Obrigado!

P.S. We’ll receive replies to this email, so send over some cat pics recommendations or just say hi. See ya next week :)