It's been a crazy two weeks. Trying to get everything done here at the 'farm', juggling between getting 'other' paying writing done, checking on my crypto, unschooling the kids and also entertaining them and getting ready for the trip of a life-time took its toll.
The last few days before our trip, I left the 'schooling' to the kids entirely, which meant they were mainly playing video games when it rained (a lot). I know it sounds bad, but it did keep them out of my hair so I could get everything done.
Funny enough, as chaotic as I am, I am also a perfectionist. Believe me: it is not an easy task to perfect things if the nature is chaotic (wow, I am starting to sound like a Dungeon master).
However, I managed. WHOOP!

So there we were, everything packed (I swear, next time it will just be a backpack, you should have seen us drag around 4 bags), the animals sorted, tickets printed, passports ready. The only - and most important - thing that needed to be done was to gather the cables for my photo and video camera. I found the latter, but not the charger for my camera.
It being a Nikon camera, of course means it is a special cable, not just any cable.
I literally turned the house upside down (well OK, not literally, I am not Wonder Woman).
The cable was never found...
This sucked to say the least, because now I had to bring my 10 year old camera.
It is a very good camera for its age, but the setting dial leads its own life, resulting in video when you don't want it or over exposure when the sun is shining bright and no flash when you really need it.
So the only thing I regret about Steemfest is not having my shit together because usually at such an event, I'd have about 2000 photos...My mission: new camera for next year...with interchangeable cables.
Anyhow, I found the old camera, now I just needed to find its cable...
I tend to find 'safe' spots for valuable things, only to forget where those spots are.
Why I don't keep those things all together beats me every time, so if there is anyone who'd like to volunteer to be my organising adviser, feel free to respond.

What I wanted to say really is that I didn't take great photos, but it'll have to do.
I apologize in advance.

Can you see all the little white sails in the background? It was also the Volvo Ocean race in Lisbon. I planned to go but never made it. Steemfest alone was overwhelmingly great, so I didn't miss it either. At least I took one picture...

Our arrival in Lisbon

We had to get ready early enough, but not too early, as our bus was leaving at 11 am.
The bus station was only a ten minute walk so that was great.
We got the tickets the day before, so we didn't have to stand in line for them.
See? I can be organized when I want to be.

I had planned to get some writing and reading done during our 3 hour trip to Lisbon from Faro. But since my laptop had been subject to theft not long ago and my friend Brian (who went along with us as the nanny) left his on the kitchen table, I decided after about half an hour on my phone, that it sucked to have a mini screen and that a little nap would be welcome after not sleeping at all on the day before. At least it gave me the energy I desperately needed for the days to come. How organised!

Fortunately the kids decided to do the same. My eldest girl Skye trying hard to keep up with her 'Streaks'. All this time would be much better spent on Steemit in my opinion

Our arrival in Lisbon was a lot better than the one in Faro. I had my phone charged to 100% and had even written down (yes, with an actual pen and paper) the street address for our apartment and the host lady's phone number.
We took a taxi to the apartment where we were greeted with more Portuguese hospitality.
After a short explanation on how everything worked around the apartment and where the nearest shops were and a conversation on how the booking website where I booked the apartment was ripping hosts off with their fees left, right and centre, our host Celeste left the keys with us and left. Next time we're in Lisbon we'll call her instead for a discount without theft! For a moment I thought to pitch Steemit to her, but left it at that. Maybe somewhere down the line I still will, since I have all her details.

Now it was time to hit the road for a walk and we decided to walk towards the HF Lisboa Hotel for registration. Along the way I managed to take a few pictures of our first moments in Lisbon.
WHAT a city!

On my way to the hotel for registration and Keanu is more than willing to act like the monkey that he is. I swear, the people at the zoo were not happy when I took him home

OK, one more, taken in our street near the apartment. I just love these small alleys and streets.

After a good 25 minute walk it was time to say goodbye to the family and HELLO to Steemfest2.
I went straight for the people who were doing the registration and got to meet @sjennon and @firepower
Funny how the first person I laid eyes on was actually Dutch too.
When I got back into the lobby, the first person I spoke to was a guy with the tag @qiqi-power. I was taken aback a bit, since I was really expecting a 6 year old girl to go with the tag, but instead his name was Luca!
After some explaining from his side about why he was wearing this tag, we found the others and we were off to a good night.

The evening was great, I met quite a few nice people, it was even a bit overwhelming.
Luca (if anyone knows his user name, please pass it on, as I would love to keep in touch with him), told me he was probably going to crash on someone's floor, so I offered him our floor.

It was quite the adventure to get back to my apartment (no surprise there) as the internet on my phone was only working when it didn't suit me. Luca's gps was working great and brought us the 'short' way, when I found out we had to walk up this really steep alley. Even though I was a bit tipsy, I knew for a fact that I never came this way on the way to the hotel. So my legs had a good work-out.

When we returned to the apartment, my friend Brian and my daughter Skye were still up to hear everything about my first encounter with the Steemit community.
The first question was if I'd seen @jeffberwick (or @dollarvigilante) and @markwhittam
Of course they know me and heard me talk about these two for quite a while now. I'd been following Jeff for a while before I even knew about Steemit and not long after I checked out Steem for the first time, I saw his video where he spoke about Steemit, so he is pretty much the reason I am here. Mark is an inspiration to me, with his project @familyprotection and his Steemit roadshow. He travels through Europe with his family, his kids are unschooled and learn so much being on the road and get to meet so many people. All the while he is also promoting Steemit in the countries he visits. Check him out if you don't know him yet. The people @familyprotection are awesome and helped/supported me through some rough time when I had to deal with nosy child protection workers here in Ireland.
Unfortunately I had to tell them that I did see Jeff, but Mark was nowhere to be found.
Of course, being the celebrity that he is, Jeff was unavailable, but I decided I would probably meet him the next few days.

However, I did meet one celebrity and got to take a photo with him. I usually don't like being the subject in photos, I'd much rather be behind the camera, but sometimes the picture just turns out really well, so I decided I had to share it here.

Thank you to @brian-rhodes for the photo. I asked him what he did and he told me he was an actor. Upon asking him if I'd know any of his work, he told me the most famous would probably be a movie he did with Chris Rock.
Suddenly I recalled the movie and yelled: "OH, you're the OLD guy!!!"
So with pride I present the photo that made my day and the man who so graciously responded to my request even after I called him an old guy. It was a pleasure to meet you! Also thanks to @tarquinmaine who took the photo. It was great meeting you too. STEEM ON!!!