Taste Test – Slate Chocolate Milk

I am always in the market for a good tasting chocolate milk and when I saw this brand (Slate Chocolate Milk) on line I had high hopes for them. They offered three flavors, so I ordered all three; classic chocolate milk, dark chocolate milk and espresso chocolate milk. The product is lactose reduced and skimmed. I found all three to lack richness and was disappointed that the milk was skim and not higher in fat. I could not get by the watery nature of the milk to enjoy the flavor which was very strong in both the classic and dark chocolate varieties.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

The espresso milk I thought was the best and when mixed with crushed ice made an acceptable coffee flavored drink.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

Overall when indulging in a chocolate milk you are not looking for a health drink so the lack of fat really set this product back.

Taste Test – Cerignola Olives

Cerignola olives are very large, mild in flavor, and may be served either green or cured red or black. The variety, which originates from the south-eastern Italian province of Apulia and is named for the town of Cerignola, is popular as table olives. These are some of my favorite olives as a snack. They are very meaty and do not have the sharp tangy zest of a typical green Spanish olive found on most grocery store shelves here in the United States.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

Travel to England, Portugal and Madeira during COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 was the year I had to do some personal business in Portugal and England, unfortunately it was also the year of COVID-19! In February of 2020 I arranged to do some paperwork at the Portuguese Consulate in Boston and in March due to the outbreak of COVID-19 my appointment at the consulate was postponed. It was again postponed in April and again in July 🙁 . I had no other option than to book a flight to Portugal to get my documents that I needed before December 31, 2020. I needed from Portugal my Portuguese ID card and to renew my passport which I then needed to apply for permanent resident status in England, United Kingdom. Since I was already in Europe I decided to make a side trip to my maternal grandparents home of Madeira as well. Now that you know my circumstances of why I had to travel during the pandemic I will describe the experiences I had in each of the three destinations. Understand that I was very cognizant of the seriousness of the disease and my husband is in a very vulnerable group so Alex and I was very careful with our personal efforts to prevent infection. We always wore our masks and practiced social distancing whenever possible.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

We both took a COVID-19 test 72 hours prior to our arrival in Portugal before leaving Boston. To board the plane to Portugal at Logan Airport we had to show documentation of our negative test results to the airline check-in station. We observed several passengers being denied entry to the plane while we were waiting because they did not have their test results.
Arriving in Portugal I found the social distancing to be in place and followed by almost everyone. Stores, restaurants and shops limited people going in and were in a one person in one out type of rotation, I felt very comfortable. With masks on the other hand pretty much the only people wearing masks were the tourists and foreigners. After about a week however I returned to Portugal from England and Madeira and many more people were wearing masks because of an uptick in the amount of cases.
England had a two week quarantine for all new arrivals and wearing of masks and social distancing were pretty much universal. Groups of no more than six people were allowed including family members.
Medeira was where I felt most safe. We had to take a COVID test immediately upon arrival at the airport and then could not leave our hotel room until we received a negative test result. This took for us about eight hours. After getting our negative results we found the procedures in place to be the most strict of anywhere we had been. Everyone wore a mask at all times and all shops and restaurants had social distancing strictly enforced. Overall the COVID protocols in place I encountered were much better than what we see here in the United States which I am sure is why the case numbers in places like Madeira and Portugal are so low. Even though England and The United Kingdom was slow to react to the virus and is why their numbers were quite high it appears that they learned their lesson and are now taking the proper precautions. I felt much safer in all three locations than I do in my own country.

Taste Test – Homemade English Breakfast (Curtesy of Manoel Aguilar)

On a visit to England to visit my brothers I was rewarded with the best breakfast I ever ate curtesy of my brother Manoel! Perfectly cooked eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, tomatoes toast and beans. Who knew that my brother had turned into such a great cook !

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

It got the Mark Wiens head tilt of approval from Alex.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

Airline Review – TAP Airlines (Portugal)

I had business in Portugal so Alex and I booked a flight on Portugal’s TAP Airline to Lisbon. TAP Air Portugal is the flag carrier airline of Portugal, headquartered at Lisbon Airport which also serves as its hub. TAP – Transportes Aéreos Portugueses – has been a member of the Star Alliance since 2005 and operates on average 2,500 flights a week to 90 destinations in 34 countries worldwide. The company has a fleet of 100 airplanes, all of which manufactured by Airbus with the exception of 22 made by Embraer and ATR, operating on behalf of the regional airline TAP Express. The airline was established as Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (Portuguese Air Transportations) on March 14, 1945; it began commercial services on September 19, 1946 with an inaugural flight from Lisbon to Madrid using a Douglas DC-3. Having been founded as a national institution, the airline was privatized for the first time in its history during 1953; throughout its existence, TAP would alternate between various forms of public and private ownership.
Boarding the plane at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts our flight was direct to Lisbon, Portugal. TAP is listed in two different terminals at Logan so we had a little confusion finding the right platform.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

We eventually made our way to the right gate and boarded the plane.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

Our evening flight

New video by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

was uneventful and included a lunch of ravioli and salad.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

We arrived in Lisbon to a wonderful sunrise.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

A gelato at the airport was a welcome first taste of Portugal.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

TAP is a fine airline that will suit your needs, efficient if not spectacular.