Lisbon
Our first impressions of Lisbon were through our sail in to the harbor. As we were eating breakfast we began to see a lot of scenery along the sides of the ship so we rushed off to our room to get the camera and hang out on the balcony for lots of picture taking! Since our cabin is on the very back of the ship we had a wide view of everything.
It wasn’t long after we got to the cabin that we began to see some small, orange fishing boats to the side of our ship. Each boat had 4 or 5 men in them and they kept showing up 2 or 3 at a time – probably 40 or 50 in all. After that we saw several forts, castles in the distance, a huge religious statute modeled after one in Brazil and a large suspension bridge the Portugese call their “Golden Gate Bridge” since it was designed by the same architect as the one in San Francisco.
We had booked a private tour today with 6 other people on the ship. After meeting in the lobby we disembarked together and immediately found our guide. It didn’t take long until we were on our way.
The first stop of our day was at a former summer retreat built for a wealthy family starting in 1840, Quinta da Regaleira. Luckily, we were able to spend a considerable amount of time here because it is a huge and incredibly scenic. There was also something called an Initiatic Well – it is a subterranean tower that goes way down into the earth and is accessible by a winding staircase. We could have spent the whole day here and not been able to see everything.
Following that we stopped for about an hour at the town of Sintra, an old medieval town that is now a tourist area with shopping and places to eat.
After Sintra we drove along the seaside seeing the various small towns and beaches until we arrived at the point that is considered to be the westernmost point in continental Europe. There were great cliffs along the ocean and the landscape was very desert-like in comparison to the lush landscape we had seen earlier.
Our tour continued along the coast until we arrived at the resort area of Estoril where we had more time to look around. There were several small fishing boats and a beach in the area along with a nice shopping area.
Following that, we made our way back to Lisbon where we took a drive through the center of town. Our guide pointed out the various monuments to different periods of history and described some of the history of town. We were supposed to be back on board ship at 5:30 so we always like to be back by 4:30-5:00 at the latest. All of us were starting to worry a bit when we were stuck in traffic at 5:00. We made it back onboard at 5:20- too late for our liking but still with plenty of time to get in our cabin for sailaway!
Tomorrow is our last port, Vigo, Spain. We have a tour booked through the ship to go to some small towns nearby.
It wasn’t long after we got to the cabin that we began to see some small, orange fishing boats to the side of our ship. Each boat had 4 or 5 men in them and they kept showing up 2 or 3 at a time – probably 40 or 50 in all. After that we saw several forts, castles in the distance, a huge religious statute modeled after one in Brazil and a large suspension bridge the Portugese call their “Golden Gate Bridge” since it was designed by the same architect as the one in San Francisco.
We had booked a private tour today with 6 other people on the ship. After meeting in the lobby we disembarked together and immediately found our guide. It didn’t take long until we were on our way.
The first stop of our day was at a former summer retreat built for a wealthy family starting in 1840, Quinta da Regaleira. Luckily, we were able to spend a considerable amount of time here because it is a huge and incredibly scenic. There was also something called an Initiatic Well – it is a subterranean tower that goes way down into the earth and is accessible by a winding staircase. We could have spent the whole day here and not been able to see everything.
Following that we stopped for about an hour at the town of Sintra, an old medieval town that is now a tourist area with shopping and places to eat.
After Sintra we drove along the seaside seeing the various small towns and beaches until we arrived at the point that is considered to be the westernmost point in continental Europe. There were great cliffs along the ocean and the landscape was very desert-like in comparison to the lush landscape we had seen earlier.
Our tour continued along the coast until we arrived at the resort area of Estoril where we had more time to look around. There were several small fishing boats and a beach in the area along with a nice shopping area.
Following that, we made our way back to Lisbon where we took a drive through the center of town. Our guide pointed out the various monuments to different periods of history and described some of the history of town. We were supposed to be back on board ship at 5:30 so we always like to be back by 4:30-5:00 at the latest. All of us were starting to worry a bit when we were stuck in traffic at 5:00. We made it back onboard at 5:20- too late for our liking but still with plenty of time to get in our cabin for sailaway!
Tomorrow is our last port, Vigo, Spain. We have a tour booked through the ship to go to some small towns nearby.