Lisbon

At last a day at sea to relax, I think the whole ship has been looking forward to it and get their heads together again.  For some poor souls unfortunately that will never happen by the looks of them.

Afternoon tea onboard ship

We traveled south down the Spanish coastline far enough away to just make out the land then we rounded the bottom & around 7pm, out of the misty murk the rock of Gibraltar appeared.  I didn’t recognize it at first but there could be no doubting it as we sailed alongside with it’s distinctive cliff plunging down into the sea & the monkeys hopping around the top.  Actually we couldn’t see the monkeys but I could imagine they were there.  We got a better view of Morocco than we did of Spain & Gibraltar but we could make out thousands of windmills along the hill line in Spain & I remembered when we drove along there a couple of years ago how for miles over that coastline and over the hills were all the wind farms and solar farms.  Passing through the Straits of Gibraltar was about the most exciting thing that happened that day as again we didn’t win bingo so the jackpot is now over $2,000.  Today (being Friday, our final day at sea) is our final chance to win.

The following day at 12pm we pulled into the port of Lisbon and the final port I can write about.  Tomorrow is our last port of Le Havre but not much will happen there as we will be attempting to squeeze all our little goodies including a tea set into our bags as we jump ship the next day. I hope to find an internet café to post my last reports.  There will be questions asked on all the ports so I hope you have been paying attention.

I will be more than a little sorry to leave the ship, after all, who will make my bed every morning and turn it down again every night & put little chocolates on my pillow & clean the bathroom and cook all my meals? It’s these little things we haven’t had to worry about, leaving us to worry more on the bigger picture such as which dining room shall we eat in or shall we order breakfast in instead of getting dressed & going upstairs or what should we wear when going ashore.

Anyway, we sailed into Lisbon midday & had until 7.30 that evening to have a look around.  The boat passed under the magnificent 25th of April bridge which is almost a replica of the San Francisco Golden Gate bridge as it was built by the same company from America.  It is 1012 metres long & got it’s name from the date in 1974 from the carnation revolution when they overthrew the regime of Antonio Salazar & democracy was restored to Portugal.

We just fit underneath

The historians think Lisbon was founded by the Phoenicians as early as 1200BC but despite the long history there are not many really historical buildings here due to the devastating earthquake of 1755 which killed over 100,000 people, destroyed not only Lisbon but all down Portugal and what wasn’t destroyed by the earthquake the rest was wiped out by the tsunami.  It’s a shame but there were still some old parts which managed to survive, mainly in the old region of Alfama. 

This part also shares similarities to San Francisco as it’s very hilly and bone rattling vintage trams trundle up and down the narrow, steep, cobble stoned streets.  There the similarities end as washing hangs out the windows and the buildings are covered in gorgeous blue & white tiles, called Azulejos, some are just patterned but others depict pictures.

The main shopping area of Lisbon, the Baixa quarter, has these lovely buildings painted in pastel colours, wide streets and enormous squares. I mean these squares in the middle of the street are just huge with black & white patterns on the ground and big statues or fountains.  It starts near the river with their own Arch de Triomphe or “Black Horse” Praca do Comercio then behind that is closed to the traffic and filled with restaurants, wonderful looking boutiques, specialized tea & coffee shops as well as your run of the mill shops.  It seemed that on every corner and every street was a policeman or two, they were everywhere.  One of them, around 5pm said to someone we knew from the ship to be careful as the pick pockets had just arrived so they obviously know who they are and must be a real problem.

Eating famous Custard Tarts

Once again Jo, Jon & I decided we would go with a taxi who offered us a 2 hour tour of the main sights for 75 euro.  It saved us having to catch buses, trains & trams to get around & see it all.  A bit more expensive but when time is limited it is worthwhile.

He took us to see the Torre de Belem or Belem Tower which predates the earthquake and was the point where many of the discovery voyages started from & ended like Vasco da Gama’s journey to India via the tip of Africa.  Further down was a monument to honour these Discovery’s which was a huge concrete carving in the shape of a ships’ bow with all the people associated with the Discovery’s carved in it, Henry the Navigator being at the very front of the bow.

Next was Jeronimos Monastery, again built around the 16th century to commemorate the expeditions of the Portuguese explorers.  In one part of this was a church with wonderful carvings and two elaborate carved tombs with the effigy on the top of the person inside, one was the very same Vasco da Gama & the other was a poet.  Not sure of the significance of the poet but I think he wrote about the Discovery’s?  Looked grand anyway.

After that I insisted he take us to the famous bakery I had read about that make the best pasteis de nata or more commonly known as a Portuguese custard tart.  The taxi driver knew which one I was talking about and said that this is where the original cake was made and the recipe was kept secret.  Japan have similar custard tarts and the Portuguese claim it was first made here & during the explorations when they went to Japan the recipe was taken over.  Not sure how true that is but I was willing to believe it.  He dropped us off with the instructions to ask for a Belem cake.  I wasn’t sure if we were talking about the same thing but it turns out we were.  If you ever go to Lisbon you have to go to Confeitaria de Belem, everyone will know it with it’s classic blue & white tiled walls and to die for bakery cakes & biscuits behind the glass counters and THE most fantastic custards tarts in the world.  Jo wanted to know if they were similar to the NZ custard pies as she didn’t like them but after taking one bite of this tart she was a convert.  The pastry is crisp & a bit flaky like filo and the custard was silky smooth and sooo yummy.

He took us up to another old Cathedral called the Se of Lisbon.  Every town has their own Se and this was Lisbon’s.  He warned us to be very careful inside as it was fairly dark and a haven for pick pockets so we go in clutching our bags tightly to our sides. It was a lovely old church with little alcoves covered in the blue & white picture tiles & a room with a cardinal’s cloak spread out and all his different hats, no pickpockets tho.

He drove us down what he called their Champs Elyse, a wide boulevard lined with palm trees, ponds & benches.  At the end was a big monument to Pombal and behind that was a lovely looking peaceful park but he warned us not to walk in it even in the daytime.  What’s the use of a park that’s too dangerous to walk in?

After our two hours he dropped us off downtown where we all parted to go our different ways, me to MacDonald’s to post the blog & photos and the other two to the shops.  We met up again at 5 and found a nice little café where we could have a snack & mostly watch the world go by. Jon bought a beer that came in a glass so big his entire face disappeared when he took a sip.  More custard tarts & we were ready to get back on the boat and sail away to our last port.


We have had two days at sea where it has been more than a little rough, the roughest we have encountered yet.  Apparently the Bay of Biscay is notorious for being bad as parts of the continental shelf extend into the bay making for fairly shallow water in comparison to the Atlantic & along with the weather helps to cut it up.  Last night I was walking from one side of the corridor to the other and clinging onto the stairs to save myself being thrown down and this was before I started drinking.  We had the Captains farewell party and as Jon was feeling a little under the weather I went by myself, there was no way I was missing out on free drinks.  I found I walked a lot straighter after a few rum cocktails.

One more dinner on board, 4 more chocolates on my pillow (none on Jon’s) and we will sadly disembark from our cruise.