The sun rise was beautiful today. Larry and I got up early to watch our ship dock in Lisbon. As we came down the Tagus River from the Atlantic Ocean, we went under a bridge that was reminiscent of the bridge in San Francisco... the infamous Golden Gate Bridge. It was designed by the same architect. We also passed a statue of Christ that is a replica of the one in Rio de Jeniero, Brazil. It was just like the Christ Statue in East Timor. It was awesome to see the city waking up and all of the multi colored rows of houses lining the streets. We enjoyed the buzz on the ship as everyone else started to snap pictures and join in the excitement of going ashore today.
Larry and I returned to the room to have breakfast there. It was nice to just have it delivered and not be in the hustle and bustle on the Lido Deck . We took an excursion to see Obidos, a medieval castle about 60 miles north of Lisbon. We boarded the bus at 10:00 and enjoyed the guides explanation of our journey. We were able to see a ton of apartments in the inner city of Lisbon. It is very pricey to live there and you see no single family homes...only a bunch of high rises. It reminded us of Moscow. We finally reached the suburbs of green rolling hills. Modern windmills generating electricity dotted the hillside as the guide pointed out the old windmills that locals had turned into homes. Cement blockades with guns sat on many of the hills left from WWII along a modern four lane highway with a toll booth. We arrived in Obidos in a quick hour and ten minutes.
In Obidos, we enjoyed walking up the stoned roads and narrow paths toward the castle dating back to the 13th century.
Shops lined the road and our eyes wondered over all the items for sale along the way. The narrow stoned road passed buildings with mosaic tiles that preserved the structures beneath.
We enjoyed going into an ancient Cathedral...so stoic inside. On we walked toward the castle that sat on the top of the hill. It was so awesome to see. We climbed the numerous stone stairways to get onto the surrounding wall of the castle.
We walked along it for about a half an hour enjoying the views into the countryside on the outside and of the medieval village on inside.
Gorgeous lavander wisteria climbed the walls and Hawaiian Lillies were in bloom along the walkways.
Larry and I felt happy to get out in the country for the day to see the outskirts of Lisbon, the capitol of Portugal.
Upon returning to the ship we had a quick dinner before heading out into the city to climb along the narrow, steep, hilly, winding cobblestone streets. Our ship was docked in the oldest part of Lisbon called Alfama, a Moorish quarter, that was the only part of Lisbon to survive the 1755 earthquake and tidal wave. The streets had five and six story buildings covered in beautiful tiles with the streets having black and white mosaic tiled sidewalks.
The first floors were businesses....stores, restaurants, and bars. We stopped into a little cafe to use the WiFi while locals frequented the business to watch a soccer game on the widescreen TV. We watched the place fill up as everyone chatted and cheered their favorite team on. As the evening grew later the business came alive....Portugese are night owls...Could this be the reason they close their businesses for an afternoon siesta? Anyway, Larry and I made it back to the ship around 10:00. We enjoyed talking with the locals and seeing the city night lights. Larry ended the evening with a nice waffle cone of chocolate ice cream. What a fantastic day! We went to bed dreaming of what the next day would bring during a morning adventure in the city of Lisbon.
Tuesday, April 2, 2012 Second Day in Lisbon, Portugal
After a great breakfast we headed out to climb the hills of Lisbon to the Castle of St. George. Along the winding narrow roads we came to a farmer's market that occurs every Tuesday and Saturday. We wondered through lots of booths that lined the roads with everything that you can imagine for sale. As we climbed up, up, up we began to see fantastic views of the Tagus River below.
We continued to follow the winding roads up, while dodging cars, motorbikes, scooters, streetcars and people ....all using the same path in this bustling city.
We finally made our way to the top of the second hill, WHEW! where the castle was perched and took some magnificent pictures below. Oh my...it was 11:00 and we had to find our way back to the ship by 11:30. Did we hustle? Yes sirree! After going down several winding paths the wrong way, we finally made it back to the ship just in time!
We joined in the departure party up on the top deck as the ship released the shoreline and turned around to head west out of the Tagus River, back to the Atlantic Ocean. Out on the deck the ship's chef had a grill fired up making Portugese skewers of chicken and fish! Yum-yum! We enjoyed listening to Brett, the Travel Host, narrate out points of interest on the river as we passed them going out to sea. Blustery it was, so we headed inside to find a warmer place by the pool to finish our lunch.
The afternoon was filled with writing post cards, typing the blog, editing our pictures, and reading....I finished a biography called Prairie Tales by Melisa Gilbert....Half Pint. A book with a lot if whining! She led a poor little rich girl's life.
After dinner we enjoyed a piano show. The band (The Halcats) and the piano player, David Howarth, had the audience clapping and snapping right along with them. What great entertainment!
Super day! It just can't get any better than this!
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