Oct 16: Day 14: Lisbon

We are in Lisbon, Portugal today from 12 noon until 6 pm. Our time in port is shorter than our other days have been which I think is due to the tides and our ship fitting under the 25th of April bridge which reminds us of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco and the city is just as hilly as SF. We have arranged a walking tour to maximize our time in port today for just Tim and me.

Randall, this photo is for you. Princess now does waffles to order at the pizza bar in the mornings.

To reach our dock today we sail up the scenic Tagus River passing many fishing boats

Belem Tower

Discoveries Monument

Jeronimos Monastery from the river

Our dock today is just past the 25th of April Bridge

Statue of Christ on other side of bridge

Once off the ship we take a cab to the square where we are to meet Alice. Lisbon is one of the more affordable cities we have visited and the cab up the hill is less than 5 euros for the 2 of us, less than the ships shuttle to the bottom of the hill. Alice gives us an overview of the city and I tell her we want to take it slow today because I am just getting over a lot of congestion.

We visit a tile factory and I purchase a few things there. Our next stop is a locally made crafts store which also has old fashioned items and local foods. We stop in a famous bar where poets and journalists hang out and continue walking and enjoying chatting with Alice.

Details of tile covered building on right in above photo

She takes us through a local’s shortcut and we come out at the top of en elevator platform with great views over the main square in the Chiado district. The city of Lisbon was devastated by an earthquake followed by fires in the 1800’s and she shows us a church that has not been restored but was left as a memorial and is still used for concerts during the summer.

Elevator

The weather is beautiful all day and she says the temperature is way above average. There are already ladies selling roasted chestnuts in the street and she says she can’t think about eating any in weather so warm. We walked into a tree-lined picturesque square where the building that houses the National Guard is located just in tine to see the changing of the guard at the gate. The square was lined with cafes we stopped at a newsstand for a bottle of water. Inside the newsstand I saw some very nice tiles lined with cork, which was something I had been looking for, and at a very reasonable price, so of course I bought several. Having a very cute ‘friend’ with us helped considerably with the price. The guy running the newsstand and an artist displaying some of his pieces were quite taken with our friend. As we were walking away, the artist called to Alice and wanted to give her a gift. He ran to his display and got one of his creations and put his website address on the back, which he told her contained his contact information, and signed the front. Alice, all the while, was laughing hysterically. As we were walking away still enjoying the moment, Alice handed her prize to me and said this is for you, and we had another great laugh.

One of the oldest jewelers in Lisbon and also where the Royals shop

Next we went to Rossio Square in the center of Baixa, which Alice told us had been built on top of a river using pine pilings. The tile pattern in the square resembles waves and is a little disorienting when you are standing in the middle looking at it.

This square was used at one time for bullfights and at the time of the inquisitions, was used for executions.

We walked down a street to another smaller square where Alice told us a lot of locals gather called the Square of Tolerance. Adjacent to the square was a church which was destroyed during the earthquake and fire and was rebuilt leaving the original remains and building around them.

You can still see charring from the 1800's fire

Notice the lampost with the ship and 2 birds, a symbol of the city visible throughout

Alice showing us some salted cod fish which is used in a National dish

From here we walked down the street a little to a nice wine and cheese store where Alice said we could buy some Portuguese wine. The lady in the store spoke no English whatsoever so were very fortunate that our friend did. After asking what I was looking for, Alice translated to the lady and she quickly picked out a red and a white wine which she said were her favorites. I asked, through Alice, if I could try a couple of the cheeses and she cut a couple of samples, one of which was very good, so I took some.

Olive tree which is just a few weeks away from being ripe

After this it is time to go to Belem to see the monastery and have some Belem tarts. We walked across another large square to the cable car stop and Alice told us which car we needed to catch. We had a very nice ride through town to the Jeronimos Monastery.

The monastery is very important to Lisbon because the monks were there to pray for safe journeys for the sailors, which was the most important source of income. Vasco da Gama, the first explorer to sail around the tip of Africa to India, is buried here. Portugal became a very rich country because their sailors were the first to learn to navigate the oceans and had many colonies from which to import goods. So now it is time to get some of the famous tarts. We walked through the restaurant to the back and saw where the tarts were being made. The monk’s recipe is a secret, hundreds of years old, which others have tried to duplicate unsuccessfully. Then we sat at a table and ordered. We were served quickly and the pastry was light and flaky and the custard filling warm and sweet. This is an experience not to be missed.

NOTE to Harry & Diann: We ate a couple extra tarts for you all.

I asked how long they would keep and was told only 2 days :(

Inside Monastery

We walked across the street for some nice pictures of the monastery. Then Alice rode with us in a cab back to the ship. She got out and stood in line with us until we neared the gate, chatting and enjoying the moment. Then our good friend gave us hugs and kisses and wished us a safe journey.

For sailaway I call Jeff and Claire to see if they made it to the Belem tart place and since they hadn’t, we invite them to share some with us. We had a great time getting to chat with them and enjoying the tarts.

To our friend Alice, thank you for a wonderful day!!