Lisbon, Portugal

Tuesday May 6

After the tiring schedule of consecutive port visits, along with the distance the ship was docked from the centre of town (due to all 3 Cunard Queens being in port) and with Lisbon being a bigger city than our recent stops, we decided to use a hop-on hop-off bus to get around - supplemented by walking where required of course!

It was a bun fight at the bus stop but we finally got on a bus and headed off for the centre of town. We hit an almighty traffic jam on the way and couldn't figure out why the traffic was so bad for late on a Tuesday morning. This made us decide to ride the whole circuit and see everything on the route as we went past and then do a second loop getting off at the sites we were interested in. Fortunately the traffic was only bottle-necked leading into the old part of town where the streets are narrower and many of them are only one way.

Traffic jam with a view!

 

After the first circuit and a lunch break we set off again only to hit an even worse traffic jam in the same area. This time we could see why some lanes were blocked - a movie was being filmed and the associated vehicles parked along the road were causing all the havoc. We finally got to the main square where we got off and walked around the centre of town. We couldn't resist an afternoon tea of coffee and the local specialty, Portugese custard tarts. We've had these at home so it was fun to enjoy them in Portugal (plus the real thing was so much better!)

Like a cat that just got the cream (or custard in this case)!

Commercial square featuring a statue of King Jose 1

 

We were impressed with the Avenue de Liberdade which was fashioned on the Champs Élysées in Paris. It has the same lovely wide avenue lined with great buildings and shops, of course. We loved the design of the old railway station and nearby theatre which had an Art Deco look. At the top end of the avenue there's a huge park which has fabulous views over the city.

City end of Avenue de Liberdade.

Old Railway station with unusual horseshoe arches located at start of Ave de Liberdade.

 

Portugal has had a huge influence on the world in the past with its sea-faring history, including the discovery of the west coast of Australia, so naturally it has great Maritime museums. The queues to get in to the Lisbon one were massive so we missed getting inside but read that it houses the tombs of many of their heroes including Vascoe de Gama. There is also a famous monument on the riverfront which commemorates Portugal's adventurous mariners and the discoveries they made around the world.

Monument to the Discoveries.

 

The thing about port visits on a cruise is that you only have limited time so you have to be realistic and treat the visit like an hors d'oeuvre and if you really like a place then go back and spend more time there. Our impression of Lisbon was that it didn't seem to have the same ambience of the Italian and Spanish ports we've been to but there is still more to see including the excellent museums so it does warrant a return visit. Unfortunately, with our limited time plus the time it took the bus to get back to our ship, we didn't have time to get off at any other spots and as many closed at 5pm, the bus didn't even stop unless there were passengers to pick up!

Back on board we had just enough time to get up on deck to watch the 3 Cunard Queens (Mary, Elizabeth & Victoria) sail past and under the big bridge which spans the Tagus river. Most of our passengers were out on deck taking photos and filming this historic event as it's the first time all 3 of the Queens have been in Lisbon together. As they passed us we had a great view with the statue of Christ the King (a smaller version of the one in Rio) on the hill in the background. Definitely one for the memory bank!

The 3 Cunard Queens sail past.

 

For dinner we enjoyed a special Mediterranean BBQ to celebrate the end of our time around the Mediterranean and our entry into the Atlantic Ocean. We now have 2 days at sea on our way to Southampton and then another day to Rotterdam - the final destination of this wonderful cruise.

Al enjoying the Mediterranean BBQ.

 

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