Good bye Lisbon

We had an early tour this morning, so after room service breakfast, we headed out to the buses. We first drove from the old part of the city near the port to the newer city. We went under a Roman Aqueduct. I forget how old he said it was, but it dates from ancient Roman times. We went to the area called Belem, Bethlehem in English. There is a tower there that has been used for many things. It’s right on the river. In the old days it sat back from the river. Then we went to a Monastery. We were promised a bathroom break there, but it was a national holiday today, Labor Day, so the cafe with the bathroom was closed. As soon as we pulled up to the monastery, it started raining. I only had a sweater over my shirt. I got wet on the way to the closed bathroom. As quickly as it started, it stopped but the damage was done. I was wet and chilled. We went from there to a public bathroom next to a park. It was surprisingly clean, even with TP! Then when we all got back on the bus our guide passed out Portuguese pastries to each of us. It was a little custard in a puff pastry shell. Delicious!.
Since it was a holiday, there was a marathon in the downtown area. Many streets were blocked off and we had to make several detours. We stopped at the top of a park and looked down at the statue we were supposed to be seeing. There was an enormous flag flying above the park. It was a beautiful view to the river. Roderick, our guide called his office to get permission to change the itinerary of the tour since all the streets were closed.
So from there we drove back to the old city near the port. The driver dropped off those who wanted to go on a walking tour of the area, including us. The rest were taken back to the ship. We climbed a narrow stairway to get up to a narrow street. There was an old wall which was part of the Jewish section of the city. Then we walked up and down a few cobblestone streets. We stopped in front of St Michael’s Church. It survived an earthquake many, many years ago. Across the little plaza was a lady selling home made cherry wine in chocolate cups. Several people, including the guide, bought one. It was no more than a shot of wine. They said it was good. Then she told the guide about a photo on the wall of the building behind us. There was a photographer who took pictures of older couples around the area and put them outside their homes. It was the wine lady and her husband. I quickly took a picture of her after I took a picture of the wall photo. Then her husband walks out of the house. He sat on a bench under the photo for us all to get pictures. We walked down a few more streets, passing little shops I would have loved to go in but didn’t. Then he walked us across the street and back to the port. It was a really nice tour and we got a bonus walking tour, and a pastry!

I went up to the Explorer’s Lounge to watch sail away. We went by the whole city. On the other side of the river is the statue of Jesus Christ like the one in Rio de Janero. Turns out the Portuguese king was jealous that Rio, their colony, had a statue and he didn’t. So he built one.

Photos: the aqueduct, Belem tower, the monastery(3 photos), street sign for the St Michael’s church 2 rows down, light house, Jewish quarter wall, narrow street, statue at the bottom of the park, statue of Jesus, St Michael’s Church, bridge on the way out of the port. It was designed by the man who designed the Bay Bridge near San Francisco, not the Golden Gate Bridge. You can see the Christ statue to the left. Sorry I forgot to upload the lady and her husband. Tomorrow….