Last year we did our first European cruise and halfway through we stopped in Lisbon. I was so excited for this port for a lot of reasons. First of all, it’s Lisbon! When you think about Portugal, this is the place you imagine. The small, quaint streets… the small vizinhanças… people on motos… the history… the food… sim por favor… ah, obrigado…!
We met up with another couple from the cruise ship and hired a Tuk-tuk for the morning, and the guide took us all over the city. We saw so much in a short amount of time, and that was given that he allowed us as much time as we wanted in each stop. And traffic, both car and foot, was heavy given that the Pope was going to be in town in a couple of days for a World Youth conference, so there were people everywhere!
These are just few of the dozens of photos I took that day. We went to vistas above the city. We went to cathedrals and basilicas. We visited the monastery and saw ancient Roman ruins. We drove the small streets out to the main byways and under the bridge to the Padrão dos Descobrimentos – the Monument to the Discoveries which features explorers standing on both sides of a representation of sails. Prince Henry the Navigator leads the group of 33 explorers, scientists, artists and writers including St. Francis Xavier, Nuno Conçalves, and Fernão de Magalhães aka Ferdinand Magellan.
Our last stop was at “Pastéis de Belém”… All I’m going to say is if you know you know… or should know… and definitely should try when you’re in Lisbon… which I will be again later this year… Desfrute de sua refeição… saúde…!!
You Go, Squirrel! 