Lisbon, Portugal

Here's what I saw when I woke and pulled back the curtains in our room this morning. It's nice to travel while I sleep and wake up to a surprise each day, especially one as pretty as Lisbon, Portugal!

 

After another day at sea, it was fun spending a few hours exploring Lisbon. The weather was mild and absolutely perfect for walking around and taking in the sights. 

 

view from our balcony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rather than an excursion, we chose to walk from the port area which took us right into the city. One of the first things a visitor notices is the beautiful blue and white tiles (called azulejos) that cover many of the buildings. Everywhere I looked, there was another photo-worthy building or storefront decorated with these traditional tiles. 

 

wall in pastry shop

Some history behind the tiles - after the devastating 1755 earthquake which destroyed much of the city, tiles became a popular reconstruction material due to their affordability, durability and fire resistance. Also, because many people couldn't read, the tiles were often used to tell religious stories on church walls, depict maritime victories or designate house numbers. 

The streets of Lisbon are lively with outdoor cafés and restaurants and people eating and enjoying the pleasant weather. Most of the restaurants up and down the busy streets seemed to feature seafood.

 

However, we were determined to find some Mexican food! Waiters holding menus stand outside restaurants in an attempt to lure hungry pedestrians to eat there. We kept asking them for Mexican food but they all just shook their head 'no'. We were very discouraged, but agreed to continue to the end of that particular block before settling for a burger. But boy, were we surprised when one guy knew what we were asking for and pointed us further down the street to a place he called "Oh-li Oh-li". We still weren’t sure he knew what we were asking, but he had a second guy walk us to it and YES!! There it was - Ole! Ole! Although it wasn't a Mexican restaurant (or really anything close) we did find some tacos, chips and guacamole toward the very back of the menu! And… they were very good! (they were served with French fries)

But no visit to Lisbon would be complete without trying one of Portugal's famous custard tarts, known as Pastel de Nata. The flaky pastry and creamy filling made for a delicious treat before heading back to the ship. People line up to get these things and I now understand why! Funny story about them – they were actually a monastic accident, invented by monks in the Belém district. Because nuns used massive amounts of egg whites for starching their habits, the monastery had piles of leftover egg yolks, which they cleverly used to invent the world-famous pastry. To this day, the original recipe is locked in a vault and only a select few pastry chefs know it by memory.

yum yum

Colorful tuk-tuks were everywhere, carrying visitors through the city's steep and winding streets. They were nothing like the tuk tuks in Asia, and it seemed like every tuk tuk company tried to outdo the next in terms of style or decorations. They added a fun energy to the city and seemed to be one of the most popular ways to explore. 

 

 

Lisbon is built on a steep hillside, making it difficult for visitors (our age, anyway) to explore very long without getting exhausted. I failed to mention that Ronnie had a good start to his morning, being able to run off ship in a safe place with perfect weather. What more can a runner ask?

 

Rua Augusta Arch 

In addition to the colorful, decorative tiles, one can't help but notice the black and white patterns on Lisbon's streets. They are hand laid using cubes of white limestone and black basalt. The craftsmen who shape and lay these stones are called calceteiros. 

 

 

  

"The Liberator" Dom Pedro IV (1798–1834)

Rossio Square

By early afternoon, we were both ready to head back to the ship. We called an uber (about 1/3 the price of a tuk tuk) for a quick ride back.

Lisbon left a wonderful impression with its charming streets, beautiful tile work, outdoor dining culture and welcoming atmosphere. It's easy to see why so many people fall in love with this city. When I think of Lisbon in the future, I will think of blue and white tiles, patterned sidewalks, tuk tuks and (of course) custard tarts. 😊

 

sardine shop

nothing but sardines!

 

Fun in Funchal, Portugal

Clean, beautiful, modern, safe - how wonderful to be out of Africa and visiting the capital city of the Madeira archipelago! Funchal is located about 520 miles southwest of mainland Portugal. Jagged mountains completely surround the city like a giant amphitheater with the ocean at its base. It seems that everyone on the ship enjoyed it and several have said they would like to come back.

 

Funchal, Portugal with Vista in background

 

I had tried to sign us up for an excursion by tuk tuk but unfortunately it was full, so we settled for the "Highlights of Madeira" tour instead. And it turned out to be a good choice. We could not have asked for more perfect weather - sunny with a high of 72!

If anyone is looking for a beautiful place to get away, I can recommend Funchal as a destination. https://portugalgetaways.com/en-us/destination/madeira/general-articles/funchal 

 

Our first stop was Santa Catarina Park in the heart of the city. It seems that everything grows here! Not only are many of the plants and trees native, but many have been brought in from other places and thrived. Funchal enjoys a mild subtropical climate with warm, dry summers and comfortable but slightly wetter winters. It has a year-round average temperature of 68 degrees and an average rainfall of about 25 inches. That would suit me just fine!

I've never seen so many agapanthus in bloom anywhere - both purple and white varieties and all around the city in large beds. From the park in the middle of the city, we took a cable car and rode to the hilltop village of Monte. The view on the way up was incredible. We could see the tops of the orange tile roofs covering white stucco houses that seemed to spread out for miles. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we reached the top, we had about 200 steps to climb to visit Our Lady of Monte Church. Again, what a view! And the church itself was gorgeous, as pictured below. All the flowers across the altar and in the side alcoves were fresh and smelled heavenly.

Our Lady of Monte Church

 

After our church visit, we could have taken a Monte toboggan ride back down the mountain but opted not to. The toboggans are 2-person wicker-like sleds pushed by 2 men dressed in white. These sleds were formally used to move wine down the mountain. We slowly made our way back down a rocky, uneven path to our bus. These are some of the neat patterns of the hand "paved" stone paths. Some were random sizes of various sizes, making it more difficult to walk on.

re-purposed toboggans

 

After everyone got back to the bus, we headed for Funchal's main garden - the Madeira Botanical Garden. Again, there was lots of climbing and rocky, uneven and sometimes even painful underfoot paths to navigate. But the trees and flowers were amazing. Of course I took many more than I'm posting!

 

 

 

  

Our last stop was for wine tasting at Universal Store Madeira. We were greeted with glasses of Madeira wine or a yummy sparkling passion fruit drink for non-drinkers. Of course they made sure we had time to shop. The store had many beautiful things and I was very tempted to buy an all-cork cross-body purse but decided I didn't really need it so came away with only a Madeira thimble for my travel collection. Click the link - you'll see (and they ship anywhere in the world!). https://www.universalstoremadeira.com/en/ 

An embroidery shop was also included in our itinerary but our excursion had already run overtime so that visit got scratched. The city is beautiful but oh-so-hilly and we had already gotten plenty of steps in for the day, much of them on incline. Had I been younger with more energy, I would have been dropped off in town as some did and enjoyed spending the rest of the afternoon browsing the stores and eating locally. But we were dragging and happy to come back to the ship for snacks and a nap! Funchal is a beautiful city that is definitely worth a visit.