Russ and Jan's World Cruise: Wednesday, May 3, 2023

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Wednesday, May 3 – Lisbon, Portugal

We had a lovely sunrise this morning as we sailed into Lisbon. Lisbon is on the Tagus River and quite lovely viewing it from our stateroom. Lots of colors in the buildings as they climb the hill. Already at dock is the MSC Virtuosa (over 6,300 passengers). There is a bit of a walk to the Cruise Terminal, then on to find our bus. But our bus wasn’t there yet. “Stuck in traffic”. After a short wait, the bus arrives. We all get on board and head out on the typical panoramic drive.

On the south bank of the Tagus is the Cristo Rei statue. It was built in the 1950s. It is inspired by the Christ the Redeemer of Rio. The tower portion is 75 meters high.

It was built to commemorate how grateful the Portuguese are for avoiding World War II.

City views from the ship

We saw very little tagging on walls during our drive around. But this building seems to be the exception.

It is the 2^nd oldest capital city in Europe. Only Athens is older. Up and through the old and newer parts of this city with our guide giving us the lengthy history of Lisbon and various buildings we were passing. Lots of colorful tile work. Then down the hill again towards the river. We made a stop at the Jeronimos Monastery to admire this amazing monastery. Construction started in 1501 and it took about 100 years to complete.

An old train station. Now a hotel.

Tile

And more tile.

Monastery

The monastery from across the park and street

Russ and I went looking for coffee once we had taken a few photos. There was a local shop doing quite a business and then two doors down was a Starbucks that was busy, but not nearly as busy, so we each got a coffee from Starbucks that really hit the spot. When we got back to the bus, the guide was handing out a famous local pastry. Pasteis de Belem. They are custard tarts sprinkled with cinnamon and still warm. Yummy.

The drive continued with a brief photo stop to take pictures of the Torre de Belem. A riverside fortified lighthouse that was built at about the same time as the monastery. The drive continued up the hill to the old city center where we had the choice of exploring and walking back to the ship or returning to the ship by the bus. We opted to take the bus back.