Lisbon, Portugal - November 01, 2012

Knock on wood, still so very lucky with the weather, a beautiful day as we slowly glided into and up the Tagus River to our next port of call Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Lisbon is located on a string of hills and the city is filled with wide boulevards, black and white mosaic tiled sidewalks and Art Nouveau houses that are face with beautiful tiles. It is a small city as far as capital cities go with a population of about 1 million (greater Lisbon adds about another 2 million to this number). Much of the city was destroyed in 1755 by an earthquake and tidal wave, The old Moorish quarter of town, the Alfama survived the earthquake largely because it rests on a foundation of dense bedrock. The Alfama is a legacy left over from the Moors who ruled Lisbon during the 8th century. It is a district of narrow winding streets, twisting their way to the castle on top. The castle de Sao Jorge is Moorish in construction and was built on a site of a fortification built in the 5th century by the Visigoths. The castle walls enclose an Arabian palace and a small village used by artists and crafts people and was the main focus of our visit to this city this time around. We were here before for an overnight with a land tour but the weather then was not the best so our adventures did not extend too far. Today we walked off the ship and used the local tram system, now they say this system is easy to use but having just used it, it is really only easy to use once you have actually used it, enough said it all got figured out and it was a very enjoyable way to sightsee through the city. Another quick note on the trams we used, they are turn of the century trams and not the 21 century, these trams date back to the early 1900’s, so they are full of old wood and rattle away up and down these very narrow streets, wonderful. For those familiar with Lisbon, yes we did stop at a local cafe and had one of the delicious pastel de nata - a small custard tart sprinkled with cinnamon, a must if visiting here - decadent and delicious. Tram number 12 dropped us off close to the Castle, magnificent. The rest of the day we wandered getting back to ship for a late dinner. Another great day, we hope you enjoy the pictures we selected today. Tomorrow another day at sea, excellent.