Lisbon

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Today we are in Lisbon, Portugal. When I stepped off the ship to go to our tour bus, I had to stop and do a double take. For a minute I thought the Captain had made a mistake and docked in San Francisco. To my relief I found that the illusion was The 25th of April Bridge over the Tagus River. Our first stop for the day is a park along the river that has two spectacular monuments. The first is the Belem Tower. Commissioned by Manuel I, the tower of Belem was built as a fortress in the middle of the Tagus in 1515-21. Starting point for the navigators who set out to discover the trade routes, this Manueline gem became a symbol of Portugal's great era of expansion. The real beauty of the tower lies in the decoration of the exterior. Adorned with rope carved in stone, it has openwork balconies, Moorish-style watchtowers and distinctive battlements in the shape of shields. The second is The Discoveries Monument (or Monument to the Discoveries) built in 1960 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator, who sponsored many of the Portuguese explorers of the 16th century. The Discoveries Monument has statues of all the great Portuguese explorers such as Vasco de Gama and Magellan. The monument also has a map that chronicles Portugal's empire building around the world. Also in this park is a replica of the seaplane that was the first plane to fly from Europe to South America. It was flown by two pilots from Lisbon to Brazil.
Across the avenue from the park is the Monastery of Jeronimos. It was not available for tours because there was an official affair going on for foreign dignitaries. From the bus we were able to watch some of the Royal Mounted Guard in a parade.

Lisbon like many great cities is built with water on one side and hills on the other. One stop was the Statue of Pombal, who rebuilt the city after the earthquake of 1755. From here you look down the mile long Avenida Liberdade to the waterfront. There was a slight haze so our view was not the best. Our bus took us to a city square where we boarded a trolley for a ride through the older parts of the city. Very narrow streets winding over some of the hills. While on the trolley, we were treated to a glass of local port wine and a Lisbon delicacy - Pasteis de Nata de Belem - a very light and flaky crust about two inches round filled with a custard. What a beautiful and interesting city Lisbon is. It is another large town with lots of traffic and very narrow streets but really cries out for more time to be spent and more pictures to be taken.

Back on the ship and getting ready to set sail for Cadiz, Spain. As we sailed down the Tagas River we got to see the Belem Tower and the Discoveries Monument from the water. We sailed past the St. George's Castle perched on a hill guarding the city.

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Photos

Our server on the tram
We were served port wine and a pastry

Monument to Discoveries
Background is Jeronimos Monastery