Our journey began on April 11 when we boarded the Celebrity Equinox for a TransAtlantic voyage to Lisbon, Portugal. We stopped briefly in Bermuda, Porta Delgado, Azores, Porto, Portugal before reaching Lisbon. Our plan was to stay four days in Lisbon before taking the train to Porto three hours north. From the beginning we realized we had not brought enough warm clothes because we thought Portugal would be warmer. It was only when we checked the latitude that we realized we were at the same position as Boston. It was too late.
Porta Delegado
Our first day in Lisbon was warm and sunny but from for the next ten days it was colder and rainier than we expected. Our hotel was away from downtown but very close to a metro station making getting around easy for 6.8 Euros for an all day pass. We planned one day TukTuk tour with our guide, Vini who was recommended by acquaintances in Porto. He was good but unfortunately we planned to tour on what was the 50th Anniversary of the end of the Salazar dictatorship on April 25, 1974. There were parades and marathons causing major traffic problems. Masses of people were everywhere.
While not the perfect day for touring we returned to several places the following days including multiple rides on the famous old fashioned trolleys and funiculars that traverse the steep hills of the city. Like many European cities the influence of the Catholic church is seen on almost every section of the city. Vini told us there are 65 churches, mainly Catholic, in the city.
Famous Lisbon Street Car and Funicular
One notable location he showed us was the site of the original third century Roman coliseum that has recently been unearthed. The Romans were not the first inhabitants of the area but were first to establish a permanent settlement. The old town was high on a hill overlooking the majestic harbor which is what attached the Romans and later the Moors to the area. The site of the Roman settlement was only one of the many panoramic locations overlooking different sections of this very hilly city.
We purchased our first class ticket on the train to Porto several days earlier. As it turned out our coach was full by the second stop. Fortunately, we had reserved seats. An unfortunate event occurred when we departed the train in Porto. . We saw the taxi driver turn off the meter shortly after starting our trip from the train station. When we arrived near the hotel the driver tried to charge us twice what the fare should have been. That led to a confrontation when we tried to retrieve our luggage and refused to pay what he asked He actually threw our luggage on the ground. We decided after that the Uber was a safer bet.
Our first full day tour was led by Monica who was recommended by Vini’s wife Aline. She was from a Venezuelan with parents from there and Italy. She came to Portugal after a failed love affair in Italy. We walked the old city and she shared with us so much history of the city. Listening to European history is so confusing because of many kings and kingdoms stretching back more than a thousand years.
Touring Porto with Monica
Unfortunately, we had lunch at a quaint restaurant in the old part of the city. As a result both Andrew, me and Monica ate bad food which led to illness. We lost time in Porto. We were feeling well enough on the third day to take a car tour with Julian to the historic towns of Barga and Guimares which were seats of power from the earliest days of the Portuguese monarchy after the Moors where banished from the kingdoms in the north of Portugal. The Moors continued to have control in the south of Portugal for four hundred years.
Touring the Historic Towns of Barga and Guimares with Julian
After two days lost to illnesses we spent our last day walking the hilly part of the Porto where the large, famous Mercado do Bolhão (market) occurs daily. There is all manner of seafood, fruit, honey, candy and baked goods, vegetables, flowers and wine. The longest lines were always in front of the wine merchants. It seemed that half the crowd was walking around with wine glasses half full. Since we were able to eat again we had a nice traditional Portuguese meal of steak, fries and salad in the food court of the market.
Our trip back to the United States occurred over two days but not because of flight delays. We had to fly late evening to Lisbon from Porto. We stayed near the airport overnight at the Moxley Hotel on the Metro red line. Since our USA flight was late afternoon we boarded the Metro and returned to central Lisbon with the intention riding one of the classic street cars. The massive crowds of tourists foiled that plan but we did ride the new street car toward Belem which is near the harbor entrance. That also didn’t work because of the heavy traffic. We returned to the Metro and made out way back to the airport after picking up our bags at the hotel. We flew off as scheduled and sailed through immigration in Miami which usually doesn’t happen. We were home(thirty-five miles from the airport) in Pompano Beach in slightly more than an hour after we landed. That is a first.
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