The third stop on our Transatlantic cruise was Lisbon, Portugal. This was Husband's most anticipated stop so he made an agenda for us.
A lot of our fellow cruisers opted to see the city via "tuk-tuk" (like a pedi-cab but with a motor), but we were happy to see the city on foot and burn off some of our cruise-food calories. We got off the ship and headed for the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara - a "landscaped terrace with a fountain offers panoramic views of the city"...
Along the way we enjoyed the architecture...
...poked our heads in a bakery...
... and marveled at the price of water compared to alcohol.
My favorite part was coming across this pop culture mural:
We after several hill and steps, we eventually came to the overlook, and it was crawling with tourists. There were so many tuk-tuks dropping people off.
It was admittedly the perfect view of the city and I took about a million photos.
Also at the overlook was a tiny lemonade cart, which we obviously needed to patronize. We took our purchase and enjoyed it on our journey back down the hill into the center of town.
After we came down the hill, we were feeling a little warm and parched (it was a small lemonade) so we stopped at Starbucks for a Cold Brew and because I was hoping to get a souvenir espresso mug (I did).
Feeling refreshed we sought out a Ginjinha shop for a Lisbon specialty - Cherry Liquor. The shop was a tiny little store in the side of a building about the size of a mall kiosk. They only thing they sold there was the Ginjinha.
There was a constant flow of customers, but the line moves fast wo we only waited a few minutes. We ordered two drinks and - though it is supposed to be sipped - we were served two shot glasses of the liquor. I didn't care for it, tbh, but the store was pretty neat, and Husband liked it enough to buy a bottle of it to take home with us.
After our Ginjinha, we didn't have a lot of time so we had to sacrifice going to the Museum of Beer, and instead headed for the botanical gardens to walk around for 1/2 hr or so.
Along the way we spotted a store that sells "pastel de nata" - a warm, creamy egg custard tart, with a flaky crust and a dust of cinnamon and sugar. The display area was packed with them to make sure they don't run out.
We waited a couple of minutes for ours and scoped out the ovens they use to make them:
It tasted like a cross between creme brule and flan. I mostly enjoyed it, but, if given the choice, would prefer creme brule or flan.
After that, we came across a flea market that was along our route to the gardens. Husband loves flea markets so our walking speed was reduced dramatically. I perused because I had nothing else to do while he actively looked at merchandise, and we both unknowingly tempted fate with not making it back to our ship in time.
This was not because we weren't paying attention to time, or because we didn't realize that ship-time and local time may not be the same (okay I think Husband didn't realize this, but I did), but because while we were at Starbucks, we hopped on the wi-fi and our phones updated to local time.
A lot of our fellow cruisers opted to see the city via "tuk-tuk" (like a pedi-cab but with a motor), but we were happy to see the city on foot and burn off some of our cruise-food calories. We got off the ship and headed for the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara - a "landscaped terrace with a fountain offers panoramic views of the city"...
Along the way we enjoyed the architecture...
We after several hill and steps, we eventually came to the overlook, and it was crawling with tourists. There were so many tuk-tuks dropping people off.
It was admittedly the perfect view of the city and I took about a million photos.
Also at the overlook was a tiny lemonade cart, which we obviously needed to patronize. We took our purchase and enjoyed it on our journey back down the hill into the center of town.
After we came down the hill, we were feeling a little warm and parched (it was a small lemonade) so we stopped at Starbucks for a Cold Brew and because I was hoping to get a souvenir espresso mug (I did).
Feeling refreshed we sought out a Ginjinha shop for a Lisbon specialty - Cherry Liquor. The shop was a tiny little store in the side of a building about the size of a mall kiosk. They only thing they sold there was the Ginjinha.
There was a constant flow of customers, but the line moves fast wo we only waited a few minutes. We ordered two drinks and - though it is supposed to be sipped - we were served two shot glasses of the liquor. I didn't care for it, tbh, but the store was pretty neat, and Husband liked it enough to buy a bottle of it to take home with us.
After our Ginjinha, we didn't have a lot of time so we had to sacrifice going to the Museum of Beer, and instead headed for the botanical gardens to walk around for 1/2 hr or so.
Along the way we spotted a store that sells "pastel de nata" - a warm, creamy egg custard tart, with a flaky crust and a dust of cinnamon and sugar. The display area was packed with them to make sure they don't run out.
After that, we came across a flea market that was along our route to the gardens. Husband loves flea markets so our walking speed was reduced dramatically. I perused because I had nothing else to do while he actively looked at merchandise, and we both unknowingly tempted fate with not making it back to our ship in time.
This was not because we weren't paying attention to time, or because we didn't realize that ship-time and local time may not be the same (okay I think Husband didn't realize this, but I did), but because while we were at Starbucks, we hopped on the wi-fi and our phones updated to local time.
We
managed to not miss the boat (pun not intended) because while Husband
was taking an eternity shopping for old coins, I looked at his watch for
the time, which was still on ship time and realized what had happened. A
quick 20-min jog-run back to the ship just after the back-on-board
time, but before the ship left without us. All because, the day before, I
murdered my watch (stupid Fitbit) by forgetting to take it off before
going in the pool.
No, we did not make it to the botanical gardens.
Back on the ship we got really nice views of the city and sailed under a bridge designed by the same guys that did the Golden Gate.
And like that, we were off to our next destination.
More cruise port visits
No, we did not make it to the botanical gardens.
Back on the ship we got really nice views of the city and sailed under a bridge designed by the same guys that did the Golden Gate.
And like that, we were off to our next destination.
More cruise port visits
Carnival
Norwegian
Royal Caribbean
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