Lisbon

The day started off cloudy and cold and of course we had chosen to have breakfast at Al Fresco on Deck 12 – it was 8.30am or so when we arrived up there and it seems that most others had also decided it was the place to be.  No tables available inside so we braved it outside – the only couple to do so as everyone else decided to queue for a table.  The smoked salmon bagel was up to standard but we did eat rather quickly so that we could get back to the warmth of our cabin.  Just like Vigo we decided that no trips were necessary but this time the Oriana berth was somewhat further out from town so we had to catch a free shuttle bus into the centre of Lisbon.  The day was set to be fair with temperatures of 60F rising to 70F so Hilary took a cardigan anyway while I being brave left my sweater on the bed, and to begin with I was proved right for walking around the shopping areas of Lisbon was very nice indeed.  We bought a few nick nacks, some tiles with poppies on made in Portugal and something we can incorporate into our designs back home, some cards, a fridge magnet and two of the famous Lisbon custard tarts – they look as if they are a bit burnt but taste great.  We discovered a McDonalds but try as I might I could not get a decent internet connection -  yes I had carried my netbook with me just in case – so we gave up on that idea and decided to take a tour bus around the city.  Problem number one was trying to make the little Portuguese man in the kiosk to understand that we wanted to know the basics such as price (easily answered), which was better the Red route or the Blue Route (never did get an answer that we could understand) and more importantly where the hell do we pick up the bus!  Some square or other was all we could get – that and it was over to the left – luckily Hilary’s sense of direction got us there only to discover that the Blue bus was a 25 minute wait as we had just missed one.  It arrived and we did get good seats upstairs and left on time, the whole thing was planned to last 2 hours but as time wore on the weather closed in and spots of rain started to fall but by a stroke of luck we were on a route that after 1 hour took us close to the Oriana – so we bailed out and went back to the ship.

Goodies dropped off in the cabin (yes we did buy a bottle of port even though we never drink the stuff) it was back to Al Fresco for a light lunch – I am still dreading the job of getting back into my dinner suit trousers for the formal dinner tomorrow night – and at this very moment while I give you these pearls of journalistic wisdom Hilary is ensconced in the Crow’s Nest reading today’s Daily Mail €2.90….

OK first part and possibly the only part of today’s blog is over, I have some lovely pictures of Lisbon that I can’t show you – you will have to wait for the video to see those – and now I am going to try and upload the blog.  Bye all….


Back again and God knows how much it cost but I now have Chrome and I can upload pictures... Hooray