Lisbon, Portugal

April 28, 2025

Early this morning we sailed under the Vasco de Gama bridge into the port of Lisbon , the capital of Portugal. Lisbon is situated on the Tagus river. Here in the city, the river is nearly a mile wide. As we have visited Lisbon before, we scheduled a 4.5 hour tour to a medieval town called Obidos, dating back to 1148 AC.

We left the ship for our 1.5 hour bus ride out of the City through the countryside to Obidos. We arrived in the town just outside the City entrance gate. From here we ventured out on foot through the narrow streets. We made a visit to the old cathedral. There was a second cathedral, which ended up being a bookstore now. We heard about a bakery near the church where we bought a dozen or so pastel de Nata, these are well known small custard tarts. If you see them somewhere on your travels, you should try them. We even saw a sardine store, having sardines cans going back to my birth year. After walking around for a while, Panic!! Carol lost her wallet. We were about to cancel her CC card, then when we arrived back at the bus, someone had found it. Big sigh of relief  when we got on the bus for our ride back to the ship. When we arrived back at the ship, our plan was to walk into Lisbon for a few hours. By that time all the light had gone out all over Portugal and Spain. Businesses were all closing down and Traffic had come to a standstill. At that point we cancelled our plans to go into town. On the ship there was a planned complementary wine and seafood event. The seafood was incredible, Lobster, Crablegs, Mussels and Clams as much as you wanted. Complimented by red or white Vino. Very impressive. By now the ship was supposed to leave, but we were still missing over 10 passengers. The Captain stated that we couldn’t leave them here and have them catch up by plane. The missing guests had likely no passports on them and the airports were in chaos due to the power outage. Eventually all the missing passengers showed up after being stuck in traffic. They must-have been happy, seeing the ship was still there. By now we were ready to leave, but the Pilot had gone elsewhere to assist another incoming ship. At 7 the pilot showed up again, and we ended up leaving 3 hr later then scheduled. I wonder how that is affecting tomorrow’s stop?

Cheers

Cor and Carol