More Adventure than Expected in Lisbon

Lisbon

Michael and I flew from Barcelona, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal on Monday, May 5.  The flight was uneventful aside from discovering we were not allowed into the Star Alliance Club despite our United Airlines Premier Silver status and our paid membership in the United Club, a Star Alliance partner.   It appears that the Barcelona airport does not allow just anyone who flies a lot into its lounge; one has to have to have Premier Gold status or higher for entry.  Pooh!

In Lisbon, we stayed two nights at the Pestana Palace Hotel.  The hotel has a real palace as the property’s centerpiece. The palace is gorgeous.  We stayed in a very comfortable standard hotel room decorated with antiques in a modern wing next to the palace.  Michael and I made forays into the city proper from this luxurious base. The breakfasts in the mirrored ballroom were fantastic.

Pestana Palace Sitting Room

Pestana Palace Main Gate

 The hotel front desk staff told us we could buy twenty-four hour transit passes near the railway museum, a short walk downhill from the hotel.  They failed to mention that the transit office people spoke no English nor had any interest in communicating with Michael or me.  After a great amount of gesturing and pointing at the Portuguese signs displaying fares, we emerged from the transport office with two twenty-four hour passes costing six Euros each.  We immediately put them to use taking the light rail to the Praca do Comercio, the Commerce Square at the water’s edge of the Baixa district.  The late afternoon and evening were spent walking about the area.  We ate a Portuguese paella at an outdoor restaurant.  After dinner we climbed to the Chaido area and explored there. We walked about half a mile farther than necessary to find the right bus  back to the Pestana and arrived there just as the daylight was ending.

Eiffel Inspired Elevator to Chiado and Barrio Alto (the Upper Town)

Praca (Plaza) da Figueira (Lower Town)

Woman Selling Water in a Square in Barrio Alto

Hanging out in the Park

Chaido Building Exteriors

Praca do Comercio

 Michael and I had the whole next day for serious sightseeing.  We took antique trolley  to the Convent da Graca atop the Alfama. From there we walked to the Castle St George, to the Cathedral and to several viewpoints, called miradouros, overlooking the city and the river.   At one viewpoint, we encountered a group from the Silver Whisper touring Lisbon on the last day of their chartered cruise.  We could see the ship anchored across the river.  There were three huge Cunard “Queen” ships docked just below us.  A Princess ship and a freighter took all the space at the other downtown pier.  With so many large ships in port, there was no room for the Silver Whisper at any of the piers so the passengers came ashore from across the river by local ferry.  Michael and I hoped that Silver Whisper would move closer by the next morning when we were to embark.

"Small" House Across Street from Pestana Palace

Antique Trolley - It Accepts Smart Cards!

Looking from Convento da Graca to Castelo Sao Jorge

Small Shop on Street Within Castle Walls

Interior Se de Lisboa (Lisbon Cathedral)

Fado Singer Trying to Bring Customers into Bar

Azulejos - Painted Tile Mural

Cunard's Three Queens Beyond the Red Roofs of Lisbon

We took another long ride in a modern trolley to Belem, an historic district on the western side of Lisbon.  There we walked out to the Monument of the Discoverers on the riverside, saw the sixteenth century Belem Tower, and the wedding cake exterior of the St Jerome Monastery. When we were ready to return to the Pestana, neither bus nor trolley appeared for more than half an hour.  We took the first bus that came and it was overcrowded. We changed buses a few times to get back to the hotel and most of them were very crowded too. There seemed to be an exceptional number of tourists on a Tuesday in early May.

St Jerome Monastery

Monument to the Discoverers

Belem Tower from the Water As Silver Whisper Leaves Lisbon

As soon as we reached our hotel room, I discovered my i-Phone was missing.  That morning, I had placed it in a zippered compartment of my handbag and had not opened the bag all day.  When I took it off, the bag was unzipped and empty.  Fortunately, my valuables were in the room safe and I was carrying my transit pass, an ID and a small amount of cash in a deep pocket. The bag had only tissues, sunscreen and the now missing phone.  I had been the victim of a professional pickpocket, probably on one of the crowded buses.

Michael managed to disable and “brick” my phone by calling ATT.  No one had tried to use it before he did so I assume he did it fairly quickly after the phone was taken.  We were both relieved that nothing had been compromised. Only a few pictures were lost.

We went back to the Biaxa area, walked around some more, had a shot of cherry liquor at a small bar, and enjoyed an exceptional dinner of fresh sardines and pork in a proper sit-down restaurant with tablecloths. The following morning we took a long walk around the hotel neighborhood before taking a taxi to the Silver Whisper around 11:00 am.

Michael and I were warmly welcomed aboard and were delighted to see the luggage we had transferred to the silver Whisper in Malaga was waiting for us in our suite.  We spent the afternoon reacquainting ourselves with the ship, greeting the crew and unpacking.  We watched the Silver Whisper’s departure from Lisbon from the veranda behind the Panorama Lounge sipping cocktails and taking pictures.  We were beginning another cruise!

Leaving Lisbon