May 23rd A day at sea, steaming full speed to Lisbon, being informed of the probability of this by letter. Portuguese pilots were striking fro the 25th to the 27th. Unfortunately this meant that we missed the scheduled stop for the Alhambra, which included a private tour after hours and tapas - it would have been really nice, but such is life
Yvonne gave a lecture on Portuguese culture.
Chris had a swim after bridge and we went to the Captain's farewell, followed by dinner with Tanya and 6 bi-polars, 4 of which were also life long friends. Neither of us enjoyed this
May 24th. Arrival at Lisbon a day early, to beat the harbour authorities strike - but the strike had been called off by the time we arrived at 10pm!! The day was spent steaming towards Lisbon. 2 Enrichment lectures by David Price- Williams, on the Arabs in Spain and then Neanderthal Man. A decent game of bridge. During the afternoon we were informed that the port strike had been called off,. Ate by ourselves in the restaurant.
May 25th A five hour trip to Obidos, a medieval city about 60 k north of Lisbon. Quite touristy but we found parts without the crowds. Just had the children on our bus. After a drink of the local sour cherry drink, ginjinha, in a tiny chocolate cup provided by the tour company, we stopped by ourselves for a sour cherry sangria.
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May 26, Changeover day and a tour. The main stop was at Sintra at Quinta da Regaleira , a spectacular, early-20th-century residence and UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most surprising of all of Sintra's monuments. Located on the outskirts of the town, it was built between 1904 and 1910, in the last days of the Portuguese monarchy. Although adorned with an ornate, Gothic façade, the real attraction of the Quinta da Regaleira is in the rear of the property, where there are elabourite gardens and Masonic Initiation Wells. This romantic property, formerly owned by the Viscondessa da Regaleira, was acquired and enlarged by António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro (1848-1920) as his favourite country estate. His vast fortune earned him the nickname of Monteiro dos Milhões, ('Moneybags' Monteiro). He commissioned this unique project of house and landscape from the Italian set-designer and architect Luigi Manini (1848-1936). His genius, along with the mastery of sculptors, stonemasons, craftsmen who had formerly built the Palace Hotel do Buçaco, created this magical place.
Clearly all the tourists had come here to see the initiation well and we had a half hour queue to enter. However I thought that the wait was worthwhile, even though the guides bullied everyone to get them through a quickly was possible
Following our tour, a short walk took us to the nearby Lawrence's Hotel. Opened in 1764, it is reputedly the oldest hotel still in operation, and counts Lord Byron, Portuguese novelist José Maria de Eça de Queirós, English writer William Beckford, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher among its guests. Upon arrival at Lawrence's Hotel we had a poor, tourist treadmill High-Tea served with scones and regional cakes. There was not enough space for our group, and it was an experience that I could have done without
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We were back on board the ship before 2 we had a quick lunch before walking into Lisbon, spending a few hours down memory lane and stopping at a fabrica de pasteis to check the quality.
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Then spent an hour on the back deck enjoying a fruit smoothie. Had a swim before a farewell meal with Linda and Neil, followed by a Fado show