Back at Cascais
Karinya
Tim And Vicki Schofield, Captain Cal 7 and Jess 4
Wed 14 Jul 2010 12:15
Lisbon was not as exciting as we thought, or maybe it's trying to see sights
in 35 degrees with 2 kids! We went across in the ferry to Lisbon from
Seixal, decided the best option was to buy a 2 day open top bus pass and see
the city. So we got on the bus which promptly stopped 5 minutes later to be
informed that we at the terminal and the next bus leaves in 45 minutes! So
off we got in search of lunch. Reading the guide book, it mentioned an open
cafe area with lots of people watching and great Lisbon atmosphere. After a
steep uphill walk, we got to the (singular cafe after passing areas with
plenty) They must have paid the travel book. So we went back down the hill
and ate in an open cafe near the old elevator (built in 1905) We really
battling to find reasonably priced food that is edible. prices are more
expensive than down town London and the food is rubbish.
Back to the bus station and off to the aquarium "biggest in Europe" not! The
kids loved it though and they saw numerous shark including a great white,
manta rays, sun fish (that look like radio controlled 8ft disks) and a
variety of other fish. I was tempted to get my fishing rod out as we had
eventually discovered where all the fish in Portugal were. On the fish
story, fishing seems to be the national sport in Portugal, it seems that is
all they do. They also seem happy catching and eating fish of less than 6
inches!
We then carried on the bus (after waiting another 45 minutes for one to
arrive) and saw other sights in Lisbon. What is disappointing is that most
are run down or new buildings over shadow the historic buildings....careful
I might say something good about the UK....the British got it right with
listings and planning...no I really did not say that!!!
So being a Sunday fewer ferries run than normal, we were trying to catch the
8 PM ferry back to the boat, had to get some groceries before boarding and
hoping the tourist bus makes it back in time. Well the good news is we made
it to the terminal in time, bought food with minutes to spare and just made
it on the ferry before they departed.....the bad news was it was the wrong
ferry. So 2 hours later we returned and just managed to catch the last
(correct ferry back to Seixal).
Being very rural in the river anchorage was interesting, at low tide every
day you get local men up to their armpits wadding in the water with rakes.
They catching tiny sea snails that they serve in the restaurants. For about
£5 you can get a bucket of these served with garlic. Knowing what we pass
into the river, we have so far opted for observing people eating them rather
than taking part in the ritual.
So we decided to head back to sea rather than spend another hot sweaty day
in Lisbon and are anchored back in Cascais. We keep seeing the same boats in
all the anchorages, but apart from our French buddies, the kid count is low.
Yesterday the kids played and swam off the French boat and Vic and I went to
do a large provision.When we got back to the dock, disaster had stuck, the
dingy had drifted under the dock at low tide and was stuck underneath when
the tide rose! We called on Pascal to help us get the frozen (or partly
frozen by now) food back to the boat, while we waited for the tide to drop
so we could recover the dink. Luckily there was enough space under the dock
for the dingy to come out unscathed, and I rather sheepishly powered back to
Karinya.
So a few days here, then we heading off to the Algarve. Julie and Lauren are
meeting us for 10 days in 2 weeks time, so we cant wait to see them. just
need to check the weather and will then leave.
Hope all is well, next 2 spots are pics as promised.