Leaving mainland Portugal
Stargazer of Southampton
Susie and Adam (both think they are skipper)
Mon 27 Sep 2010 16:36
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We spent a couple of weeks in Cascais - it was
great as we could anchor in the bay for free, we only went into the Marina for
one night for a hectic clean the boat, do the washing, fill up the water tanks
session. Cascais was a pretty place with lots of bars and
restaurants. We actually ate out there a couple of nights, not traditional
Portuguese food though - we found an Indian restaurant (good for veggies) and
couldn't resist as we hadn't been for a curry in months! - it was a very nice
place though with fantastic food (especially for those who have seen nothing but
tapas for weeks). On our last planned night in Cascais we went for a
'goodbye mainland' curry.
We had a good time in Portugal, exploring Porto is
a great way to spend a couple of days and we easily filled a couple of weeks
around the Lisbon area in Cascais, Sintra and Lisbon. Sailing down
the Portuguese coast there were few anchorages, apart from once we got to
Cascais, so we only made a couple of stops on the way. We really saw the
Atlantic swell coming down this coast - there are always rolling hills of
water - but the 'NE trades' that the books talk about appeared absent for
our trip and we did have to spend more time motoring than actually
sailing. However - writing this now in Porto Santo - we are
glad that we got away from the mainland before the Gales that have hit over the
last week! We did notice that it was getting decidedly cooler in the
evenings in Portugal so end of September was a good time to chase the sun
south.
A couple of shots around the harbour in
Cascais
View to Santa Marta Lighthouse just around the
corner from the Marina and Cascais beach where we anchored
 Devil's Cauldron - apparently you have to see it in
a storm when the sea comes roaring in through the sea arch
 We also did another day out in Lisbon - this time
to explore around the Belem area by the river front. We saw the
presidential residence which you can't get near really, and found the Monastery
of Jeronimos (not Geronimo) which was really impressive, there were some
beautiful buildings and loads of museums.
Monastery Doorway - big doors - must be
tall monks
 Inside the Monastery - probably the most impressive
building we saw in Lisbon
   Belem Tower - which was used to defend the Tagus
river entrance to Lisbon - looks like it should have Rapunzel in the
top of the tower.
 Some strange exhibit in the maritime museum . . . .
 Cork Sculpture at the art centre in Belem -
they seem to like making things out of Cork in Portugal, in Cascais there was an
internet point in the park that was a couple of little buildings built of
cork that were grass roofed with big sliding glass doors - they would have
made a good 'garden office'
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