Lisbon
ALICE'S ADVENTURES
ANDREW AND CELIA SHARPE
Sun 19 Sep 2010 14:24
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We spent two nights in Figueira da Foz then carried on
to Nazare. As usual wind and tide on the nose but this time accompanied by
a big Atlantic swell and rain!! We were very pleased to get into
Nazare. However the marina was full so we were put alongside the wall of
the fish dock. There is nearly 4 metre rise and fall of tide and on the
other side of the wall was a naval ship with loud generators going all the
time. A very unsettled night! The next day the English
Harbourmaster Captain Mike found a space for us in the marina. It was
Ali's "big" birthday and we all walked into town to a particularly good
fish restaurant. Luckily for Andrew they also did a good steak! We
caught the funicular to the other part of the town which had stunning
views.
Then it was on to Oeiras in company with Green Flash and
Caitlin of Argyle, an 81 mile trip. The marina is in a small town on the
outskirts of Lisbon and from here we can see the bridge and the Christ
Statue. Apparently the statue faces the one in Rio. The marina staff
are very helpful and offer to give us lifts to the supermarket or station.
This morning we took advantage of a lift to the station and went into
Lisbon. We had a walk up and down a couple of the 7 hills and then caught
the number 28 tram which goes down some extremely narrow streets. Our trip
on the famous number 28 tram was memorable for the wrong reason! There were two
pickpockets on the tram, they jostled everyone as it was really crowded and
we were standing. One of them touched Andrew's bottom feeling for a wallet
and the other one had a coat over his hand looking for money (it was far to
hot to need a coat). Another passenger hit the would be thief's hand
and they scarpered off the tram empty handed. It got very hot so we
went back to Oerias and had a swim in the sea and sat on the beach for a
while. Lovely. We will stay here a while as one of the advantages of
the ARC is that you got discount at some marinas. When we asked here the
girl in the office said yes you get half percent off. We were puzzled then
she said, no I mean you get 50% off, half price. That made all the
difference - from being the second most expensive stop to being much more
affordable!
SUNDAY
We have had a lovely week looking round
the area. We went to Belem to look at the Maritime Museum and
the tower of Belem. We went into Lisbon again and walked up to see
the cathedral which was a similar age and design to Christchurch Priory.
Then we walked round the narrow streets to the
Castle of St Jorge. The views were really lovely over the
city.
Again we walked down and through the main shopping area
at Rua Augusta.
Yesterday we went to have a look at Cascais and the
marina. Bumped into Dave and Sharon on Symphony (another Moody 54) and had
a pleasant chat and coffee with them. Then we caught a bus to the old town
of Sintra to look at the Palacio da Pena which looks like a fairy tale castle on
the top of a rock. The bus took over an hour going via Cabo Roca and was a
bit of a magical mystery tour. The town was heaving as it turned out it
was a festival day for their saint. There was a procession through the
town and everyone was on horseback in different costumes.
Will head south again this week, weather
permitting. |
