Woke up this morning at 8.00am and went out onto the balcony, expecting to see the Spirit of Discovery next to us. But instead we found ourselves looking onto the bow of the Balmoral! At some point either during the night or in the early hours of this morning, Borealis must have moved to create a gap into which the Balmoral was manoeuvred; we could see that the Spirit of Discovery was next to the Balmoral. 😊
We went up to The View self-service buffet for our breakfast, then wandered out onto the rear decks. The weather was pleasantly mild, although cloudy, but the sun was due to come out later on.
At 9.30am we made our way to the Neptune theatre to await the call for our excursion, which was a city tour of Lisbon, part of which would be done on one of their famous trams. We didn’t originally have an excursion booked in Lisbon because we’ve visited several times before (including last November!) but, because we’d each been given £200.00 free on-board spend, we decided to book one.
In previous years when we’ve been in Lisbon, the ship usually docks under or near the famous Ponte 25 de Abril (25 April Bridge) which is a large suspension bridge over the River Tagus. The bridge was expanded from four lanes to six lanes in 1998 and is known as the “buzzing bridge” because of the peculiar noise the traffic makes, due to the two inner lanes being made of metallic grating rather than asphalt.
However, a new purpose-built cruise terminal was opened in 2013 which is quite a way upriver from the bridge, so we’re no longer walking distance from that well-known symbol of Lisbon, the Monument to the Discoveries.
Nevertheless, we were only about a 10 minute shuttle bus ride (or 20 minute walk) from the town centre. We disembarked Borealis and headed towards the numbered shuttle buses, where our tour guide awaited us.
Setting off through the sunny streets, we recognised quite a few places from our visit a year ago, including the large square containing the statue of King José I, created by the sculptor Machado de Castro (1775). The king on his horse is symbolically crushing snakes on his path. We also saw that they were getting set up for the Christmas Markets, and we also remembered this from last year. 😊
Soon the bus parked up and we all alighted for the short walk to the tram stop. Lisbon is famous for its antique trams; the Lisbon tramway network (Rede de elétricos de Lisboa) has been in operation since 1873; it presently comprises six lines. The system has a length of 31 km, and 63 trams in operation (45 historic Remodelados, 8 historic Ligeiros and 10 modern articulated trams). The depot is located in Santo Amaro, in Alcântara.
We all boarded a tram which contained original wooden framing and sash windows. The “conductress” on the tram wore traditional Portuguese national costume and was very happy and smiling. We were all given headsets so that we could hear the commentary given by our guide, but to tell the truth, it was quite difficult to hear with the rattling of the tram and the street and traffic noise, and in any case we were too busy looking out of the window and just enjoying the experience of riding these fascinating vintage vehicles through the narrow, thronging streets.
Many of the streets were quite steep and/or curved, and this allowed me to put my phone camera out of the window and video part of our tram ride, and to have a good view of the tram in front of us.
Presently our conductress came around with a basket from which she pulled port wine glasses, and handed one to each passenger. Then, returning to the rear of the vehicle, she collected a bottle of ruby port from which she poured generous measures into each glass. Next, she came around and proferred another basket containing the famous egg-custard tarts, pastel de nata. We enjoyed these a lot, washed down with a glass of the rich port.
As the tram continued on its way, we received several more top-ups of port, enjoying four glasses each! 😊 Then, as the tram neared its final stop, the glasses were all collected in and we arrived at the end of our tram ride. What an absolutely fun time we’d had – it was great!
Once we alighted from the tram, we had about 20 minutes of free time before we had to be back on the coach. We wandered around the streets, looking in the shop windows and enjoying being back in this wonderful old city. There is so much to see and do in Lisbon, which is why we’d originally not booked a tour; however, at least we’d now been on one of the famous trams! 😊
Back on our coach, we returned to the cruise terminal, but Trevor and I were not ready to go back on board yet. Instead, we decided to explore the immediate vicinity and go for the customary cold beer, as the weather was now warm and sunny. We walked down a narrow street which gave onto a cobbled square, and looked around at the various souvenir shops, bars and pavement cafés. We saw a shop selling postcards and went in to buy some; we could write them out while enjoying a drink.
Taking our seat at an attractive bar with tables outside, we each ordered a large Sagres beer, which went down very well indeed. While we were drinking, a large group of young people wearing colourful clothing and each carrying a percussion instrument of sorts, got together and started dancing to a catchy, fast drumming rhythm. Several children came around the tables with hats, and collected donations from the seated patrons.
As we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and were now feeling quite hungry, we ordered a bowl of hot chips to share. Then, having finished our first beer, Trevor decided to have another one, but instead I opted for a caipirinha, my favourite cocktail of Brazilian original but which is increasingly popular in other countries, particularly Portugal. It was fruity and ice-filled and totally delicious. 😊
Afterwards, we went off to find a post-box and send our postcards on their way, then we took a slow stroll back to the Borealis. It was around 2.30pm by now, and we returned to suite 6227 and sat out on the balcony for a while, looking across at the Balmoral as well as the nearby vista of Lisbon; from our vantage point we could see the distinctive domed building of the National Pantheon. Built in the 17th century as the Church of Santa Engrácia, it’s now the place where important Portuguese personalities are buried.
Just before four o’clock, we heard a blast from the Balmoral as she started to move away from the quayside. We decided to go up onto the top deck and watch her departure, and get some photographs.
It was brilliant! Lots of people had turned out (on both ships) and were waving madly at each other and, as the Balmoral drew alongside us, she gave the traditional three blasts on her foghorn, to receive an answering three blasts from Borealis. I got some great photos and video footage as she glided past us – a lovely vessel. 😊
We spent the rest of the time pottering around in our cabin before it was time to get ready for dinner once again. Around 5.20pm the canapé man arrived, and we enjoyed the tasty little snacks which whet our appetite for our dinner.
On table #222 there was no shortage of conversation as we all regaled each other with what we’d been doing today. Colin and Angie had been on the tram ride in the afternoon and had thought they’d done well to have three glasses of port each, until we told them we’d had four! 😀
For my main course I decided to have Caesar Salad, which I love, and I asked the waiter for extra anchovies. When my salad came, however, he said “here you are ma’am – Caesar Salad with no anchovies”. What?! I pointed out his error for which he was very apologetic, and he went off to get my anchovies for me. When he returned, it was from the sublime to the ridiculous, because he brought a bowl which must have contained a full tin of those strong, salty little fish. While I am sure I could probably eat a whole tin, I didn’t think it would do my blood pressure any good, so I just took half of the anchovies and left the rest. 😊
Aterwards we finished off with coffee and a glass of Amaretto each, then went along to the Morning Light pub for a quick drink while we waited for the Neptune Lounge to open. The entertainment tonight featured the musical skills of Sarah Sax again, and we really enjoyed her show a lot. The entertainment on board has been excellent this cruise.
Then it was back along to the Morning Light for the quiz as usual. Colin, Angie and Richard were there, but once again June did not feel well and had completely lost her voice, so she didn’t put in an appearance. Needless to say, we didn’t win. ☹
We finished the evening off by going up to the Observatory where Viva, the resident band, were doing their Abba tribute to a packed dance floor. We partook of a couple of cocktails and just sat there, enjoying the ambience of the place as well as watching everyone having a good time.
It was about midnight when we returned to 6227 and, as usual, we went out on the balcony for a last look round and to take in some of the crisp, clean night-time sea air. The Borealis wasn’t going very fast as we were only going as far as Porto tomorrow, which was less than 200 nautical miles away.
After wedging open our balcony door, we settled down in our comfortable bed and slept very well.