LISBON, PORTUGAL 🇵🇹

Well done for following our 15 day Cruise and the next few days on dry land along the Portuguese coast line. It was the most epic holiday that I have ever taken, maybe apart from a snowboarding trip 25 years ago. (But now I'm giving away my age!)

Anyway, we packed our bags in Ericeira and took the drive back to Lisbon along the back roads to avoid the tolls and enjoyed the scenery. By now my husband was a pro at driving on the right hand side of the road and we didn't get another flat tire.

We made it to Lisbon quite early and managed to put our bags in our hotel room before taking a walk. I was keen to see the sights and go shopping. We stayed in the middle of the old town in a little hotel called Hotel Duas Naçöes on Rua da Vitoria. The hotel elevator wasn't working when we arrived but we waited and eventually got the bags up the many flights of stairs.

Then off we went exploring. First we walked toward the waterfront area with all of the other tourists and locals. Lisbon seems to be a real melting pot of cultures and ethnicities.

First we found the Praça do Comércio which is a large square surrounded by restaurants on 3 sides and the Tagus River on the other side. The Tagus river runs across Spain and eventually crosses Portugal before reaching the Atlantic with its river mouth at Lisbon.

We walked the riverfront for about 30 minutes and found a supermarket where we could get Pasteis da Natas for 24 cents each! We got a few for ourselves and for my parents, And a few other lunch snacks. We knew that the restaurants were going to be EXPENSIVE!

We sat along the river on the steps and took in the views while eating our snacks.

I loved the art all over the place in Lisbon. Every corner had another sculpture or art installation or graffiti. Even the paving of the passage ways was white marble cobbles with black marble borders and beautiful designs. Every fountain and light fitting was beautifully designed and made me fall in love with this gorgeous city.

In the evening we kept on walking and took photos in front of the Santa Justa Lift. This lift was built in 1902 and it connected the lower streets with Carmo Square up above. It has the most beautiful filigri details an the dark cast iron stands out alongside the light plaster and tile of the surrounding buildings.

We listened to street musicians and eventually headed to bed while the streets were still buzzing with people and party-goers below.

We were up early and took a walk to the Money Museum. This day was full of walking and eventually making our way to the air port to catch our long flight home to Cape Town, South Africa.

The Money Museum was interesting and my Dad spent all of his time taking photographs of the coins behind the glass cases. The entrance and exit to the exhibits was through a real vault door.

Next we visited an incredible Church of Saint Mary Magdalene. One of the vestibules has been made into a museum showing the cloth wrapping of Jesus Christ and His Crown of Thorns. There were wooden sculptures of Jesus and replicas of the nails that would have been used to nail him to the cross. It felt surreal to be in a place so connected to history and Christianity.

Next the walk up the hill began. The plan was to visit the Castle at the top of the hill and take photos of Lisbon from above, but after the many steps and steep streets up the castle we found cues of people waiting to do exactly the same, and unfortunately our time was limited.

So the next best thing was to explore the local neighbourhoods and boy were we rewarded! We found the most beautiful balcony overlooking the cruise port below. The cruise port marking the sport where we first got back onto land and began this second part of our trip and now on this final day we were exploring and preparing to head home. Our trip had come full circle and we were ready to get back to our reality at the tip of Africa.

We walked the final cobble stone streets from there toward our hotel and took our final photographs of this gorgeous city. This is a place I could come back to because there is just so much more that we didn't get to see.

Our time in Lisbon and on this epic trip was up. We packed our final bits and pieces into our bags and made our way down to the taxi for our airport transfer. It was bitter-sweet. After so much time away from home, living this dream of travelling and exploring, it was over and we were on our way home.

We made the long layover in Angola and then eventually touched down in Cape Town to autumnal weather and the realisation that all we had left were photos and memories.

Thank you for following along for all these weeks. It has been a labour of love and a wonderful way to document our trip.

Next i will endeavour to share our Greek Isles Cruise, but it feels like another epic journey with so much to share. Shall we do that next?

Let's see...

//:# (!worldmappin 38.70785 lat -9.13661 long Mediterranean Cruise: Lisbon (17) d3scr)