Lisboa--or Lisbon for all us Americans

We enjoyed our second trip to Lisbon, and because we stayed 4 days, were able to really get in some sightseeing. My pedometer was working "overtime " for us clicking in 15,000-plus steps a day.  

We stayed at a wonderful little apartment (through Airbnb) in a very old villa that was remodeled a year ago in "modern Ikea with touches of folk craft" 🤣 After struggling for 1/2 hour with our roller bags on steep, cobbled streets 

we ended up hailing a taxi. That cost us $8.00 and the driver dropped us off about 4 blocks away and told us to walk the rest!!  The next day we figured out the local bus and made our way around the city just fine!

We explored some areas of old Lisbon that we toured about 5 years ago and most of the buildings and monuments looked the same. 
 

....Except for the missing statue of much loved King Sebastian (who in 1580 at the youthful age of 24 went missing whilst on an ill-fated crusade to Africa leaving no heir to the throne).   
This time, the young King went missing just a week ago after a stupid tourist climbed up on the small statue for a selfie picture and the poor King came crashing to the pavement!  

We took two side trips to Belem and Sintra.  

Belem is at the mouth of the Rio Tejo 

                        Tower of Belem

and was the jumping off spot for Vasco de Gama and his ships during the mighty Portuguese "Age of Discovery" eventually finding the route to India and the fortunes of spices. 

Vasco de Gama, although buried here in Belem, actually died in India and we were fortunate to see his Indian grave when we were in Cochin.

Interestingly the globe that decorates his and many other historical buildings,

has a diaganol ribbon that some state that it divides the conquered world in half for Portugal and Spain.

Finally we took the train to Sintra which is a lovely, lush green & very hilly old town full of castles, palaces and estates of the old aristocratic families.  

 We toured an ancient 10th Century Moorish Castle (ruins),

The Moorish Castle

 a bit newer 15th Century palace

National Palace of Sintra

And most modern castle built in the 1800's!  It felt like we were in Disneyland. 

Pena Palace

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Of course we had our delicious Portugees Pastels de Nata custard tarts!

Our trip ended with a flight to Birmingham, England where we are tuning our ears to yet another accent :-)

Pullmantur "Monarch" Cruise

We have just arrived in Lisbon, Portugal after a 14 day cruise with 8 days crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

Just a quick blog post about our Cruise ship, Monarch. Pullmantur is a Spanish line and the primary language is indeed Spanish. Other common languages  are Portuguese and English. However the English is always in a shortened abbreviated version. We have been surprised at how many English speaking with passengers there are  from Canada US and Europe. There are many are ex-pats spending 6 months in South America and are now returning home for the winter

Our ship in dock

Morning walking exercise-activities are somewhat limited so they "improvise"

...but free coffees, wine and spirits!!

The food is very tasty but often the names & descriptions do not match the plate such as salmon salad with no salad, appetitive martini is like a liquor. We are enjoying meeting people who want to improve their English and will help us practice conversational Spanish. Carlos and George are retired architects from Buenos Aires and we had a nice lunch together. 

We have had two port stops in Sint Maarten (Dutch island) and Antiqua today. Next 7 days are at sea. 

Leaving on a jet plane...

We we are off on another adventure. But this time, as someone said to us, it's more than just an adventure!  We are heading to Europe for about 5 months and we don't have a return date or mode of transportation planned yet!

We are overnighting in a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida today and flying out tomorrow to Cartegena, Columbia. You may have heard about the debacle (pilot slowdowns, cancelled flights and fights with ticket agents...) with Spirit Airlines?  No problems 2 days later when we flew and it was fine for us except taking nearly 2 hours in line to check in.

Overnight in Cartegena at a lovely boutique hotel, Varanasi Hotel just a short walk from the airport. The room is great, staff speak English fluently and breakfast was actually served!

We grabbed a taxi and spent a few hours roaming the walled cultural central city.

There we will embark in Pullmantur Monarch cruiseship destined for Lisbon, Portugal. You haven't heard of Pullmantur Cruise Lines??  Well that's probably because they primarily serve the Spanish market and most guest are Spanish speaking. From Pullmantur website:

In Pullmantur, Spanish language is much more than the official language on 
board: it´s our philosophy, our way of doing things. It´s fun our way, with our 
customs and schedules.





We do speak a little Spanish and are hoping this invigorating and mystifying immersion will be fun!  Or at the very least--challenging.

We will also be doing some housesitting (rent-free stay in exchange for caring for home and pets) for several weeks in England and Switzerland.