SCandinavian Cruises - 2026
Monday 1 June'26 - Lisbon (Portugal)
Ola from Lisbon. We docked at just on 0800. Today was a 3.5 hr Tuk Tuk tour, starting at 1100 so after brekky, off the ship and a little walk around the port area. First up, passed a small pastelaria and so the 1st (and 2nd) Portuguese tarts were devoured. Yummo! Then a nice little shop that not only had the normal tourist type stuff but a wide range of Portuguese pottery, so some retail therapy straight up. After some more walking it was time to head to the designated meeting place. Now a small ad for Get Your Guide (owned by Trip Advisor). I have now used them in many places and the costs are always very reasonable compared to other sites but the app is fantastic. It allows you to download the tickets to your wallet (either mobile type), gives you a reminder an hour from the scheduled time of your tour/event and then provides a link to use a map app (your choice of Apple or Google) to help you find your meeting place. In addition, the tour provider will also message you on WhatsApp with any relevant information that hasn't already been provided by the GYG app. Anyhow, after meeting Belal (our driver/guide) where he gave us a brief overview of Lisbon's history, we set off past the Central Station. Next was Chafariz d'El-Rei (King's Fountain) then one of the 2 remaining portals (gates) to the old town. From there to Praça do Comércio (Commerce Square).
We then drove around the area called Belem, which pretty much follows the Tagus river towards the ocean. Our 1st stop was Pastéis de Belém (Belém pastry or Portuguese egg tart). It is world renowned for their Portuguese tarts. It opened in 1837, by monks and the recipe has been handed down over the ages but at any given time, there are no more than 5 people who know it. It wins the best Portuguese tart award every year and I can now attest to how good they are. The photo shows me devouring my 3rd for the day (4 in total with Porto to come...). Jerónimos Monastery was the next stop, then onto Torre de Belém (Belém Tower), which initially was built as a defence for the city, protecting against anyone coming up the river. In the park adjacent to the Tower is a monument to the 1st Aerial crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, which was undertaken in 1922 by some Portuguese pilots, in a seaplane. A little further down was the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries). This is an amazing sculpture and celebrates not only the sailors but anyone involved in the many voyages of discovery by the Portuguese. The map highlights all the places the Portuguese "discovered" and if you look carefully at the mosaics in the ground I'm sure you can see the dips, representing the waves. Not so folks, an optical illusion, the ground is perfectly flat..
Then it was off to the Old Town. On the way we passed yet another of Lisbon's museums. It has 78 in total and I'm really sorry I didn't have time to visit the Codfish Museum... Lisbon also has another similarity to San Francisco, in that it is incredibly hilly and has a network of street cars. The last photo in this set is Panteão Nacional (National Pantheon).
Being a hilly place has it advantages, in that you get some great viewpoints. It also has some magnificent parks and lots of statues and monuments. You might have noticed in the photos the Jacarandas that are currently in bloom and this tree, at one of our stops, was magnificent. Like Morocco, a lot of the buildings are covered in glazed tiles. There is also lots of artworks and this mural on the whole side of an elevated street is done with ceramic tiles. So much history and they are very proud of their greatest explorer, Vasco da Gama who "discovered" Africa and India.
After a interesting and informative 3.5 hours, it was time to say "see ya" to Belal. He dropped us off in the Market Square where we had lunch before a 15 minute walk back to the ship, which was most appreciated given it was a very warm 26'c. A rest then a shower, before having a quite & easy dinner in the Oceanview Cafe before bed. The last photo is of Christ the King, taken as we sailed out of port from the room's balcony (as was the earlier bridge one). The statue overlooks Lisbon from the opposite side of the river and was sculptured by the same person who did Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro.
