Heading home from Portugal

We had a taxi take us to the airport, and for the 4 of us it was only 15 Euros. Our experience throughout the trip had been, just as we'd heard from the experts, that taxis are a very affordable way to travel here. In spite of our luggage, the cabbies never tried to add extra charges.
We allowed ourselves a few hours more than we were likely to need at the airport, and had time for a leisurely lunch and some window shopping.
The flight from Lisbon to London was pretty rough. Gail and I were sitting in the last row, which might have added to the bumpiness. We flew into Heathrow by going over the city of London, and since the skies were clear, we had a beautiful view of the city and all its landmarks. On our way off the plane, I stopped to talk to the pilot, or co-pilot, and 2 flight attendants. I said, that was pretty scary! And the pilot said, scary??? I said, I don't like turbulence! But, I said, I knew we were safe though! And I mentioned how fun it was to see London from so close above it. That was really the saving grace of the whole flight for me.
Because of delays at both ends of the Lisbon to London flight, by the time we got off the plane, our next flight, to Seattle, was already boarding. With an increasing sense of panic, we raced through the airport. At Heathrow, a bus takes you from the arrival gate to the main terminal, then you go through security, then another bus takes you out to the departure gate. There's hardly any way to speed all this up. We mentioned to every airport employee we encountered that we were going to miss our flight if we couldn't jump ahead in a few lines. With a little help, and lots of running, we made it. The gate had already closed, but they held the flight for the 4 of us and 2 other people in the same predicament.
So, not only did we miss the fun shops at Heathrow, but I had no time to worry about getting on another, potentially bumpy, flight. Luckily the London to Seattle flight was much smoother. Gail and I were in coach, but we had 1 window seat and 1 aisle seat, and the third, the middle seat, was unoccupied, so we were very comfortable.
We arrived in Seattle right on time, and caught the Airport Shuttle to Gail's. I dropped Pam off at her house and headed home. Rick was waiting with a wonderful dinner, and a bottle of port.
So, no more beautiful blue tiles, no more custard tarts, no more gourmet picnics in the vineyards, and if I wanted an affogato, I'd have to make it myself! I'll miss all of it!

Oh, those beautiful blue tiles!

Oh, those little tarts!

Oh, those gourmet picnics!

Oh, those affogatos!

So, how did it all work out?
Our expenses were lower than expected. We didn't have to rent a car, so that saved some money. We stayed in apartments everywhere, so we always had a place to prepare a meal if we didn't want to go out. And, I think having apartments also facilitated a quicker start to our day, not having to eat breakfast at restaurants or at designated hours in B&Bs. And we could also keep leftovers to eat later. Transportation costs were affordable. As I mentioned before, taxis were inexpensive, though if there was a mass transit system, we used it. Our Duoro tour was a splurge, at $900 per person, for 3 days of touring with a guide, accommodations and meals. But, all-in-all, we spent about $130 per day (not including airfare). It would have been higher if our restaurant choices were pricier, and lower if we'd visited the Duoro on our own. Still, we all felt like we'd had a great time, and didn't skimp on anything.

We found the people to be welcoming and friendly, and had no problem communicating with our minuscule knowledge of Portuguese.

We'd all enjoyed our time in Portugal. Since this was the second visit for the rest of the group, they may not return, but hopefully, I'll be back!

My advice to you is, go to Portugal, and if you go, have a glass of port for me!

Some sights in Lisbon

On our last day in Lisbon, we decided to visit the Lisbon Oceanarium. I'd read that it was the largest aquarium in Europe, and worth a look. The aquarium is part of the Parque das Nacoes, an area along the waterfront developed for Expo '98.

The Grand Esplanade (Rossio dos Olivais) lined by 155 flags,
representing every country that participated in Expo '98

The weather was sunny and pleasant, and our walk through the park took us past the newer buildings of the city, instead of the historical areas we'd been visiting. There was lots of fun and creative design to be seen in the architecture, which interested me as the mother of an architect!

Looking back toward Vasco da Gama Mall from the  esplanade

We all enjoyed the aquarium, and its exhibits of underwater and shoreline environments. On the way out to the buildings housing the aquarium, we could see the Vasco da Gama bridge, which was built to allow easier access to the Expo, and is Europe's longest bridge at 10.7 miles.

Vasco da Gama Bridge, seen from up the coast in Belem

Modern buildings evocative of ships

The open penguin habitat was COLD

A seahorse

A very exotic seahorse

A very modern tile mural in the lobby of the Oceanarium

A conical fountain in the area

Very modern sinks at the Oceanarium

From the aquarium, we headed back toward the Vasco da Gama Mall to find lunch. Actually, we hoped to have another meal at The Butchers restaurant near there, but discovered that it wasn't open yet.

I wanted to see what the casino was like, and none of their restaurants were open for lunch. The others weren't interested in gambling, so we agreed to meet at the mall after I checked out the casino.

I found security at the casino to be a bit more stringent here than at our casinos in Washington state. No one could go through the turnstile until their ID had been checked and noted at the desk at the entrance. After spending a few minutes getting cleared for entry, I scoped out the slot machines. They didn't seem to have anything I recognized, but I tried my hand at one machine, and came out 15 Euros ahead. I figured that had paid for my lunch, at least! I would have liked to take some photos, but I'm sure that was forbidden!

I met the others at the food court at the mall, where we all got different things for lunch. We headed back to our apartment, not relishing packing for our departure tomorrow. Gail wanted to buy some chocolate bars to take home, so she needed one more visit to Pingo Doce.

I needed a few souvenirs for the grandkids, and found a little shop near our apartment that had some cute things. Have I mentioned all of the cork items made for the tourist trade? Super thin layers of cork are somehow adhered to fabric and fashioned into a myriad of things to buy. Cork hats, purses, covered books, belts and shoes, among other items, are everywhere in Portugal, and at all range of prices. I bought some cork coin purses and cork covered pens to take home. Somehow I can't imagine hats or purses of cork being very durable, so I didn't spring for those kinds of things.

That evening we ate leftovers augmented with a few things from the grocery store, and drank what we could of the leftover wine at the apartment.

Belem, near Lisbon

Nancy left before dawn to catch her flight home. We were all sad that she had to leave before we did. Since we only had 2 full days in Lisbon, we decided to go out to Belem to see the monastery and the monument to the explorers. We were hoping to catch the trolley from the Praca do Comercio, not too far from our apartment, but when we got there the whole area was blocked off for some kind of footrace. So we made our way down to the Cais do Sodre train station and took the 10-minute train ride to Belem.

Gail and Pam in the Praca do Comercio

Rick Steves' guidebook highly recommends the National Coach Museum. We were skeptical. Would it be an 18th century version of an old car museum? Fun, but not at the top of our list. We should trust Rick Steves by now! He hasn't steered us wrong in 30 years! We were absolutely floored by the coaches on display. Beautiful, ornate, works of art they were. Of course, only for wealthy aristocrats or businessmen and their families. I posted a few pictures on Facebook and joked that the only consolation from the perspective of the commonfolk was that the suspension was probably really bad.

The coach of Maria Ana of Austria

So plain, compared to the rest! Is this like the Ford Fiesta of coaches?

After our fun visit to the coach museum, we were on the lookout for lunch.
We found a little place along the main street in town, A Padaria Portuguesa, which was a bakery and lunch counter with seating inside, and there we had a light lunch before continuing on.

We didn't eat at this place, but pondered the fish display in the window

Our next stop was the Monastery of Jeronimos. Pam and I toured the church and cloisters while Janet and Gail sat outside in the pleasant sunshine. All three of the others had visited here some years ago, and they thought it was important for me to see it, enough that they'd allocate an afternoon to go back. The church of the monastery is huge, and very ornate, as all of the churches we've visited in Portugal seem to be. One unique feature I've noticed in several of the churches is a glass enclosed statue of the body of Christ, laying as though he was just taken down from the cross, below an altar.

The cloisters of the monastery

This church is famous for the elephant statues inside. Elephants were thought to be a symbol of power at the time this church was built, and the tombs of 2 kings and 2 queens are supported here by elephants. The tomb of Vasco da Gama is here too. The church survived a powerful earthquake in 1755, and presents one of the few interiors in Lisbon pre-dating that event.






After visiting the church and cloisters, we rejoined Gail and Janet to go see the Monument to the Discoveries nearby. It was built in 1960 for the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. The monument is a very imposing structure, and it was a nice day, so we got photos of it from all angles. The figures are Henry, at the helm, and other great navigators, sailors, explorers, and even the financiers, artists and writers who glorified the expeditions. The only female, of all the people depicted, was the mother of Henry. As far as I'm concerned, she gets credit for the whole thing!

I think that's Henry's mother, second from the left

We could have eaten a little frozen yogurt at this point!

We headed back to town, and our apartment, with one critical stop on the way. Gail wanted us to try an affogato, a dish of vanilla gelato with a shot of espresso on top. We found a place that served them, and all tried one. They were so delicious, and, as Gail would say, To Die For!



Dinner was at a touristy place on one of the pedestrian streets in the main part of town.