Day 116 – Tuesday 6th May
2014 – Lisbon, Portugal
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| Lisbon |
Lisbon must
be one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, cascading down many hills to the
waterfront along the bank of the River Tagus.
We arrived
in the river with all three ships in convoy, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth
and Queen Mary 2.
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| Queen Victoria |
Approaching
the berth, our sister ship Queen Victoria was already alongside and we were
tied up for 09.00.
Our berth
was in an excellent position, within walking distance on the city centre. I walked to the cathedral, up a very steep
hill, through winding narrow cobbled streets, trying to take pictures of all
three ships together, but it was not possible here. From my position, I could see another
prominent hill, so back down and up again to Sao Jorge Castle. In this elevated position, there are fine
views over the city, but could not see the ships.
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| Black Horse Square |
Back down to
one of the most famous areas in Lisbon, Black Horse Square on the waterfront
and here I found a wonderful restaurant and had lunch while gaining internet
access.
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| Tram |
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| Architecture |
A walk
around in this area is fascinating with the transport system being in a slight
state of chaos, but the local traffic cops kept it moving as best possible,
with blowing of whistles and frequent hand gestures.
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| Side Street |
The narrow
side streets were a hive of activity with many tourists taking advantage of the
fine weather and enjoying the hospitality of many of the outside restaurants
and cafes.
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| Grafitti |
In one of
the lanes, I came across this graffiti which I thought was tastefully done, and
cheered up part of a corner with access down a narrow staircase.
After doing
some last minute shopping, I found time to visit a couple of the small local
bars and enjoyed a quenching beer before heading back to the ship.
On the
cruise terminal quayside, this my best effort of trying all day, to take a
picture of the three Queens together.
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| Queen Mary 2 |
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| Queen Victoria |
We all
sailed at 18.00 with Queen Mary 2 leading, ourselves in the middle and Queen
Victoria behind. We formed up into a
tight diagonal pattern across the river and in very close company passed under
the suspension bridge.
On board, there
were lots of flag waving and British patriotic songs being blasted to all
decks. A helicopter was flying overhead,
taking photographs of the whole of the proceedings.
After an
hour we all disembarked our respective pilots and continued down the river
estuary, forming an even closer formation side by side with Queen Mary 2 in the
centre. It was a wonderful piece of
seamanship and I have to take my hat off to the navigators. The helicopter shots should be amazing, and
hopefully we will all be able to obtain a copy of this spectacular event, in
which we all took part
.
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| Chocolate & Ice |
After dinner
went up to the Lido Buffet for the Chocolate & Ice Culinary Event, with
fantastic ice carvings and chocolate fondue station, fruit carvings and endless
amounts of chocolate. Thoroughly enjoyed
the display and talked with the Filipino who made the ice carvings, and I was
amazed to find out, he is self-taught, his craft is truly to be admired.
The night in
the theatre was a duo called Elite, two of London’s most celebrated West End
leading ladies; they tried very hard, but maybe a bit like me, past their best.
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