Lisbon is rich in architecture and criss-crossed by monument-studded grand boulevards. Must-sees include the church of Igreja de Sao Vicente de Fora, which dates back to the 12th century; Musee Calouste Gulbenkian, one of Europe’s leading fine arts museums; and Torre de Belém, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most famous monuments in Portugal.
13 November, Saturday
O&D have visited Lisbon as part of a Douro River cruise ten years ago. Now we have a half day to do some more. Perhaps the tram 28. Perhaps the HoHo, although we've done that. Since we arrive at 1300 we can't do too much.
Time change -1 at 0200 this morning. Now in Lisbon time zone.
O got up about 0700 and was getting dressed when he experienced another diarrhea attack. Took another Immodium.
We're in open ocean waters and rolling a little. We went to breakfast but O only ate half an omelet with orange juice.
Son Bill sent us a copy of a letter from PayPal to Ethan, our 6-year-old grandson. PayPal explained why they wouldn't give him an account (no history)!
We (Azamara Quest) tied up to the dock in Lisbon about 1300 after passing under the east-bound bridge and seeing a huge statue of Christ. It turns out that it is a scaled-down version of the famous one in Rio de Janeiro.
The Back To Back briefing takes place at 1700 today. They told us what to do and where to do it and how to stay out of the way.
A little oiler tied up outboard at 1430 to give us fuel for our transatlantic trip.
Captain Carl Smith will leave the ship at 0130 tomorrow for his turn at vacation. Captain Johannes Tysse will relieve him. Captain Johannes spoke briefly at the B2B briefing.
Observation: Lisbon is a huge harbor.
14 November, Sunday
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This day is the end of one cruise (Intensive Spain) and the start of the second cruise (Westward Quest). It may be best to hide in our stateroom while the world revolves around us. If the ship says it's ok, we might take a walk in the neighborhood. That partly depends on health matters and secondly on how enervated we feel after 9 days of port stops.
For some reason the Cruise Critics members decided to hold their gathering at 1800 today, the same time the ship is scheduled to sail. But the ship sailed late due to a couple who were detained for a while in the security office. So we had the critic's meet.
As we were introducing ourselves, I discovered the lady next to me worked at IBM FSD Manassas at the same time I did - '78-'83. Barbara Fox quit to go work for Crash Cunningham (long story) while I stayed on. Fascinating talking about familiar faces at IBM, like Gene Biagi, Vic Scuderi, Lin Newcomer, Chuck Slate, and many more.
For a while we were averaging three miles a day walking. That's not going to happen this week.
It's a beautiful, glorious day today. But we didn't even go ashore. I'm doing things, but moving gently so as not to wake the monster in me. D is doing fine.
We called a friend in Oshkosh who said there were two inches of snow on the ground and still snowing. I told him I could think of lots of places where it doesn't snow.
