I remember the first time I came to Lisbon. I wasn’t impressed with the graffiti, the beggars and the gulleys full of cigarette ends. Things haven’t changed much, there are still an awful lot of cigarette butts everywhere, and graffiti, but I can sort of see past that. When the sun is out, and Lisbon is in a good mood, it’s a lovely city.
But not today. Roadworks, building works and Commercial Square closed off for a schools event sort of took over. It seemed like there was scaffolding and metal fencing everywhere. I am sure it will look wonderful when it’s finished.
We did our usual thing and walked (although I did look enviously at the people on hired scooters and electric bikes – maybe next time). We walked from the ship to Commercial Square, going down to the steps that lead from the river enjoy the view of the bridge.
I wonder if it there are ever occasions where it is all set up in all its glory, with some visiting royalty or diplomatic stepping out of their boat onto the steps and onward into a pristine Commercial Square. I often think that would be a grand thing to see.
From there we walked through town, heading towards Edward VII park. We passed restaurants, fountains, the station, Starbucks, wine stores, tourist tat stores, exclusive stores, grand buildings and tatty crumbling buildings, columns, statues, graffiti, beggars and homeless.
It became obvious that maybe Edward the VII park was perhaps a little out of range, so we diverted off towards a different area of greenery seen on the map. This turned out to be Botanical Gardens, with a fee of €5 each. Since it had taken so long for us to find our way there, we decided to pay the money and have a look around.
The gardens in Cagliari were much better to be honest, but we did see Ring-necked Parakeets, as well as a Redstart.
We also used the bathroom facilities. (Who puts a glass door on a toilet cubicle, even if it is smoked glass? Peter stood guard!) And treated ourselves to an ice cream there.
And then we walked back to the ship. It turned out we’d walked about 7-8 miles. No wonder my knees hurt.
The ship sailed at 4pm, heading out to open sea. We, like many others, we went up on deck to watch Lisbon go by as we sailed down the river. A must for any new cruise visitor to Lisbon is to be on the top deck as the ship sails under the 25th April Bridge. The way the bridge has been built means that as traffic travels across it, it makes noise. The more traffic, the more noise, and it sounds like swarm of angry hornets! Quite awesome.
So that was Lisbon and now we are on the last leg home. Two more sea days and then Portsmouth. Despite being so well looked after whilst I’ve been here, I am really looking forward to getting home.
You can read about a previous visit to Lisbon here : 8 January 2017 - Lisbon
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