01 November 2017 – Lisbon city tour

We had a much more relaxed day today, starting with a late breakfast and left the ship around 10:00am to meet with our tour of the city center at 11:00am.  Met our guide, Francisco, and had a 15 minute world-wind history lecture of Lisbon and Portugal.

Symbol of Portugal -- Ship with 2 ravens

We heard about a drunken monk (Chiado), a crackpot poet (Fernando Pessoa), and the oldest bookstore in Lisbon dating back to 1758.  

Fernando Pessoa 

View of King George's Castle

We walked for 2-1/2 hours from sight to sight, up and down stairways, from high old neighborhoods to the river, from main streets to back alleyways.

Stairs and stairs!

500 year old street

Church without a roof dating to 1382

 Francisco gave us a great insight into the old world history of Lisbon, including a lot of little details. That made the tour informative, yet entertaining, like this tower elevator from 1900 that was run first by water, now by electricity.  It was built by a protege of Eiffel (of Paris tower fame)

We walked back to the ship, greeted by river full of beautiful sails. We had a time of rest before the ship departed at 6:00pm, heading for the southern coast of Spain.