It was more or less a full day’s coach ride to Porto, in the north, from Lisbon. Along the way we passed through rural landscapes; cork trees, closely planted olive trees and vineyards. There was also some paddocks with a mix of black bulls and horses.

The bulls are destined for Portuguese bull fights. Bull fighting is not as popular as it is in Spain. Our guide suggesting it may well die out given time, he had been to fights in his youth (with his father and grandfather) but his 33 year old son had not set foot in a ring. It seems Bull fighting is a little different to that in Spain. Bulls are not killed in the ring but are ‘dealt with out the back’ if necessary, otherwise they are retired to pasture. They are also wrestled by 8 men one of whom twists the tail vigorously to subdue the animal. Bulls are very sensitive in the tail, as we all are…..

About half way along we stopped for lunch and a short look around the old university town of Coimbra. Coimbra was a former capital of Portugal. The old historical area is very geared to the tourist. Plenty of eateries and souvenir shops to tempt the traveller.

We arrived in Porto around 4pm and wound our way around the streets down to the marina near the mouth of the estuary into the Atlantic Ocean.

Porto is the largest city in Portugal after Lisbon, and was for a short time a former capital of the country.

We settled into our comfortable cabin and after dinner the boat, it is more a boat than a ship, sailed up into the brightly lit old city centre with its numerous bridges.

We are here for a couple of nights before starting the journey up the Duoro Ruver.

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Humans seem to have a fascination for old rocks that have been turned to stones. So when we go off touring around various places we just love standing in queues for a while to look at old buildings. Why is this so?

Is it a fascination for seeing how well to do people lived a long time ago? Or those not so well to do who just existed, perhaps to serve the well to do? There is a tendency to focus on seeing the finery of life, expressed in architecture, enjoyed by kings, queen’s, lords, ladies and the clergy. Not the ‘blood and guts’ of everyday life, just how did the toilets work in those days? Who was in charge of rat control?

Anyway, Allthego and Homealone have queued up again to see one or two of the old buildings of Lisbon. Of coarse there are not many because of the big earthquake. But some of the grand ones survived, perhaps they survived because they were grand and so well built.

We lined up for a tour of the cloisters of the 16th century Jeronimos Monastery and Church. The Monastery is beside the Tagus River in the Belem quarter, downstream from central Lisbon.

After touring the Monastery we returned to the city centre for a short walk in the historical district. Another Portuguese staple was tried at a cafe, cod fish cakes. A mix of cod flakes, potato and egg, with bread crumbs. Just like our tinned salmon patties! We later had some for a light lunch, some Mateus Rose was needed to wash them down.

Also on our list was Pena Palace sitting high on a hill at Sintra, a few kilometres out of Lisbon near the Atlantic coast.

Jerónimos Monastery and Pena Palace are both UNESCO world heritage sites. UNESCO world heritage sites seem to breed endlessly, popping up all the time fuelling tourism as much as preserving the sites! Allthego shouldn’t be so suspicious. The cloisters and palace were very impressive, certainly deserving places on the list.

The Pena Palace has its origins as a middle ages monastery that was in part destroyed by the 1755 earthquake and lay in ruins until the mid 1800s. At that time King Ferdinand set about restoring the monastery and expanding the complex. The yellow buildings are the old monastery and the red ones the expanded complex. The rooms in the new areas are bigger and have much higher ceilings. The palace became a summer residence for the Kings and Queens of Portugal until the 1910 republican revolution.

On the way back to Lisbon we detoured to Cascais for a look around the coastal resort town. Before getting there we passed by Cape Roca, the most westerly point in Europe. The beaches in these parts looked pretty good with the Atlantic breaking onto white sand.

At Cascais Russell and Tony tackled another local specialty. Grilled Sardines, fresh ones not from a tin! It was good to give them a go, but me thinks they are an acquired taste. Salty and fishy; bones, scales and the rest.

Not a big lunch so back in Lisbon we had a farewell snack for dinner at a pizza place. Pretty good! We next head off to Porto to join the ship on the Douro River.

We are now based at the Four Seasons Ritz which is not far from a huge statue of the Marquis de Pombal and the start of the long wide Avenida da Liberdade (‘liberty avenue’),which runs down to the old town area not far back from the riverfront.

The Marquis was Prime Minister and a powerful autocrat during the period 1750 to 1777. He was responsible for, among other things, the rebuilding of Lisbon after the powerful earthquake of 1755. The earthquake, 8.8 on the scale, subsequent fires and a huge Tsunami killed a large proportion of Lisbon’s population and destroyed much of its urban landscape. The rebuild was monumental and explains why buildings are comparatively modern, early 19th century style.

Above the statue is the Eduardo VII park that ends on the top of the hill with a large Portuguese flag flapping in the breeze. Looking down the Avenue of Liberty the Tagus River comes into view.

We met up with the Watts who had got here the day before us and were staying in the Intercontinental Hotel, next door to the Ritz.

The tour people had recommended Dote as a lunch spot. It is a micro brewery. Had an introduction to some local foods.

Our stay in Lisbon has been somewhat sedate. One might say there has been an unhealthy focus on food. But hey, when in Lisbon do what the Lisbonians do ……. eat local food. And this has been our focus, as well as seeing some significant sites around the place.

Dinner that night was in the restaurant at the Intercontinental where we enjoyed a couple of local classics. A piece of grilled cod with an almond topping and some grilled chicken with some sort of ‘red’ rubbing. Both rather tasty.

One of the icons in Lisbon is Tram 28 that connects many of the historic neighbourhoods as it goes up and down the hills across the city along narrow streets.

We took a taxi to the starting point about 20 minutes from the hotel with the intention of visiting St Georges Castle (sits high on a prominent hill overlooking the city) at the other end of the tram line. A very crowded ride for us standing all the way. Saw a couple of very animated ladies nattering away in the corner of the tram.

We didn’t make it to the castle but we did make it to lunch. A rather quaint traditional food establishment named Sant’avo meaning something like a ‘ saintly/loving grandmothers kitchen’.

It was full of old world stuff, books as placements, a variety of plates and utensils on the tables etc. 60s music in the background.

Tony and I tried the goat stew, Leanne the chicken stew and Rosemary a chick pea and sweet potato balls creation. We all enjoyed the food and setting, the goat stew maybe a ‘one-off’ experience!

Some deserts afterwards and green wine (more about that some other time) meant we were very well satisfied.

Not far from Sant’avo is a big old church complex. The residential part of the complex is long abandoned and in great disrepair. The Church though is ok but needs extensive roof repairs.

Hopped on a Tuk Tuk to get back to the hotel in time for a tour group Welcome Reception, where we learnt what happens next. Dinner was not needed!

It was an uneventful, smooth and on time fourteen hour Emirates flight to Dubai. The stopover on the way to Lisboa. Lisbon is spelt Lisboa in Portuguese it seems. From here on we are going to stick to Lisbon. Slobro was a little upset at spending the time locked up in a bag in the overhead lockers, came up for air while waiting four hours in Dubai for the connecting flight to Lisbon.

One thing about Emirates is the food in economy is pretty good as far as airline food goes, the soggy potato pieces with Allthego’s scrambled egg for breakfast notwithstanding. Homealone enjoyed the pancakes option.

The eight hour flight onwards from Dubai was also smooth going all the way and we landed in Lisbon on time at 7.15pm, just as the sun was going down.

Both fairly tired! No need for dinner though as there had been a rather ‘late’ lunch on the plane.

Rather tasty chicken meatballs in a herb cream sauce, Homealone had the excellent beef stroganoff option, with a few bits and pieces of other stuff to fill a hole.

After a lengthy but smooth immigration experience we strolled unchallenged down the ‘nothing to declare’ line and then out of the airport down to the hotel, about 500 metres away.

Interesting etchings on the mirror in the hallway outside our room. One of the famous Bellem Towers that sit beside the Tagus River, former guardian posts on the river for the old city.

Crashed for the night! In the morning breakfast called, included a fluffy beetroot roll with some Edam cheese, never had a beetroot roll.

Very colourful with the creamy yellow Edam atop!

After breakfast we caught the hotel’s shuttle bus back to the airport to pick up the APT transfer to the hotel where the Duoro River tour begins in a couple of days.

We are going off to Portugal and Spain for another adventure. Apart from a day in Lisbon on a cruise we haven’t been to Portugal. Have had brief stops in Spain’s Barcelona and Malaga.

It’s going to be an interesting time on the Douro River in Portugal and later around the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco.

The family farewelled us over some takeaway. Departure is an early morning flight at 2 am to Dubai and then on to Lisbon.

It has been a long day for Homealone getting all those last minute jobs done. Must always get late night or early morning flights in the future!

Slobro is joining us again on this journey. He looks quite pleased waiting for our call to board. He is looking forward to a Gildas!