Saturday – Lisbon, Portugal
Today, we arrived at our first port of call, Lisbon.
It was cool out, first thing, but not uncomfortably so. More importantly, it was nice to be able to
set foot on terra firma after three days sailing. We awoke to find ourselves parked at the Apollonia Cruise Terminal, alongside the P&O ship, Ventura and Cunard’s Queen Victoria; two massive hulks of maritime real estate that make the Marco Polo appear decidedly diminutive in comparison.
As both Tracey and I were down for tour escorting duty in the afternoon, we chose to use the two and a half hours or so available to us in the morning to take a brisk walk into the city.
The sun shone as we walked along the promenade towards Lisbon’s big square (named ‘Commercial Square’), where a temporary ice rink had been constructed. We watched the skaters; some whizzing around quite effortlesslessly while others clung to the sides trying desperately to remain at least upright, in the hope that their inner-Torvill-and-Dean might emerge before they break an ankle or worse.
From there, we passed under the great archway that signifies the official entrance into the city and meandered past seasonal log cabins and street entertainments towards the other squares. Lisbon was very much still in Christmas Mode.
Pausing only to photograph the colourful trams, enjoy the sunshine and listen to the buskers, we made our way back towards the ship so that we could grab a quick lunch before heading back out to the coach park, and escort one of the afternoon’s excursions; ‘Lisbon Highlights and Estoril’.
Our tour took us through the city and to the top of Edward VII park where a bizarre pile of concrete and marble blocks poses as a modern ‘artistic’ fountain. On the good side, there is a stunning view across the city from there…
A brief prang with a small car slowed us down. Its occupant, a young lady, stood waving her arms about and audiblly expressing her discontent with our driver despite the fact that, from where I was sitting, it was clearly her fault, as she drove into our front nearsde wheel. The guide reassured us that there was no damage to the coach; I’m not sure the same could be said of the little car.
From here, the coach took us to Estoril, a small Portugese seaside town that is dominated by a huge casino, called, not surprisingly ‘Casino Estoril’. Open from 3pm until 3am daily, the casino is famous for being the the place where Ian Fleming first came up with the idea for James Bond 007, it being a popular hangout for spies back in the 40s. Our guide also told us that the casino and several nearby locations were used in the film ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’.
Other than the casino, there isn’t a great deal to do in Estoril except walk along the seafront and admire the huge rolling waves and resident surfers. Tracey and I sat and enjoyed a drink in a small bar overlooking the beach for the small time that we had before having to count heads back onto the coaches ready for our return journey to Lisbon (we had a coach each).
We stopped for photos at Belem Tower and the Monument to the Portugese Navigators before fighting our way back through Lisbon traffic (heavy due to some race being held in the centre of the city) back to the port.
With its passengers lining the top decks, waving little Union Jacks about and cheering like they’re attending a coronation, The Ventura was the first to leave the quayside. As if in conversation, or more like a loud heckle, the Queen Victoria blasted out its horn to bid it farewell. The Ventura returned with its own horn, which was loud but no match for the huge, booming sound emanating from the Queen Vic. There was something vaguely juvenile about the exchange, but hugely entertaining nevertheless. Marco Polo remained silent throughout (we wouldn’t want to show them up, after all), waiting until both ships had departed before backing out and turning round to leave in a mature and dignified manner.
We stayed out on deck until we’d passed under the April 25th Bridge, before heading back indoors for dinner. Disppointingly, the deadllights in our cabin remain closed even though those on Deck 5 have been opened. I’ve mentioned it at Reception a couple of times today, but don’t expect joy any time soon. As a lecturer, I’m always grateful to just have a cabin and not have to be towed along behind in a dinghy; the cabin TV also isn’t working, which I’ve reported, but not received any response (not that we’re interested in watching TV, but it’s nice to be able to monitor our progress on the nautical map that they transmit, and the view from the front of the ship would be useful while the portholes are still closed up).
Tomorrow, we are at sea again, on our way to the next port-of-call, Lanzarote.
