Unfortunately today was one of the shortest shore days of the trip-we didn’t arrive until 9 AM and left at 5 PM. A fire boat greeted us at we came docked at the pier.The small group had room for us to join them on their excursion to Sintra, which is in the hills outside of Lisbon. Nineteen of us piled into three 9 passenger vans and headed for the hills.
The Palacio de Pena is located on top of a high hill. A monastery was built there in the 16th century, but in the mid 19th century the king built a palace for his queen. The inside of the palace was beautiful (no photos were allowed), the views from the outside wall were spectacul
ar, and had we had time, we couldhave enjoyed the beautiful gardens and trails surrounding it.
After an hour we loaded up the vans and drove to the western most point in continental Europe. While there we ate a sandwich that consisted of a roll with Portugeuse sausage cooked inside. They were very tasty.
The next stop was the small fishing village of Cascais. People told us itis a wonderful place to visit but all we did there was go to a popular ice cream shop for an ice cream cone. the beach was rather small, but was packed full of people today because it is the national religious holiday of Corpus Christi.
The drive back to the ship went along the coast.
Estrela Basilica
Lisbon is located inside the mouth of the Tagus River. As the ship sailed out we saw:
Christ the King statue which is identical but small than the one in Rio de Janeiro,
the Monument of the Discoveries, built where Christopher Columbus supposedly launched his ships,
the Belem Tower,
and the 25th of April bridge.
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