Wednesday, 1 June 2016

Lisbon and Porto


On the second day in Lisbon, TSH and Diva took the metro into the centre of the old town and spent a pleasant couple of hours walking around.
It was not just guests disembarking at the end of their cruise – there were also many crew changes. So there is a new butler to train, as well as a new cleaner. And a new captain. They all did well on their first night, remembering all the special requests and steering the Silver Wind safely to Porto.
Porto, where TSH and Diva have visited before, was a really good port. They walked around areas they were not familiar with and took a pre-booked (by themselves, from home) trip to the Palacio da Bolsa. This is the home of the local Chamber of Commerce. The building is airy because of the central courtyard with glass roof. It contains an area with emblems of the countries Portugal traded with when the building was built. The woman from Iran was disappointed that there was no emblem for her country but the most disgusted were those from Canada and Australia who were told that they were included with Britain at that time. The most spectacular room is the Arab room, which is decorated in elaborate fashion from floor to ceiling.    
Today’s walking target was achieved but should have been more than doubled because many of the steps involved steep hills.
To TSH’s delight, the Cruise Port near Porto has a 19th Century steam train on show.
Port in Lisbon and little Portugese custards in Porto.
It is Captain’s Welcome night, but the invitation to dine with Martin was refused.


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