Drinking in the morning again

Lisbon was another embarkation day – the one where most of the Mediterranean Grand Voyagers left the Silver Moon. TSH and Diva decided to remove themselves away from the sanitisation process by going on the tour to Cascais and Sintra. In Sintra, they sat at a café in the main square and TSH drank beer out of a glass that was so tall he spilled some on his shirt by trying to obtain the last drops.

In Oporto, they took a boat ride along the Duoro River, followed some sightseeing and a late morning port tasting.

Food disappointment: SALT have not offered the delicious Portuguese custard tarts. TSH has made them before and has been commissioned to bake another batch when they arrive home. He has already started booking Sainsbury delivery slots for the return.

There are now 1 guest and 1 crew member testing positive for Covid. No information as to whether they are new cases. Still well under control.

T shirt quote of the day: ‘Tomorrow I will carpe diem’.

Portimao and Lisbon

Portimao is a small town with beach resort attached. Neither are particularly attractive but in both cases there was a good sea-side walk for TSH and Diva. Storks were nesting on the top of the tall chimneys of the sardine factories.

It was Captain’s Farewell night, so it was formal dress and there was an invitation to dine with the Silver Wind HR manager. She is a charming young woman from South Wales but unfortunately she had merged her table with that of the Cruise Consultant, Martin. Diva has not taken to Martin because he was very unsympathetic about the cancelled cruises due to charters. His line was that it did not happen, there was only one website and if it did happen most guests don’t mind and the cruise consultant loses commission. ‘Poor Martin’. So Diva had to sit next to Martin at dinner and she is not good at hiding dislike. It was not a great dinner. He is condescending and arrogant as well as not very bright.

The day in Lisbon was excellent. TSH and Diva were on deck early for the sail-in past the Belem tower and the Jeronimos monastery.  took the metro out to Parque das Nocoes, the site of Expo 1998. This is a very modern part of town with interesting architecture and artworks views and excellent river views. Small frogs in the water garden were making a tremendous racket.

The return journey was made by train, which was much more direct but much more complicated to navigate. Diva can organise Metros in most languages but the over-ground system defeated her. Fortunately, TSH has an instinct for rail travel and he was also able to take some pictures of the trains.

Lunch was the traditional and excellent burger on deck.

Regent Voyager disembarked today – Silver Wind disembarks tomorrow, as this tiny terminal can only cope with one tiny cruise ship at one time.

Tour of Lisbon

TSH and Diva were given orange tags to indicate which bus they were to travel on. They assumed that the bus would be marked as ‘orange’. But no. Miguel announced that orange tags meant bus C, giving the guests something else to remember and causing one woman to board the wrong bus after a stop and spend several minutes searching for the hat she had left on her seat. Not sure whether the people who open carried the colour tags at all times managed to make the translation to the alphabet. And then there was the guest who complained to the guide that her audio system was not working – easily rectified by plugging the earpiece into the receiver.The tour took in the monastery, Belem tower and the monument to the explorers, all of which were blogged here last year. Lunch was taken in the peace and quiet of the hotel bar, before a walk into the city in the (relative) cool of the late afternoon.

Three lots of luck at Manchester Airport

1.      1. Sausage butties for breakfast.

2. 2.      When Diva knocked the milk (which neither wanted) across the table and nearby floor, it missed both clothes and shoes.

3.      3. The flight left before two RAF jets escorted a passenger jet into the airport (bomb hoax), causing delayed and diverted flights for some time.

The Viking transfer to the Lisbon Tivoli went smoothly and the hotel room is smart and comfortable. Diva was not impressed at the ‘briefing’ when Miguel announced that the trip to the tile museum was cancelled because of too few bookings. TSH and Diva had agreed to book this but had not been given any opportunity to organise it. However, the following day, one guest was heard to announce that ‘it was the best briefing he had attended for some time’. Surely ironic. But everybody got a glass of sherry. Lots of nice friendly fellow travellers, including two from Cuddington met on the plane.

The shared pizza was so large that Diva just ate the topping from part of it and TSH left a slice of his share. Surely a first!!

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Photoblog

This a summary of the Silversea cruise on Silver Cloud from Lisbon to Southampton:

Santiago de Compostela:

Parador at Santiago de Compostela:

Church in Northern Spain near Gijon:

A cow:

Lake near Gijon:

Scary mountain scenery - these were the white-knuckle roads:

Guggenheim at Bilbao:

A traditional food shop in Bilbao:

Sailing into Bordeaux:

Church in Bordeaux:

Silver Cloud in Bordeaux:

Message from Rosie:

Diva ready for formal dinner:

St Malo

Silver Cloud's grounded tender:

Parachutist model from St Marie eglise:

Stained glass window from St Marie eglise:

Breakfast pastries from Lisbon:

Trams and Fado

Tourist tram around the historic neighbourhoods of the city. This route went along winding hilly roads - it is difficult to appreciate just how many hills there are in Lisbon. You can go up a steep narrow alley and then arrive in a grand square on a different level.

Diva was brave and agreed to travel on the Sta Justa elevator - an old iron structure which connects two of the main levels. In the event it was not too scary - they didn't cram too many people in, it was quite open and  didn't take more than a few minutes.

Evening was an excellent Fado performance which both Diva and TSH enjoyed more than they expected. Listening to singing in a language you don't understand can be challenging, but was quite captivating because it was so good.

Continue to be impressed by helpful staff of Hotel Britania.