Lisbon, Portugal....Great City

Dear Family and Friends,

I have way to many pictures in this post.  Sorry, but I couldn't eliminate even one.  Lisbon was a fantastic city and we had a wonderful day there, exploring it on our own.

This first picture is of a ferry docked at the port.  The light of the rising sun made a beautiful view.

I took this picture of Lisbon before we got off the ship.  We were docked in a perfect location, just outside the old part of the city.

The first think we did after getting off the ship was to get on a double deck tour bus for an overview of Lisbon.

After we had done the circuit, we got off and walked the city.  Wonderful wide streets and on one a long park running down the center.  Here is a picture of the famous Lisbon tiled sidewalks.

Here is Chuck posing by Simon Bolivar.  Did you know that Simon Bolivar was from Portugal originally, I didn't I thought he was from Spain.

Lisbon reminded us very much of San Francisco.  It has lots of hills and is over looking the ocean.  They have cable cars, funicular and a huge elevator to help you get up and down. They even have a bridge that was built by the same company that built the Golden Gate bridge in SF.  I will show it to you in a later picture.

Here is a funicular....we didn't use it.

We decided to ride the elevator up the hill.  This elevator was designed and built by a student of Effiel who built the famous tower in Paris.  You can see his influence when you look at it.

 

We had a nice lunch at the upper level.  The weather was fabulous.

I chuckled when I saw this guard outside, of all places, the police station.

The views from above were fantastic.  You can see more of the black and white tile on the plaza below.

We had a wonderful day walking the city.  It is just beautiful.  It is definitely a "come back to" place.

Here is Chuck on our balcony enjoying the view as we pulled away from Lisbon.

Although we saw them while in the city, the best photos were taken from the ship as we sailed by Lisbon on our way out.

This photo is Cidade Baixa.  A beautiful plaza with a huge archway that opens up on a main pedestrian shopping street.

The bridge I mentioned above.  It spans the Tagus river. We sailed under the bridge on our way to the Atlantic Ocean.

This is the Discovery Monument pictured below pays homage to those who took part in the Golden Age of Discovery.  It was erected in 1940 for the Lisbon World Exhibition.

The last photo is of the Belem tower.  This 16th century tower is what remains of the Tagus river defense system, commissioned by King John II.  It is an icon of Lisbon.

We hated to leave....but we know we want to return.  Such a beautiful city.

Our next stop is Cadiz, Spain.

Love,
Nancy