Vineyards and Castles on the Oceania Marina
9/17/19 to 9/29/19
Click on the above link buttons that will take you directly to a particular page or area of the review; or you can just click through to the next page at the bottom of each page.
Page 1 - Pre-Cruise in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Embarkation, Ship
Page 2 - Ship (Continued), Cabin, Dining, Entertainment, Activities
Page 3 - Ports of Call: Dover, England; LeHavre, France, St. Malo, France
Page 4 - Ports of Call: Brest, France; La Rochelle, France; Bordeaux, France - Day 1
Page 5 - Ports of Call: Bordeaux, France - Day 2; Bilbao, Spain
Page 6 - Ports of Call: Ferrol, Spain; Oporto, Portugal; Post-Cruise in Lisbon, Portugal - Day 1
Page 7 - Post-Cruise in Lisbon, Portugal - Days 2 & 3
Post-Cruise in Lisbon, Portugal - Day 2
I was really looking forward to our second day in Lisbon. We were having a tour with the same guide we had used when we were in Lisbon in 2014, Alex with Top Ten Tours (www.toptentours.eu). This is the same company as Spain Day Tours we used while in Spain. We were so pleased with Alex in 2014, that we told him we would definitely use him when we returned. Him and his company remembered us well, since they have gotten many referrals from our review. He was most saddened about Carol’s passing but was very happy to see me and meet Craig.
When I first contacted the company when Carol was going to be on the tour, I wanted Alex to show us around town, since we hadn’t seen much of it the first time. With Lisbon being so hilly, I knew that even with her scooter, Carol would need to be driven to the main tourist attractions. Having already seen the main town attractions nearby, we didn’t need to see them again. When Alex arrived, I told him about the change. He asked what we had seen and came up with an alternative itinerary for us. It was a really good one.
Our first stop was to Miradouro da Senhora do Monter or Our Lady of the Hill. This is the city’s highest lookout point and offers uninterrupted 250-degree views of Lisbon. It also provided a different view of Castle St. Jorge.
This spot is considered a hidden gem, since it is just outside the city limits and not frequently visited by tourists. We almost had it to ourselves. We had to take photos of each other from this wonderful spot.
We then drove to the domed building we had seen from the ship and other parts of the city, the National Pantheon. It is a former church that now houses tombs of famous Portuguese people like explorer Vasco de Gama and even a soccer player.
With it being Monday, many of the government run facilities were closed. I was disappointed, but I could perhaps get back there the next day after Craig left. It didn’t happen.
We then went back down to Alfama where Alex pointed out probably the narrowest street in the world. He said that it had to do with it being the Jewish neighborhood during the 14th and 15th centuries; and it was narrow to keep too many people from coming through it at a time. I tried to find out more about the street but couldn’t. After squeezing through the street to the top of the stairs, I looked back and saw a person going down the stairs. This was definitely a one-way road.
This area at the top of the stairs was called Postigo de sao Pedro. There were ancient walls that were built to thwart a Castillion invasion in 1600’s. It was an interesting place that we never would have found on our own.
Next to the narrow street was a tiled building with Bougainvillea blooms bursting out.
As we drove to our destination, we were disappointed to see so much graffiti on the buildings. However, we did some pretty ones.
As we got closer to our next destination, we passed by a large pink building with high walls and guards on either side of the entrance gate. It was the entrance to the National Palace of Belém, which is the official residence of the President of the Portuguese Republic.
We stopped nearby at the Jeronimos Monastery. This incredibly beautiful massive building was built during the 16th Century. It is overflowing with beautiful decorations.
When we were there in 2014, I said that we would have to come back so that I could see the interior. Well, I was thwarted again, since it was closed on Monday. I was so disappointed for Craig, since I wanted him to see it too. I would be able to visit the next day.
We next drove across the park to the Belém Tower parking lot. We first came to a model of a 1920’s war plane.
We then came to the 16th Century building that served as a fortress and ceremonial gateway to the city. It is certainly one of the symbols of Lisbon. It is quite an impressive structure. While we were there, the Celebrity Silhouette cruise ship was coming into Lisbon. I am sure the passengers were enjoying the view.
A small bronze replica of the tower shows what it would look like from above. It was quite helpful to see what was behind the walls.
We next drove through the parking lot adjoining the tower lot to the Monument to the Discoveries. Now this was quite a monument! It celebrates the Portuguese age of discovery during the 15th and 16th centuries. The main structure represents a ship with three sails. The ship is carved with statues of the famous explorers.
We walked around on the square with a 160-foot diameter compass rose with a world map in the middle. It was gifted to Lisbon by the South African government. The map shows that trails and dates of discoveries made by the Portuguese.
Alex asked if we wanted to go up to the top of the monument. Now that sounded like a good idea. That is if it was open on Monday. It was! I was so glad that there was an elevator. I just wish that it had gone all the way to the top. I did need to climb a few flights of stairs, but it was worth it. We could look across to the Jeronimos Monastery and down the beach to the Belem Tower.
We could also get a different perspective looking down at the explorers on the monument.
But the best part was to be able to see the rose compass from above. I wish I could have gotten everyone to move off the map; but that wasn’t going to happen.
We then drove to the National Palace of Queluz. Several royal families lived there, but it is now a museum. Unlike most palace museums, there were very few tourists visiting there. Alex had found another hidden gem that doesn’t attract the crowds. I honestly can’t imagine why; the place was incredible. After entering the grounds of the 18th Century palace, we had to go over and take a photo of a statue of one of its former residents, Queen Maria I.
Near the entrance was a model of the palace. It showed us how much larger it was than what we could see from the entrance we came in.
Below are a lot of photos of the opulent interior of the palace. This palace sometimes reminds people of the Palace of Versailles, especially the first room we came to that resembles Versilles' famous Hall of Mirrors.
I don’t remember the names of one gorgeous room from the other and I don’t want to look them up, since most people probably don’t care. To me it is just a pleasure to see how the Portuguese royalty lived. I realize that I have a lot of photos of the interior; but since most people will never get to see this palace, I thought it justified them. Plus, I want to remember this awesome place.
After thoroughly seeing all the interior rooms, we headed outside for our tour of the gardens. From the balcony, we could see an unusual looking structure that was very long. I had to put it in two photos to show you what I mean. We really couldn’t tell what it was from this distance, but knew we wanted to get closer. It was called the Tiles Channel where the royal family could boat or gondola ride, I had to see this.
Before getting to the Tiles Channel, Alex told us to look around to see the gorgeous staircase. I was so glad he did.
When we got closser to the Tiles Channel, it was amazing. The tiles were so beautiful. The center area walkway was the top of an arch, where the boats would go under to get to the other side of the channel. I honestly can’t imagine anyone even thinking about building something like this; but I’m sure glad they did.
We then walked around past the beautiful staircase, mareveling at the the gorgeous home. We then walked around the outside wall of the garden to where we saw a side entrance to the palace.
We then saw the main entrance where the horse carriages with royalty would enter.
The Sphinx looking statue was a nice touch.
I can’t figure out what the main fountain was depicting, and I can’t find anything online about it. It looks kind of normal from the front; but from the back it looks like the woman is sitting on the head of a giant fish.
Passing by another fishy fountain, we realized how large the gardens and palace really were. It stretched way out with with beauty everywhere.
We hadn’t realized there was another large fountain in front of the palace, a Neptune fountain.
As we got closer, we saw different parts of the garden and many statues and small fountains we hadn’t previously noticed. It seemed like the more we walked around the garden, it kept revealing hidden treasures to us.
We had thoroughly enjoyed visiting this palace. I was so glad that Alex brought us there. I would recommend that it be on the “must see” list for anyone who is spending several days in Lisbon. By the time we left the palace, Craig and I were ready for lunch. Alex found a place that had some great paninis.
The last stop on the tour was to a place that I had been wanting to visit since I first saw it in 2014, the Cristo Rey (Christ the King) statue. It is a most impressive statue, especially with its massive 269-foot-tall base. The statue itself is 92 feet tall. The statue is similar to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio, which is 98 feet tall and only sitting on a 27-foot tall pedestal. The big difference in the two statues is that the one in Rio is on the top of a 2,300-foot-tall mountain and this one is on the top of a 436-foot-tall hill. I am looking forward to seeing the one in Rio in December. The parking lot was behind the monument, so that is what we saw first. Then we came around the side of it, then to the front. With the base being so tall, I couldn't see much of the statue on top. This thing was massive!
We were thrilled that we would be able to ride up to the top of the pedestal. But, we first walked around the monument looking at everything and then going into the small chapel.
We then rode up the elevator and once again had a few flights of stairs to navigate before coming out at the base of the statue. There was a pretty good size area to move around to get panoramic photos of the area.
Of course, the main photo attraction was the front of the statue, which unfortunately was opposite the sun. However, having the sun behind the statue did provide a beautiful effect.
Thank goodness for photo editing software, which helps expose what is in the shadows.
In front of the monument is a statue of an angel that is kind of strange looking. There is also a large cross laying at an angle. Alex told us that the cross had been somewhere else, and it was brought to this park. In doing some research, the cross could be the old high cross from the sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima.
We headed back to the hotel after our Cristo Rey visit. It had been a wonderful day and we thanked Alex so much for providing it for us. Especially since he had planned originally on doing an old town tour.
For dinner we went back to the restaurant area and found a place that served paella. Craig and I both ordered the chicken version, which was just OK. It was too bland for us. We had been hoping to find a restaurant with spicier food. While we were eating we kept noticing people eating ice cream that was arranged strangely on the cone. So when we were done, I wanted to find out about it. They make it with little pieces of whatever flavors you request. The one I got was a bit boring, but some of the ones we had seen looked like rainbows.
When we got back to the hotel, Craig finished the packing he had started earlier in the day. I was glad that he was going to be able to go home to his normal life with his wife; but I knew that I was going to miss having him with me for my last day in Lisbon. I was glad that I would get to be with him again for Christmas.
Post-Cruise in Lisbon, Portugal - Day 3
Craig had a very early flight and left the hotel around 4:30 AM. I went back to sleep, since I wasn’t in any rush to get out and tour on my own. Once again, I had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel’s included buffet. The only thing I had to do for the day was to go see the interior of the Jeronimos Monastery. I was thinking about just taking an Uber to go see it. I decided to go see the small Sao Domingos church I had seen on the first day in Lisbon. It is quite a revered church in that it was once the largest church in Lisbon, and they used to hold Portuguese royal weddings there.
It had been damaged by earthquakes in the past and partially damaged by a fire in 1959. The interior had a very ancient feel to it. I was glad that I had come back to visit it.
Outside in the plaza in front of the church there was a Jewish memorial. I didn’t know what it was for, but with the words I could recognize, it appeared to be related to some type of massacre.
I walked back to the market area near our hotel and a fellow tried to sell me a ticket on the Yellow hop on hop off bus. I figured that I had nothing else to do, so riding around on the bus would allow me to see other parts of the city, get to the monastery and allow my knee to rest. I had purchased the ticket for the routes that went on the Belem-Lisbon tour and the Modern Lisbon tour. The line to get onto the Belem-Lisbon tour was very long, so I got onto the Modern Lisbon bus. I thought it was a good idea until we stopped at the cruise terminal to pick up passengers. We waited and waited. It was getting very frustrating. We finally left after 25 minutes. Totally unacceptable to have to wait that long. I was glad that I wasn’t in a rush or on a time schedule that day.
We passed by some interesting structures that were certainly of the modern type. When I was in Lisbon in 2014, the economy was very depressed, and business was not doing good. From what I had seen over the last three days, Lisbon is back. There were many new buildings around and lots of construction projects.
We then passed by a modern looking building that was the Orient Train Station. A very big place.
We next drove by the 476-foot Vasco de Gama Tower, the tallest structure in Lisbon.
There was a lot of new construction around.
We also saw some pretty older buildings. I have to say that they are my favorites.
We saw an unusual looking building which was the Campo Pequeno bull ring. Unlike in Spain, the bulls are not killed at the end of the fight. Much more civil. It has also been renovated to be a multi-event facility that is used for music groups and other activities.
We next passed by a beautiful war memorial. It was the Memorial to the Heroes of the Peninsular War that occurred between 1808-1814. Since we were at a stop light, I was able to take lots of photos of it.
With the bus not stopping, we didn’t get much time to take photos, but I was able to get some of an arch and unusual statue with a bird towering over a man.
I was glad to be able to see the park area behind the Tombo monument we had seen on the first day. It provides for a nice view of the monument, city and Duoro River.
At the end of the tour I was pleased that there wasn’t a line waiting for the Belem-Lisbon tour. The bus came in a few minutes and I was able to get a seat on the open upper deck like I had with the first bus. The bus backtracked on a part of the route that both of the tours that I was on traveled, so I had to see some stuff for a second time; but we finally got to Belem and the Jeronimos monastery. I had never seen it from this different angle looking at St. Mary’s Church at the south end. Just a gorgeous entrance.
Alex had told me where to get the tickets the previous day, so that I didn’t have to wait in the wrong line. A ticket is needed to see the cloister area, not the monastery’s main church. A ticket was required to visit the museum part of the building. The cloister ticket only cost 5€ and was well worth it. The first thing I saw upon entering the cloister area was the long open passageway.
Walking around the corner I could see into the gorgeous open area. My goodness, this was a special cloister area.
I walked up to the second floor to get the view from there. It was different and still beautiful, as was the hallway.
I went through a door to the upper choir. From there I could look down into the monastery. What a treat!
The ornate columns were really something, as was the stained glass. With the expanding top and ribbed ceiling, the columns looked like trees.
I then went back downstairs and got into the line to enter the monastery. While there, I was able to feast my eyes on the very ornate east entrance. Just unbelievable!
The monastery, as I had seen from above was beautiful. It also had some interesting chapels and decorations. Quite a few of them.
I went into an area with several tombs.
In the back of that room was an ornate gilded chapel with an exposed body representing Jesus Christ. With the gate in front of the chapel, I had to squeeze my camera between the bars to get an unobstructed photo of it.
When I left the church, I headed back to the Yellow Bus meeting place. It was taking a long time for a bus to come and multiple busses from the other two hoho bus companies had already come by. So, I decided to see how much an Uber would cost. I was shocked that there weren’t any Uber drivers in the area. I was sure glad that I hadn’t taken an Uber out there, since I would have to find a different way back. It wasn’t long and the Yellow Bus finally came to pick us up. When the bus drove by the Monument to the Overseas Combatants, which was right next to the Belem Towers, I was finally able to get great photo of it. It commemorates all the people involved in the wars that Portugal was involved with overseas. I had passed on walking over to it the previous day, since I had seen it in 2014.
I also got a last close up view of the Cristo Rey statue, looking over the 20th longest suspension bridge in the world, the April 25th Bridge. The name celebrates the date of the Carnation Revolution in 1974 that overthrew a dictator.
I did some packing for the next day’s trip home and looked on Yelp to see if there were any Mexican or Indian restaurants nearby. I was still craving something spicy. It turned out that a highly rated one named Gandhi Palace was very close. It turned out to be an outstanding meal. I found it interesting that our last meal in Amsterdam and my last meal in Lisbon were both at restaurants named after Gandhi.
Trying to kill time, I walked around the market area and into it to see what they were selling. I didn’t find anything that I couldn’t live without, so I went back to the hotel. The next morning, I called for an Uber. The cost to the airport was just 13€ plus tip.
The trip was over, and I had some wonderful memories. I was looking forward to calling my doctor when I got home to see what he could do about my knee. After getting another cortisone shot and an MRI, I found out that I had a minor tear of my meniscus. I was lucky that I didn’t damage it even more while on this vacation.
Recap
For a cruise that I was apprehensive about going on, it sure turned out to be an awesome experience. The ports were amazing, the weather was perfection most of the time, the ship was just wonderful; but most of all, it was such a special treat to be able to share this wonderful adventure with Craig. It is something that we will both remember fondly for the rest of our lives.
Although I know that I will never be able to travel with my darling Carol again, this experience has shown me that I can still enjoy traveling on my own.
I have included many full size high resolution photos from some of the ports in a SmugMug photo gallery. Here is a LINK to it if you want to see them after reading the review.
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