Day 10 - Heading home

David and Sue had an early morning flight.  Lori and Raymond got up early with us to say goodbye, then we parted and headed off to the Lisbon Airport, just a few minutes away.  Lori and Raymond had a late afternoon flight back home.

At the Lisbon Airport there were multiple lines to stand in.  First to get a boarding pass even if you have one.  Several passport checks, even a long line for passport control after security.  It was over an hour from the time we walked in till we were at our gate.  Once we reached the gate, the entire seating area was closed, presumably till closer to our departure time.  They did have a small children's play area for people traveling with children.   

Children's play area

When they did finally open the seating area for our gate, there was yet another passport check!  Our trip home was fortunately, uneventful.  Great adventure!!

Day 9 - Belem

We agreed to sleep as late as we wanted this morning, but we were all up and dressed before 8am.  After breakfast we drove to the Belem section of Lisbon (to the west).  We initially went to the Belem Tower, which is not very tall, as towers go, but right on the water and very ornate.  We got in just shortly after they opened and it wasn't crowded. 

Tower of Belem

Inside the Tower of Belem

View from the Tower

Inside one of the rooms in the Tower

The staircase to go up (or down) in the Tower

King Raymond!

After leaving the tower, we walked toward the Jeronimos Monastery.  On the way, we passed the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, (the Monument to the Discoveries).  This stunning, huge monument is made up of a group of sculptures that represent the prow of a caravel (a small sailing ship constructed by the Portuguese to explore the Atlantic Ocean). Leading the ship is Prince Henry the Navigator and behind him are many other great Portuguese discoverers. 
As we were continuing our walk, we saw people selling tickets to various boat tours, so we decided to book a sunset cruise for this evening.

This and next two pictures are the Monument

Our plan was to tour the Jeronimos Monastery. However, when we arrived at the Monastery, we found that it was a two hour long line just to get in, so we decided to pass.  Instead, we wandered in and out of the little stores in Belem, being sure to sample the pasteis de nata - a very popular and delicious Portuguese pastry, which was created in Belem.  Finally we went back to our car and back to our apartment.  We decided to have lunch at the same restaurant we ate in two nights ago, and got the same waiter, Ricardo, again.  He remembered us and took very good care of us.  Then back to the apartment again to pack up.

Jeronimos Monastery

Monastery door

Watching them make the pasteis de nata (and next photo)

Yum!!

Wandering the streets of Belem (and next photo)

Lori and Sue stopped to buy some artwork and then found these two guys waiting for us.

Belem Marina

David's sardines

Lori and Sue had omelets for lunch

Our new favorite Lisbon restaurant!

David fell in love with this grocery store and they had one right under our building (which is behind him!)

We got down to the Marina an hour early. The weather was gorgeous so we just relaxed.  We met up with the other passengers and walked to the boat.  Our cruise went west up the Tagus River to the ocean, turned around and sailed up along the Lisbon city center.  Then we went to the other side of the river and came back.  The guide told us about what we were seeing and served champagne at the halfway point.  It was the highlight of my vacation, so beautiful and relaxing!

Monument of Discoveries as seen from the water

Belem Tower from the water

This bridge was designed to resemble the Golden Gate Bridge.  The dolphins were painted to welcome the dolphins back from the ocean.  They hadn't been seen often until the pandemic.

Commerce area

Our cruisemates, and tour guide Paolo

We took dozens of sunset pictures.  Here are just a few.

Tower of Belem at sunset

After the cruise we drove a few miles to a really cool area with lots of restaurants.  We chose one and had a terrific dinner. 

Sue's chicken

It's been a fabulous trip!

Day 8 - Sintra and Caiscais

On the advice of our tuk tuk  driver yesterday,  we left early in the morning for Sintra and the Pena Palace. We were told that parking was very limited and you could have a 30 minute hike to the Palace from the parking lot.  We drove the narrow, winding road (on the map it looked like an intestine!) and got to the Palace but saw nowhere to park.  I asked a random tuk tuk driver where to park and it turned out it was illegal for us to drive up there.  He offered to lead us down to parking and we could walk up or he'd take us.  Naturally we opted to ride with him (Sergio).  As it was, it was a 20 minute ride.  We wouldn't have survived walking.  Even at the entrance, it was another 20 minute hike up hill to the Palace! 

 

I climbed up on a turret and took this and the next three pictures.

 

We finally got "in" and it was a continual line walking through the various rooms and hallways.  It was beautiful with gorgeous furnishings, but packed with people.

It took us about an hour to walk through. Then we were on our trek back to our car.  The downhill walk was on the same, narrow, cobblestone road we drove up.  As cars were coming we tried to squeeze against the sides.  At one point a giant bus came through.  We were all pressed against the walls on the side of the road as the bus came within inches of us.  

We finally got to our car and drove into the town of Sintra. We eventually found a parking space and had lunch in a pizzeria, then David and Raymond shared a donut!

After lunch we were back in the car heading to Caiscais.  First we drove to the ocean.  We walked around and then got ice cream. 

Fishermen!

Next we went to the center of town which was filled with restaurants and souvenir shops.  We all bought a few things and finally drove our exhausted selves back to our apartment. 

A fish painted on the road

A beautiful street in Caiscais

The touristy souvenir area

We walked over to a local restaurant that didn't look like much, but there were several reserved tables and the place filled up quickly. No one there spoke a word of English or Spanish.  We were using Google translate and hoping for the best! 

Raymond's "house meat"

Lori's dorado with "salad"

David's chicken and pork (bacon wrapped chicken)

Sue's grilled steak (came with bacon strips but I didn't eat them)

 Food was good... no credit cards, the waiter totaled up the bill by hand on a piece of paper.  Then we went to the local supermarket,  Lidl, and got dessert.