Lisbon, Portugal (13-20 March 2018)

Well, this trip didn’t quite start as we wished – our flight from Charlotte to JFK never got off the ground because of a mechanical problem with the aircraft. Since it was the last Jet Blue flight to JFK that night, there was no way to make our connection to Lisbon.We were lucky enough to get rebooked for the same flight the next night and got a taxi home (paid for by Jet Blue). One of the bad parts of this, besides not getting home until 1 AM, was the need to let our hotel in Lisbon know we would be a day late and would like to keep our reservation. This was accomplished through our banks travel department, but I was still leery about whether we would still have a room when we finally arrived. I also texted the driver who was to pick us up at the Lisbon airport and see if he could meet us a day later than originally planned. Just before our flight the next evening, I got a text saying he would be there.

We finally arrived in Lisbon on 14 March and were taken to our hotel, Lisboa Carmo Hotel. A very nice hotel, close to places we wanted to visit.

We checked in, dropped our luggage in the room, and prepared to meet our guide for a walking food tour – Private Lisbon Food Tour: The 10 Tastings (Viator). Our guide was Luis Rasteiro, an independent local Lisbon guide.

 

The next day, Saturday, we had scheduled wine tour/tasting. However, because of all the rescheduling of tours, necessitated by the flight delay, I missed an important email with the meeting place change. Pat and I walked to what I thought was the meeting point, only to find out it had changed and that we had walked past the actual meeting place about 30 minutes earlier. Fortunately, the tour guide was able to book us for the tour on the following Monday, the day we were supposed to leave Lisbon. I accepted the offer and arranged with the hotel for an additional night.

Since we were already out and about, Pat had her eye set on a yarn shop, so off we went!

From the yarn shop, we headed back to our hotel, but stopped just across a park from the hotel at the Carmo Convent and Church, left topless from the 1755 earthquake. “[B]uilt between 1389 and 1423, …it was initially bestowed to the Carmelite order, but it lost its functionality after the great earthquake of 1755, when much of the edifice was damaged apparently beyond repair. However, what is worth mentioning is before the earthquake, the Carmo Convent and Church represented the height of all Gothic religious edifices in Lisbon.”

 

On our way to catch a tram to Belem, a short ride west of the city, we passed a demonstration/march, protesting something about labor.

 

 

 

Sunday, we took a train to Cascais to enjoy the beach. This small beach town is about 30 minutes west of Lisbon, if traveling by train. We spent several hours walking the beaches to collect sea glass. Then searched and found a geocache, found a place to eat, and caught the train back to Lisbon. The day was beautiful – no rain.

 

Our final day in Lisbon was for the wine tour we had missed on Friday. This time we met the guide at the correct place (we got to the meeting spot well in advance and had breakfast at a nearby restaurant). Although this tour was booked through Viator, the actual trip was led by Joao Guadalpi, Manager and Tour Leader at West Portugal Tours. It was because Joao was so flexible, we were able to do the tour, after missing the one on Friday.

We drove to the AdegaMãe Winery, about an hour north of Lisbon. Before tasting any wine, we were given a tour of the winery with an explanation of how wine is produced (basically the same tour we have had for the last 20 years, except for different designs and layouts). Then it was off to the tasting room and the most relaxed tasting we have ever had – our group of 7 was told about each of the 4 wines we tasted, given a glass and some crackers, then left alone with the bottle. Only when everyone had had enough wine did the host give us the next wine.

 

Before heading back to the city, our whole group ate lunch at a local restaurant which was very simple but very, very good.

Other than dinner near the our hotel, the wine tour was our last event in Portugal. We had a very early flight to Malaga, Spain, the next morning.

We want to return to Portugal, especially more to the north, such as Porto. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), there are many place we want to see before a return.