Friday, May 9, 2025

Last Day in Portugal

 

May 9

Hello all you fans out in hometown Georgia!! It is your cruise blogger Bonnie coming to you from the Independence of the Seas on day 12. Sailing away from Lisbon toward Vigo, Spain.

We were up at 8. I originally got up at 6, but read and played on my phone and got sleepy and went back to bed at 7 and slept to 8 when we both got up 😊.

We took showers this morning and headed to the Windjammer about 9. No hurry because we were still in dock from yesterday. Was warmer today than yesterday and a lot more sun. Probably low 70’s.

During the night or early morning a second ship had docked. It was the NCL Norwegian Dawn. That is the very first ship Dad had done his very first talks on back in 2008. Crazy!

We were going to the Aquarium today. We didn’t know how. We asked some of the workers from excursions desk what was the best option. They suggested UBER. So when we got outside about 10 ish Dad used his uber app and got us a ride for just a little more than 8 euros. The driver  said he would be would pick us up. In about ten or so minutes he said I am here. HAHA. He was in front of the Norwegian but he finally found the lady in the green Jacket and the man in a white shirt in front of the Independence. We told him we wanted to go to the “Oceanario De Lisboa”. He didn’t know where it was but he put it into the GPS and about 30 minutes later we were in the vicinity. We got out and proceeded to the building we thought was it but it was the building behind and around. We finally found the entrance and about 20 or 30 school field trips of little kids entering! They scanned our tickets and in we went.

We were first directed to the elevator which would take us from floor 0 to floor 1 and start our trip around. It is a fantastic aquarium. There are many types of ocean fish, sharks, manatees, sting rays, Dori and nemo fishes. Lots of sea anemones, star fish and 2 sea otters. It was curious there were countless divers in the water. Some were feeding the fish. Some were cleaning and vacuuming and one lady diver was washing the windows inside the tanks. It was great fun. We shared our time with all the kids and got to see everything. My favorite area was the artic zone!! It was cool there!

We visited the gift shop last of course. Found some goodies. And they had a restaurant in the gift shop and it had a gelato stand! Yes, two scoops each. Yum! 9 euros. Not as good as Venice but none the less good. Well, we had asked two people in the building how we could get a taxi to go back to the ship. First your Dad asked a young male worker inside and then the nice young checkout girl, who spoke perfect English, how to catch or where to catch a taxi. They both assured us the road in front of the building where we had arrived was the place to go. So off we went. It took us about 10 or 15 minutes finally to get a taxi. We told him we wanted to go to the cruise terminal and your Dad pointed to the front and the taxi driver said no and pointed the other way. They did that a few times till Dad realized that the driver was indicating the right way.  HaHa! The ride took about 20 minutes and it was very nice. It cost 10.15 euros. Both of the drivers we had were very good. And the taxi driver taught us how to say thank you because we said “gracious” The driver preferred the Portuguese.

We got back on the ship about 2:30. Yes it was through security, your Dad losing his pants and me beep beeping! Too late to nap or have lunch. So we went to deck 5 and the café after dropping the bags in the room. We each got a small sandwich, I ate the meat not the bun, and we ate our pringles we had bought yesterday. I got a coke in my cup so he and I could have a drink.  We played some cards and then came back to the room about 4 so I could change clothes. On the way to the room he stopped and talked to the guest services people about get off stuff. They had sent a text and we didn’t understand some of it. I pestered one of the young men about the TV. I know get off stuff is always there on get off day. Ours was crazy when we got on. He told me what channel to check and where to look. So when we got to the room I looked and the TV was working perfectly. I even watched the end of a movie “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief”. It has Pierce Brosian in it as a Centaur. I know how it ends now but I am going to look it up and watch. It was cool. When that went off the original “Les Misérables” movie in black and white came on. Watched a few minutes then we had to go. It was cool too.

Tonight’s supper was of the Mexican flair. I had 2 soups, ate a little bit of a  shredded pork stuffed enchilada. There were beans and rice but I didn’t eat any of it. I had a caramel flan for dessert.

Then it was off to the theater. There was a juggler/comedian Pete Matthews.  He was good.

We are back in our room and he was cutting his hair so I started the blog. We get to our next stop Vigo at 9 in the morning and stay to 4:30. There time is one hour ahead of ours but we are to stay on ship’s time. No hurry in the morning. This is a walking around town to visit. But by the way if anyone says the aquarium in Lisbon is a 30 minute walk tell them they are full of beans.

Well, he is ready to tell you about his day. Love you all. Mom, Granny and Bonnie.

I knew I should never have allowed her to go first. But like Obi Wan said, “It was the truth, from a certain point of view.”

The taxi driver did teach us how to say “thank you” in Portuguese: obbligato (if you are a man), obligati (if you are a lady).  Then he told us how in two different languages and Mom told me to tell him in Russian, so now he knows four ways. Bolshoi spacebo.

The Juggler was great. He kept us in stitches with his humor. I know Bonnie and I laughed almost non-stop.  See there were two snakes.  Never mind, I’ll tell you later.  Great show.  Perhaps the best on this cruise and there have been some really good shows.

Ok.  I give up.  There is no way I can top Bon’s telling of our day.  She does get all the flavor out of the various experiences, and when she reads them back to me, they are even more fun than  the real stuff.  Reading about Vigo it sounds like we can spend hours amusing ourselves with  shops, churches,  historic sites and more.  We’ll let you know.

I’m going to put a few photos of the aquarium below.  I  did two short videos, but they are too big to get in the blog.  I’ll figure something out at 233.

Oh, while cutting my hair I dropped my clippers and broke the guard. Fortunately I was finished, but the guard is beyond fixing. Ebay to the rescue. A new set is in my shopping cart, and I'll order it as soon as we are home.  Well, maybe not at midnight on Monday, but soon.

Double Oh, as to catching the taxi … for those of you  who have been in Samara, Russia, you know exactly how I did it.  Tell everyone else, please.

TTFN – pictures coming.

 First, the banners from the V-E Day salute


And now from the aquarium






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