May 8
After a mix up in communication and a very courteous driver we finally started our Tuk Tuk tour an hour or so late. The instructions we received was that our driver would come to the front of the cruise terminal holding a sign with our name on it. He was told to meet us across a very wide four lane street in front of a red kiosk. After we decided he wasn’t coming we went for a walk and came into wifi range. There was a message from him and we walked back the way we came until we had a signal and called him. He was 3 minutes away and came to the red kiosk. It was a fun tour. Some roads were VERY bumpy, but he was knowledgeable and we enjoyed the tour, stopping at several viewing points and going into one small chapel.
Some pictures:
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| Your favorite cruisers from the highest point in Lisbon |
Tomorrow the aquarium.
Back on board, Astri and Fushawn were holding our table for
us and we had appetizers, ice cream and in between excellent chicken parmasean with
marinara sauce. After dinner, we finished
the 4th game of rummy and Bonnie tied the score at 2 all.
I’m sure Mom’s version is going to be much more exciting, so
I’ll move over and let her hit the ASDF space JKL; space
TTFN
Well, we were up at 7. We did our stuff in the bathroom. Today
they were not having breakfast in the dining room but from 8 to 12 they were
having brunch. So about 9 we went to deck 3 dining room and had brunch. Well,
since it was a brunch and I didn’t really want eggs and such I ordered a fruit
plate, a chicken sandwich, tomato juice and chocolate milk. Well the kiwi was
not ripe, the pineapple was not sweet but the cantaloupe and grapes were good.
The sandwich came with FF. The FF were great. The sandwich was not chickfila!
The chicken was some kind of very thin processed chicken and tough as shoe
leather. I ate half of the bun, the lettuce and slice of tomato.
Well, we were docked and cleared just before 12. We had a
bridge and ramps connected to the ship to get off. We didn’t need to get off to
around 2. There was a large crowd around the door on deck 4 to get off anyway. There
were tons of tours heading off and everybody else. We finally decided to get
off just before 2. The way was a little clearer. We walked and walked and
walked till we finally found our way out of the terminal. Outside the doors
there were MANY tuktuks and drivers
touting their wares. But we said we had already ordered a driver.
We waited, and waited and waited….. and finally gave up and started
walking to the one church we could see above the buildings. It looked a lot
closer than it really was. Much traffic, much construction. They have had
flooding issues down in the dock area and they are doing construction to try
and alleviate the flooding. Well, after we had walked and had not gotten to the
church he decided to stop in a pharmacia, because most pharmacist can speak
English, and see if we were on the right way to the church. Well, he noticed he
had a What’s app and it was from the tuktuk driver. After some conversation we
headed back to the port to see if we could meet up with him. Dad lost his
signal but when we got back outside the port he was able to talk with him and
he picked us up at the red kiosk on the corner.
My advice to you if you are riding in the old parts on
Lisbon, DON’T USE A TUKTUK! It was very hard to get into and you wore cross
body seat belts; thank God you did. The roads are about as wide as two of my
sparks, there are cars parked on both sides of the very narrow streets which go
up and up and are very curvy. The roads are very uneven, bumpy and full of pot
holes. He hit one and I thought my butt was broke! The views from the top of
the city are outstanding and beautiful! The driver was very knowledgeable and
told us a lot of history. We had the opportunity to visit one small chapel and
it was amazing inside for such a small place. I lit 2 candles. I would have
liked to light more but I only had one euro coin. After we had seen the
highlights of the old parts of Lisbon he was going to take us into the more
modern parts but my back could not stand anymore. So he brought us back to the
dock area. I must tell you how I was able to get out of the tuktuk each time we
stopped to look at something. I slid off the seat put my butt on the floor and
feet pointing out of the door, and then I dangled my feet and reached for the ground
and got out. There was no other way. Not a pretty site to see!
We arrived back to the terminal and proceeded inside. Going
through Portugal security, beep beep of course. Retrieved our stuff from the
bins. Dad had to take off his belt and was losing his pants so first order of
business was to put on the belt. We proceeded upstairs where they have the typical tourist stuff we bought pringles, nachos and a drink. Then headed back
to the ramps to get on. But wait we and everybody in front of us and behind us
were stopped just as we got to the last 2 ramps up to the ship. The tide had
come in and they had to move the ramps. It took about 15 minutes and the line
grew longer as we waited. Finally we were able to move and get on.
By the time we got on the ship it was about 5:45. Dad said
we are going to the dining room. So we did. Hats and canes and stuff. Our table
was waiting and the dining room was very empty. We ordered our supper and ate.
It was 7 before we left. We went to the room, unloaded our stuff and picked up my drink cup and headed
for deck 5 to find a drink and a table sit at and play. We had started a game
before we left in the morning and I was in the lead and I stayed in the lead
and won. On the last hand I only needed 5 points to win.
We are in our room and I am crocheting and soon we will be
in bed. He is tired. We don’t have to be up early and our tickets for the
aquarium aren’t till 12:30. Weather is breezy but beautiful. Cloudy but no
rain. Love you all. Mom, Granny and Bonnie
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| A church which is now a museum and mausoleum |
 A church that is a church, and the part in the foreground used to be a monastery -- it will now be a hotel. Above a beautiful nativity scene (which I can't get to move). The whole thing is behind a wire barricade. |
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