Lisbon’s Metro
Lisbon’s Metro is modern, fairly extensive and impressive.
I used it several times and especially after I found there was a station by the Cruise Terminal.
One thing to note is that there is a very large El Cortes Ingles built on top of the São Sebastião Metro station, which is on the line that goes to the Cruise Terminal. The shop had a massive food department, so I suspect, it had a selection of gluten-free food.
Buying A Transport Ticket In Lisbon
I tried to buy a ticket after a coffee in Black Horse Square, where tram route 28 passes through. But there was no information, although someone tried to sell me a ticket for one of the bus tours.
So in the end I got one of the new trams to one of the Metro stations. I bought the ticket for this tram on-board using a few euro coins.
At the Metro station, I found a machine, that after some co-operation with an Austrian lady, I cajoled into giving me a 24 hour ticket. lonely Planet says there are kiosks for these tickets, but I didn’t find one.
Lisbon’s Trams
I explored Lisbon’s trams are best described like the hymn book as a mixture of ancient and modern.
The modern ones are typical of many towns and cities in the world, but the vintage ones are probably unique. I can’t find any information on the age of the trams, but I seem to think some date from before the First World War. I think they might originally have been made in the UK, but they look now to have been fitted with up-to-date electric systems.
I rode the trams by purchasing a 24 hour ticket, which also allowed me to use the Metro and the buses. It cost me €6.50, which must be one of the cheapest entry fees to a transport museum. You use your paper ticket like an Oyster card.
I found this useful information in the Lonely Planet guide to Lisbon.
Don’t leave the city without riding tram 28 from Largo Martim Moniz or tram 12 from Praça da Figueira through the narrow streets of the Alfama.
I did that and many of pictures were taken on route 28.
On that route 28, the tram climbed some quite steep inclines almost like a mountain goat.
One thing I did was sit at the back and look backwards to the way we had come.
But whatever you do, any visit to Lisbon is not complete without a ride on the trams.
Exploring Lisbon
I explored Lisbon in three ways, by foot, Metro and the amazing trams.
I did a lot by just getting on a tram and then getting off at a place that looked interesting. I then got another tram or the Metro, until I needed to get back to the Oriana.
This gallery shows some of the sites I saw on foot.
As you can see, it wasn’t the warmest place, but at least it wasn’t raining.
Two Moroccan Corvettes
We were accompanied up the Tagus, by a pair of Moroccan Corvettes; 613 and 614.
I think they docked further downriver from where the Oriana did.
The corvettes were built by the Dutch and are two of a family of Sigma-class corvettes.
Arriving In Lisbon
After an overnight sail, we arrived in Lisbon early in the morning of the 25th March.
It is an impressive approach under the Tagus Bridge. Note that the blue building by the Cruise Terminal is both a Metro and main line train station called Santa Apolonia, whereas the domed church on the hill is the National Pantheon, where prominent Portuguese are buried.
Summing Up Seville And Cadiz
Seville was rather a disappointment, as it does seem the Spaniards are intent on ruining one of the gems of Europe, with some hideous architecture. But against that the I liked the innovative trams and was pleased to see the floats before the parade.
I didn’t see much of Cadiz and it is a city that I would visit again.
In hindsight, given the times that the Oriana was in Cadiz, I think it would have been better to give Seville a miss and explore the city on foot.
Leaving Cadiz
We left Cadiz as the parades ended and the sun went down.
I did get a glimpse of the floats from Oriana, but the pictures are too bad to upload.
The cruise ship shown in the picture was the only other cruise ship we saw in port. The guide at Cadiz, said business for her hadn’t been so good in the last few months as visiting cruise ships to Cadiz, were down in numbers compared to previous years.
Chocolates On Oriana
I’m always wary of the chocolates, that hotels and indeed cruise ships, put on your bed at night.
Chocolates On Oriana
This one was from Whittakers Chocolates and the excellent Restaurant Manager certified they were gluten-free. I had no trouble with them, although there was another sort, I didn’t sample.
My caution stems from a night a few years ago, in a five star hotel in Spain, where the chocolate had a biscuit inside. Luckily my late wife, C, was acting as food taster and after eating her chocolate, quickly ate mine as well.
A Parade In Cadiz
Returning to the Oriana, our coach was held up by a parade.
The pictures aren’t the best, but it was difficult photographing from the coach.
Seeing these parades, reminds me of probably the first serious film; The Pride and the Passion. I saw it with my father at the cinema in Felixstowe. I remember vividly the scenes where they hid the enormous gun under a float in the cathedral to hide it from the French.
I do wonder where they shot these scenes.
The Anonymous Widower 