Iberian Voyage 15 - Portugal

Wednesday April 17

is a semi-sad day. The MV Clio is a very comfortable ship and the crew is outstanding. We had always the feeling that everybody wanted to take care of us to have a good time and be safe. Even the captain was most of the days at the gangway to help us on and of it and wish us a good time of the ship.

Suitcases packed and out of the cabin. We are also out of the cabin and waiting to be told what next to do. 

9:30 am - would be nice to travel on the Clio again. 

Traveling by bus to Lisbon. It’s a large bus and only half full with us the Red Group and Joana.

I can never sleep on a bus or plane. Too much to see. Not easy to photograph though. Sorry. 

I managed to catch some stork nests though. It is fun seeing those. 

Joana told us again that the bit of rain they had before we arrived had done wonders. She remembers the fields of yellow and white flowers. The white flowers make a nice tea for your stomach (camomile?) and the yellow I can’t remember. 

We had a potty stop half way and arrived at the winery short before noon. 

More storks. One nest on each chimney. This one is so thick that little birds seem to have nests in there too because we see them flying in and out all around. 

Joana just got engaged so I asked her whether she knew that storks are dangerous. First she was puzzled but then we had a good laugh. 

This is a very large place making a lot of different wines and other things. I can’t remember how many hotels this company owns and uses the wines mainly at those. 

First the introductory information and then we went upstairs. 

Stainless steel vessels on one side (two stories tall).

Labs in the other side. It was quite interesting but I didn’t pay too much attention since I am not really planning to use that info. If I would want to make wine I would do it as my Opa Otto and later my father did. 

Back down the tasting. 

First white, then rosé and then red. We also tried their olive oil by dipping bread into it. Very nice. 

Then we had lunch. The big room had a cellar atmosphere and looked very festive. 

It was a buffet and all was very tasty. 

And then it was time to leave again. 

The photo of the Lisbon Jesus statue was taken about 4:30 pm. 

L

Checking into the Altis Grand Hotel didn’t take long. We are on the 7th floor. 

I can’t quite remember but Joana had offered to meet us at 6 pm or so for a walk around the hotel to tell us about where the mini-market is, good restaurants etc

At 7:30 pm Joana asked who wanted to go to the Cinema Restaurant. It was an old cinema with old decorations around. But we sat outside on long tables with a sunscreen above. 

 

None of us were very hungry. I had an appetizer seafood salad. It was nice. 

They took our food orders first but we were really more keen to get a beer. We ordered a pint each. Unfortunately when that order came, James got his pint but the waiter tried to give another drink to somebody else. Unfortunately he did not balance the rest of the drinks on his tray properly. My pint of beer and something else spilled over Katie’s and James’s backs and the glasses broke on the floor. 

It was quite a commotion. People rushed around, cleaned up and tried to dry Katie and James off as much as possible because it was getting cold. 

We settled down, finished our meal and finally walked back to the hotel. Yes, I had received my pint. 

I think I will miss the ship rocking me to sleep. Night,  night.