Certainly a lot colder over here but at least it is sunny. I noticed that the locals had all flocked to the beaches as we sailed in at around 11.00, so we must be wimps. Our tour of Sintra & Cascais doesn't leave until 1.45, so after coffee we have retreated to our balcony in the sun. The only downside is that we have now turned around in the river and are facing downstream, with town (& sun) on our starboard side.
A pleasant trip out of Lisbon and up the "mountains" /hill to Sintra, which was once again a small old village. We had an hour of free time, so after walking up and down the narrow streets, we stopped at the Cafe Paris, Central Palace Hotel for coffee and the local pastry (Pastel Nats) for the princely sum of €13.40. It probably was the most expensive place in town, but was very enjoyable. Yes, the pastries are moreish.
Crazy paving throughout town
Our guide was touting the best ice cream in Portugal, so of course we had to queue up for quite a while to get into the shop. OK, it was OK, but at €2.90 for a little tub, it was no bargain. I'd actually been looking for a bar, but they did not seem to be about. We had over an hour in town and really that was quite enough. Looked at real estate window and thought that they were about the same as at home €800,000-3,500,000.
Back along the coast to Lisbon and as I've commented previously, the beaches all the way along were crowded - remember that this is a Sunday and of course it is also mid summer. We'd have to agree that the weather is greatly improved from this morning. While there are many expensive homes and facilities, equally there were a lot of derelict buildings and heaps of graffiti, particularly noticeable even in prime coastal areas. So it seems that while new areas are being developed there is little desire to reinvigorate older areas - not sure why.
Got back to the port on time at 6.45 and through port security, who for the first time wanted our watches and my belt-yet I still got wand-scanned once again for the first time. The good news was that Lisbon is like Barcelona, so a duty free shop was right there after security and we availed ourselves of a couple of bottles of local vintage and sure enough, no Sea Princess scanning,
I have just noticed some sand on our balcony again - thanks to our transit through the Gibraltar Strait yesterday. I am confident that there will be *No More* sand for the rest of this trip. I forgot to mention a week or so ago that our coughs etc. have all gone. I am sure that a lot if it was due to air pollution, although some passengers are less charitable and suggest that there will be a reoccurance when some 500 new passengers get on in Southampton in a couple of days!
A complete aside, we had a phone call yesterday afternoon from Room Service enquiring whether we wanted a mini-bar delivered or coffee cards for the next sector. Clearly they've taken some notice of the complaints regarding room service delivery and in any event it is far more efficient for them to deliver only what is required. I'll wait until the 26th to see if it has worked.
Day 53 - 23 July - at sea
Ah, today is "Hump Day". Yes, we have reached the halfway point of our cruise and although we are heading north across the Bay of Biscay, it is all downhill from here. A lot colder although the sea is calm, in fact so calm that just after lunch we ran into a large patch of sea fog. The ship's foghorn was blaring away for over an hour and then the fog slowly cleared, although it remained misty/cloudy. Today we had to go through UK Immigration, which only took about 10 minutes, so we all set when we arrive on Wednesday.
The final formal evening of this sector and while we entertained Marilyn & Ray for our usual drinks & canapes, we also attended the Farewell party in the Atrium. This was for the passengers disembarking in Southampton, but more importantly to farewell our Commodore, who both disembarks and retires when we reach Southampton. We got to chat with him as he made his way through the crowd and enjoyed his (liquid) hospitality.
Day 54 - 24 July - at sea
Much brighter day today as we exited the Bay if Biscay and have now entered the English Channel. Very, very smooth seas but even at 3.00pm it is only 18° - a big drop over the last week. As usual the ship's focus is on the end of the sector tomorrow, which is one of the little things that bugs a number of us. The fact that the majority are doing a full 106 day full cruise does not seem important to Princess, but as some wise person pointed out, if they did then perhaps we wouldn't get our reoccurring sector benefits. Hmmmm, that is worth thinking about.
Day 55 - 25 July - Southampton
What a surprise - a brilliant clear day and it was warm. In fact later in the day it reached 30°. We were meeting Vivian's (3rd/4th?) cousins for a "Day in the country". We had planned to meet outside the terminal at 10.30, but at 10.00 I suggested we get off the ship- which took about 10 minutes anyway. Just as we were exiting the terminal, there was Angela coming towards us asking every couple "are you Viv & Murray? We hadn't seen her for 8 years and then she was auburn, not blonde!
So off we go with Angela, her sister Caroline & their Mum and Dad, Pearl & Bill in Angela's Land Rover, with poor Caroline in the jump seat in the boot. The plan is to visit Stonehenge and Salisbury via the New Forest. The coutryside is so typically beautiful English and heightened as it was harvest & haymaking time. Traffic was pretty diabolical as there was a country show on, so after a few by-passes, we reached Stonehenge, which was also crowded.
After some in-house discussion we established that you can still view Stonehenge from the road (or should I say "a" road). Yes we could, but the powers that be have lined the road with "No stopping" signs and closed off any places where one could park. Not to be deterred, we went on a couple of miles to the next roundabout and came back - this time there was an extensive queue of traffic (what a shame), so we could only crawl past 😀😁😂. Saw it all. Not that we felt guilty, but then called into the Information Centre/Cafe and had a coffee, which was overpriced and underwhelming.
Onwards to Salisbury and the cathedral, which has the largest spire, where we had a walk around. The town (sorry, more a city) looked picturesque and is Pearl, Bill & Angela's local town, although they live some 10 miles away in a quaint town of Sixpenny Handley - Pearl & Bill live at one end and Angela and family live at the other. We later called into that town to drop off Caroline who lives up in Watford and who came down specially to meet us.
Back to the trip - we drove into the New Forest and had a pub lunch at the Fighting Cocks at 3.20! The New Forest is of course famous for the roaming wild animals - horses, donkeys, cattle, pigs etc. Anyway where we were was the domain of a number of horses & donkeys and their young. The country is in the midst if a drought and it was sad to see these animals grazing on dirt.
Just as we were about to leave, a number of horses decided to cross the road to the car park and were obviously looking for food. Although we took obligatory photographs we didn't take any notice of them as we got back into the vehicle. The windows were down because of the heat and next minute I had this horse's head on my lap, sniffing at the carry bag I was holding. Very friendly (too friendly) for wild horses.
A reasonably good trip back to Southampton, but patches of severe congestion, which shows how countryfied we have become. Back just after 7.00, when the compulsory safety presentation was to be held. Fortunately they had a hiccup with the recorded presentation, which meant we could slip in and be counted before it started (which saved us having to go to a later one at 9.30).
Pleased to see that the coffee cards have been processed, but not so pleased that we only get 250 minutes each of internet as this sector is just 20 days (1 short of the full entitlement of 500 minutes). Ah well, you win some, you loose some. Our new captain is Captain Christopher Lye, an Englishman who retains command through until November.
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