Lisbon. As we sailed up the river to the dock in Lisbon we were overlooked by the lofty statue of Christ. The only other similar statue is in South Amerca, in Roi de Janeiro, I think. We've made friends with a great group of people and some of them suggested we hire an 8 seater van to do a tour of Lisbon. I was glad they did because I was going to stay on board feeling sorry for myself. Instead, after the usual bargaining at the gate we set off with our driver, John. The van was a Mercedes and I'd highly recommend them as it was wide (no squashing this time), easy to get into and out of and comfortable to ride in. Our party consisted of the usual four of us plus a couple from Birchgrove, Elaine and Vincenzo, and a couple from Victoria, Shirley and Arturo. We went everywhere and saw everything all around Lisbon and then out into the countryside and along the coast. The old part of Lisbon, the Alfama district, is very quaint with its houses crowded together on narrow and steep cobbled streets that barely allow a vehicle to pass through. There are some magnificent and very old churches. One that we visited is Jeronimo's Monastery which was built in the C16th. It commemorates the great explorers and there we saw the grave of Vasco da Gama. After seeing the city we headed off to the mountains to Sintra, which is one of the oldest towns in Portugal. An C8th Moorish fort overlooks the town and ancient feudal castles and manors dot the surrounding hillsides. There is a C14th palace which was the summer residence of the kings of Portugal for 6oo years. We sat at a pavement café to sample a Portuguese tart and to try the local beer. The tarts (not the girls!) are quite different from the ones we have at home. They are long and cylindrical with fruit in them. After lunch we wandered around looking at the shops. In a narrow lane I came across a small general store. I always find grocery shops in foreign countries interesting so of course I went in. Remember Tang? They had not just orange but apple, pear and lemon flavours. I nearly bought some but I only had 10 euros and decided instead on a bottle of local Port. Much more palatable! Further on there was a shop which sold beautiful quality linen items and clothing. There were some baby items and I couldn't resist buying a tiny pink gingham swimsuit and matching hat for the new baby. I used the plastic and it will probably end up costing a packet so I hope it's a girl. We continued our tour and headed towards the coast north of Lisbon. It was a pretty drive through green woods and we passed many of the large houses I mentioned earlier. Alongside the road a dry stone wall covered in creepers and moss ran for miles and miles. We were glad it was there as in places the ground dropped steeply on the other side of the wall. John suddenly stopped at a place where the road widened. "Cork trees," he said, pointing at some large trees which had rough knobbly bark. We piled out to have a closer look and John took out his penknife and sliced some cork off for each of us. I've kept my piece for the time being. Next we came to a seaside town called Estoril. The beaches were sandy but windy and many wind surfers were out taking advantage of the strong breeze. I thought my son-in-law, Ed, would enjoy being there. Estoril was the playground of the rich and famous in the past and there are still many palatial villas and hotels favoured by the wealthy. The kings, Umberto of Italy and Simeon of Bulgaria lived there in their exile. We saw a Kiama-style hole in the rock and tramped along a rocky path to the most westerly point of Europe. The wind was blowing so strongly you could almost lean against it! It was quite, no, very exhilarating. Our originally 4 hour tour had extended somewhat but it didn't seem to worry John. We returned to Lisbon via the coast road. The wind accompanied us all the way but it didn't deter a few stalwart Portuguese bathers from swimming or sun bathing. Wind as strong as that on the beach would have sent me straight home! By now John was as full of enthusiasm as us so he showed us a few more sights we'd missed earlier. One of them was the Belem tower which was built in the early C16th by the water. It marks the place from where da Gama set off on his voyage to India. We returned to the Dawn Princess full of enthusiasm for Lisbon and its environs. That night at dinner, Jane, one of our fellow diners who had gone on the ship's tour to Fatima, gave me a bottle of holy water which she'd bought to help me recover from my really quite minor trials. There are some lovely thoughtful people in this world. Next stop, Le Havre in France.