Thursday 19 September

This morning we have a 3 hour city tour that takes us through the Georgian-styled centre (courtesy of the Marques) to the River Tagus where we see various defensive towers or memorials of Portuguese historical figures such as Magellan, Vasco de Gamma, or Henry the Navigator (who invented the triangular sail that permitted the caravel boat to sail into the wind, which square rigged galleons could not). We also see the Belem Tower, a 16th Century defensive tower that also marks the ceremonial gateway to Lisbon, and an aircraft on a pedestal that celebrates the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic to Brazil in 1922 by Gago Coutinho & Sacadura Cabral.

Facing the River is another UNESCO site, the Jeronimos Monastery, on Praca do Imperil. It is listed as an example of the late Gothic Manueline style featuring carved fruits, animals etc. with its relationship to the sea recognised by rope motifs. Built on the orders of King Manuel I in 1495 it was supposed to be the final resting place for members of the House of Aviz. The monks were charged with praying every day for the soul of the king, but also rendered aid to sailors (multiple confessionals to hear all their sins when they returned from long voyages!).

The Lisbon city tour concluded back at the hotel, and whilst most of the Insight group stayed on to take an optional trip up the coast, we stayed in Lisbon to explore further on foot. We walk down to the Marquis of Pombal Square to photograph the imposing column and memorial to this important figure in Lisbon's history. After the disaster of 1755 the Marquis as Prime Minister, lead the effort to rebuild the city.

We walk though Eduardo VII Park to the Metro to ride downtown, where we see the Santa Justa Lift but don't ride up in it due to the queue and €5 per person cost. So we again walk up to Largo do Carmo to take some photos as we didn't have cameras with us last night. Question, do we want to cross the city to look at the castle, or do we want to enjoy lunch and a glass of wine? Not too difficult to answer, we've seen plenty of castles. Afterwards there is time for a spot of very select souvenir shopping and then back to base to get ready for our river ferry trip and seafood dinner with Insight.

The ferry is busy with workers returning home to the south bank of the river Tagus. Restaurante Farol is on the river and caters for large groups. We are welcomed outside the door with a glass of beer and walk past display cases full of lovely seafood. However, the set meal was a little disappointing with tapas-style starters, followed by a very small portion of the famous salted cod, plus calamari, prawns, mussels and small clams.