LISBOA

After a long overnight from Montreal we arrived at 9:00 Saturday morning in Lisbon.  The airport is large with a particularly long hike from baggage to the exit.  Fortunately, I had convinced Betty that we must share one large suitcase and I was thus able to manage both her wheelchair and the bag.  We had been given stickers for our jackets and were spotted by a Viking rep at the exit.  We were driven to the hotel where we were met by our Cruise Director.  We were asked to attend a 1/2 instructional talk at 6:00 that evening.  We were also given materials for Covid testing.  Each morning until the end of the cruise we must provide saliva samples for PCR testing.

I spend a good part of the afternoon trying to scout a walkable dinner restaurant.  I kept being told that they were already overbooked.  Eventually I was sort of told at  large pub that if we came at 6:30 (way too early for the Portuguese) they would try to find us a table.  As we had skipped lunch we were very thirsty and hungry by 5:00 so we went to the lobby bar and ordered two glasses of a Dao and munched on olives and nuts.  The Dao was the best Portuguese wine I have ever tried.

At the instructional lecture we had two glasses of Muscatel each, a wine I usually avoid.  They were also good.  At 6:30 we skipped out of the lecture and headed to the pub.  The pub was almost empty when we arrived, but by the time we finished our meal people were lined up out into the street hoping to score a table.  Our meal started with prawns grilled in peppers and olive oil.  Betty ordered a steak and got a tasty piece of veal smothered in a cream and peppercorn sauce.  I ordered a francesinha sandwich (which my broker said I must try when I got to Portugal).  A francesinha sandwich starts with a slice of bread on which is laid a large veal steak done quite rare.  On top of the steak are an uncured and a smoked sausage both cut lengthwise; then several slices of ham.  Over this is poured about a pint of hot Port sauce before the second piece of bread is placed.  Then several melted cheeses smother the bread before the whole thing is topped with a fried egg.  The bottle of Douro wine that washed down this concoction was perfectly adequate but not quite up to the standards of the hotel Dao.

On Sunday morning we had a very tasty breakfast at the hotel before we were taken on a bus tour of the city.  Lisbon is very clean and claims to be the fourth safest city in the world.  The tour lasted for about 4 hours and gave a good overview 

On Monday morning we will be coached to Porto.  Along the way we will stop in the university town of Coimbra for a tour and lunch.  Then at 4:30 (assuming our Covid tests have been negative) we will board for our cruise up the Douro River.