May 31, Departed ship and exploring Lisbon

by David · June 2, 2026

We left the NCL ship about 8am. We then went to a luggage storage business (and a tourist gift shop) down the street from our next apartment. We walked along the waterfront and then through a few streets and up the hill to get there. It wasn’t that far but Lisbon’s cobblestone streets and getting used to their traffic lights and ways of driving make it exciting to roll our suitcases there. Going somewhere new makes it extra exciting but going back in a few days will be easy.

After leaving all but 1 small day pack, we were standing on the corner looking at the phone to decide where to go, a TukTuk driver came by and convinced us to book him for a city tour. He was fantastic and took us up to overlooks that buses and the trams didn’t go. He also knew all about the city. He showed us all 3 parts of Lisbon, old, older and new to them. He started on a lookout on one side and then driving past so many amazing buildings, we were at a look out on the the other side that we could see the original lookout. So many building had amazing tiles and other features. After the earthquake and saunami of 1755 Most of the city was rebuilt and still stands today. This is the new city but to us that is really old! We got out several times to see churches, a garden and many interesting sights. We walked through the oldest bookstore in Europe. It was huge and so many books, it was all I could do not to stop and shop. No room in our suitcases for real books of course. Thank goodness for Kindle and iPads. They carry a lot.

We then went toward the 3 rd part of the city to find an old bakery (about 1947) that made the cities most famous pastry, Patel de Nata Custard desert. ( spelling and name may be off but not the taste or the crowds there buying it). We then went to an old fort on the river and back to “our neighbor” for an authentic Portuguese meal. We are not that adventuresome so David had chicken and I had codfish & rice.

We walked to our “apartment” but David only had half the information so it was a hassle to find it and more to get the codes to get in but we did. It was nicely remodeled with a kitchen, a washing machine and this time an elevator. The safe didn’t work but we were not going swimming so no problem. It was hot out so we done for the day except a quick grocery shopping next door. 3 small grocery stores on our block alone! A busy street with traffic and on an electric tram route in a local neighborhood but quiet in our apartment facing the other way.