Our ship docked on the southern coast of Portugal and we took a bus to Lisbon to avoid the frequent delays in the past due to nasty sailing conditions. To make the 3 hour ride more interesting, we stopped at a hotel/vineyard/olive grove/restaurant for a few hours. It included wine tasting and olive oil tasting which they produce on site. We bought a couple bottles of wine for a surprisingly low $8 total. We learned that their olive oil was not available for purchase onsite, but could be found in the US at TJ Maxx of all places!
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| We saw lots of stork nests along the way, including this one on top of the main section of the hotel. |
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| Look closely at the the nest: there are a bunch of little birds flitting around and some brownish protrusions on the big nest - it looks like dozens of the little guys are homesteading in the huge stork nest. |
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| A few of the oak barrels in the cellar -- looked more like a demonstration space vs. a working cellar. |
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| Olive processing machinery -- only used during the harvest. |
We completed our jaunt to Lisbon at the end of the day and found our very modern looking hotel, which was conveniently located. The downside was, it is at the top of a hill, but getting back into hill walking will make getting around at home again easier. Marcel led us to seafood place that specialized in 'fish and rice' near the hotel for our dinner.
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| This statue is at the top of the main downtown street, Ave de Liberdade. It represents Marques de Pombal who led Lisbon's recovery from a devastating earthquake in 1755. |
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