Heading northwards

Tuesday 7th (cont)
It was just after 5.00pm that we entered the strait between Spain & Morocco, so we took the long trek all the way forward to the front of deck 10, which opens on to an area just below the bridge  giving a similar view to that on the bridge cam.  The sea was as smooth as glass and we were treated to literally hundreds of small dolphins all around us.  The Med was still shrouded in a haze, which looked like sand and shone golden in the sun.  Quite impressive watching all the ships appear out of the haze.

By about 6.00, Gibraltar appeared in the distance, but it was pretty well impossible to see much as we were heading directly into the setting sun.  Everyone was most intrigued by the towns/cities on the southern side of the strait.  It turns out that the first one is actually part of Spain.  So on the right hand side is Gibraltar (UK) and opposite is mainly Morocco, with a little bit of Spain.  We continued to enjoy the sights until just after 7.00 and time for dinner.

Wednesday 8th
Clearly we have moved away from the calm waters of the Med and we are back to a little movement. The Captain has just announced that due to our late departure from Barcelona, the adverse wind & currents, we will not now reach Lisbon until 1.00 pm.  But we will sail an hour later - mainly to accommodate the ship's tours!  It is a pity that we have such a short stay. The weather is certainly a lot cooler this morning, although is planned to warm up later.

Just before midday we entered Targus River, which is huge and runs down from the Spanish mountains. Had a magnificent view as we sailed up to the port, which is adjacent to the city of Lisbon, fortunately we are on the port side and could watch it all from the comfort of our balcony.   Happily the weather is warming up.  As we had a latish breakfast, we decided not to have lunch but to ready ourselves for disembarkation at 1.00.

Sure enough, we were straight off and found the Hoho bus waiting just outside the port.  We were fortunate to grab the 2 front seats upstairs under cover.  With such great seats we elected to stay on for the duration of the Red Route. It was a fascinating and very comprehensive trip and we ticked off all the attractions on Vivian's list.  With such limited time, we did not utilise the Hoho function - the route was just over 1.5 hours.  After completing the Red route however we did get off to have a late lunch in the main square.  This was delicious and included a famous Portuguese custard tart.  Yum! 

By this time it was after 3.30 and we wanted to do the Blue route as well. Buses supposedly came every 20/30 minutes.  Well we waited and waited for almost an hour until the bus appeared.  By now Vivian was becoming concerned about the time and worried that we wouldn't make it back to the ship in time.  Long story short, we did.  But Vivian did not enjoy the 2nd route and was sure that we'd miss the ship!

Back to the Blue route.  If we'd just had time for one route, the Red one was the best.  The Blue one covered a lot of the older and commercial area and the only part which interested us was the former Expo area, which is now a major business district. The buildings etc were terrific however.  All in all, we had a great time in Lisbon and is a place that we'd possibly like to visit again.  Open sitting for dinner so we turned up late and had a quick meal at an adjacent table, as others were at ours!!  Obviously no shows tonight.

Thursday 9th
Ouch, they stole that hour back overnight, so the end result was that we only just made it to breakfast, without the usual cup of tea.  To make things worse, we had to do UK immigration this morning.  We were scheduled for 10.50, but with bridge at 11.00 we cheated and lined up just after 10.00.  By the time we got to the end of the queue we were only 5 minutes ahead of time.  Seems a silly formality for those of us who are simply transiting. Other countries have just processed our passports without the need of us presenting ourselves. However this is just a warm up for USA 😤

A quick lunch and then a rest as it is formal night once again and we are having Christine & Mark for a drink beforehand.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, but as we enter the Bay of Biscay, the waves and swell are growing and we are back to our lurching from one side to another, so drinks could be interesting.  The temperature has also dropped to about 18, well below the 30 degrees yesterday. However the sun is shining and it gives me an opportunity to update this blog. 

I have been trying unsuccessfully to upload some photos over the last week, but get the same result each time "failed", also haven't had opportunity or time on land to try, hopefully LeHavre on Saturday may oblige.  Last sea day tomorrow before Southampton, where 700 passengers are (dis)embarking.  Looking forward to that, particularly as our friends Maureen & Wyn from Algies Bay are getting on.