Just thought that I would do a quick post on what has been going on so far. Friday afternoon we roamed around the city and went to hear Fado at Cafe Luso that evening. It was a bit touristy but very enjoyable. After having the long flight over we still managed to stay up until about 2am the following morning, so we got a very late start on Saturday. Before boarding that evening we did a tour of Lisbon and Belem. Boy is this place like San Francisco or what? Rained off and on all day, but managed to see a lot of the city. Never made it to Sintra as planned due to the weather, so we will just have to come back some day. Sunday was sunny, so we spent a very enjoyable day roaming around. Went to the Praca do Comercio then hopped on tram 15 to Praca Figueira and then went on trams 12 amd 28 all around the Alfama. Had some drinks at the Largo Porto del Sol with a beautiful view of the city and the Tagus. I then hiked up to the Castelo Sao Jorge for the views across the city and it was fabulous. Last night we set sail for Oporto and sailed under the 25 de Abril bridge and past the monuments of Belem. It was breathtaking. Right behind us was the Wind Surf with her 4 masts sailing under the bridge and it was quite a site. Last night was formal night and the weather got a bit rough as we headed north into the Atlantic for Oporto. The ship was really rolling, so we did not have many that made it to dinner or the show. This morning we are waiting outside of the port which has been closed due to heavy fog. We have been drifting for about 2 hours and will get in when the fog burns off.

Love the ship. It is very different from the Silver Whisper. I have to laugh when they refer the the Whisper and the Shadow as the "Big" ships.

More later.

Hi Don & Diana, Thanks for the seamail. Glad to hear that you all liked Lisbon. It truly is a beautiful city. Looking forward to your reports of the ship and I will be on the Wind in November. Hope your weather improves.

Don and Dianna - we too thought Lisbon reminded us of San Francisco, even the bridge looks like the Golden Gate. It rained on and off while we were there last year, with clouds and a light fog drifting in and out, which made it seem even more like San Francisco, not to mention the trolleys and all the hills.

Glad you are enjoying your cruise. Thanks for the seamail.

Hi Don,

Glad to hear you and Diana are having a nice time. Thanks for the seamail. Will be looking forward to your next mail!!!

Don and Dianna,
It sounds like you're having a good time. You're in such a magnificent part of the world...love that area! Thanks for the seamail!

Thanks for the seamail. Continue having a great cruise.

Nancy

What a fabulous city!
Hope the fog lifts to days of sunshine and smooth seas.. keep us posted guys!

Thank you for the Sea Mail
Enjoy it.

Hi Don, Hope you get in to Oporto!

Thanks

Thanks for the seamail. Glad to hear you are having a great time, despite the fog and rough seas. Here's to smoother sailing and fogless days ahead!

Thanks for reporting in Don. Looking forward to more. Have a great time.

We did make it in to Oporto. Did the city tour, the Duoro River tour, and it was topped off by wine tasting at a port lodge (Sandemans) where we learned all about the making of port. What a fun day. The town was very crowded as it everybody was off for Holiday. The 25th of April is when they celebrate the overthrow of the dictatorship of Salazar known as the Carnation Revolution.

The next day was a day at sea and we had fabulous weather making our way to Cadiz.

Then in Cadiz we took the train to Seville and had another beautiful day roaming the city and going to the Cathedral and the Reales Alcazar. We opted to do our own thing instead of the ships tour, because of the immense amount of walking involved in the ships tour and we wanted to do things at our own pace. Then back in Cadiz, Diana headed for the ship as I roamed all around Cadiz for an hour. They called Diana twice wondering if I was going to make it back onboard, but I had about 5 minutes left to spare! LOL

Today, we were supposed to go to Granada and the Alhambra, however, the ship changed up the itinerary once we board and our time in Malaga was cut down significantly. Originally we were to leave at 11pm tonight, but we had to be back onboard by 5pm. Also, the Alhambra was closed today until 3pm, because of a Foreign Ministers Conference that was just scheduled last week. So we will have to return to see the Alhambra and Granada. We did however have a fantastic day. We rented a car and drove along the Costa del Sol to Marbella and then up to Ronda. WOW!!! What a beautiful hilltop town. We went with another couple from the ship and had a great time. We plan to come back and spend some more time one day.

More later...

Thanks for reporting in, Don. Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. We loved our time in Malaga. Can't wait for another opportunity so that we can visit Ronda. Looking forward to more seamail from you.

Looking for more, Don!

Masaki

Don, Thanks for reporting in. I'm so glad you and Diana are having such a great time. Keep having fun and keep posting! We love hearing about it!

Betty

So good hearing from you both and so glad to know that you're enjoying yourselves!

Continue to enjoy! Please continue to send seamail!

Don, thanks for the report. If you and Diana could hang out in Malaga a bit longer, you can go with us to the Alhambra. We'll be there in a few short weeks too.

Don, too bad about not making it to Alhambra. The place is just jaw dropping. The kind of place I will never forget.

However, I'm glad you enjoyed the port wine lodges and the Duoro tour. The best time actually to tour the Duoro is during harvest with the vines dripping with grapes. The day we did the port wine tasting tour (on our own) was so much fun. I think I need to do that again soon.

Looking forward to your next port post. Enjoy!

KarenM :lct:

Don, thanks so much for the seamail! Sounds like all in all, you are having a wonderful time. We really enjoy a good tawny Port and would have loved the Sandeman's tasting! Appreciate you posting whenever you can!! :)

Hi Don,

So glad you got to Sevilla and Ronda. They are beautiful! Too bad about Granada but you'll be like me, looking for an excuse to go back to Southern Spain.

Keep having a great time!

So glad you are having a GREAT time, enjoy the rest of the cruise!

Trish