My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
Author: marionvermazen
I am a traveler, hiker, avid reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, Spanish and French language student, knitter and genealogist. I am retired after working for almost 30 years in the Computer Industry. I live in Reno, Nevada with my husband Duke.
This morning after breakfast we took a one hour Tuk-tuk tour of central Lisbon.
Duke negotiating with the Tuk-tuk driverOn our Tuk-tuk tour.
We made several stops. Learned about Lisbon history and the earthquake, fire and tsunami that destroyed the city in 1755, The whole tour was a lot of fun.
View of LisbonAfter our tour
We packed up, checked out then played a few hands of bridge until it was time to pick up our rental car.
Playing bridge before leaving Lisbon
We picked up our rental car and drove north about three hours to Viseu. We will have this rental car for 11 days. Watch for a video review from Duke before we turn the car in.
Our rental car
We stayed in Viseu at this Pausada once before on 13 February 2016. The building is a former hospital. The central court is three stories tall and surrounded by colonnades. Duke and I had gin and tonics in the central court yard then the four of us finished our bridge game. Linda and I won!
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Pausada of ViseuGin an Tonics in the Court Yard
We had an excellent dinner in the hotel restaurant..
This morning we had a wonderful breakfast at our hotel. We are staying at the Pestano Pousada Lisboa. It is right on Praça do Comércio, the central square.
Breakfast
After breakfast we took the trolley to Belem where we saw the Monument to the Discoveries.
On the trolleyMonument to the DiscoveriesMonument to the Discoveries
We visited the cathedral of Jerónimos Monastery. One little thing I like about churches is that they give me an opportunity to sit!
cathedral of Jerónimos Monastery.
We saw Vasco da Gama’s tomb. He found the sea route to India around the southern tip of Africa.
Vasco Da Gama’s tomb
We had to make a stop at Pastéis de Belém to have the Portuguese famous custard tarts. The story is that the tarts were made here first. The monks in the monestary used egg whites to starch their laundry. They had lots of leftover egg yolks so they used them to make the tarts. The concierge in our hotel said there are better tarts elsewhere but agreed that tourists have to stop at Pastéis de Belém at least once. I thought my tart was flakey, eggy and yummy!
Pastéis de BelémCustard tarts
By this time jet lag was hitting so we took the trolley back to the hotel. I had an excellent nap. Later we walked around the square some then stopped for a snack.
Mid afternoon snack
Apparently on Wednesday there will be a big Holland versus Portugal football match here. So while we ate we were treated to duelling songs. Although we couldn’t understand them I assume they were national football songs.
Duelling songs
Lots of people including us savored the sunset from the riverfront.
Sunset over the Tagus River
For dinner we went to Restaurant 1° de Maio which was recommended by Linda’s sister Elizabeth. Our waiter translated the menu and entertained us with jokes. We had a wonderful meal.
We are starting another travel adventure. Our first stop is Lisbon.
Sunday afternoon Allison drove Ray, Linda, Duke and I from her house in Walnut Creek to San Francisco airport for our flight to Lisbon. We waited in line for an hour and then when we finally got to the checkin counter the British Airlines agent said “Your flight is tomorrow”. Talk about disconcerting! Our reservation was definitely for Sunday but the flight from London to Lisbon had been cancelled and American Airlines (The trip was booked through them) had unilaterally rebooked us twenty four hours later.
Duke at the check in counter in San Francisco
Eventually British Airlines straightened things out and rebooked us to fly San Francisco to London to Porto to Lisbon. So then we all had to submit new Covid passenger locator forms. Eventually two hours after arriving at the airport we were checked in and ready to go through security.
The new itinerary meant we had to wait six hours in London for our connection. We were late into Porto and had a relatively short connection there. We arrived in Lisbon eight hours later than originally planned but we made it!! After more than 24 hours of travel!
Waiting in London
Our hotel, Pousada Lisboa is right on the main square.
Duke putting his feet up in our hotel room in Lisbon. The main square in Lisbon
We are home! Tuesday was a long day but it all went very smoothly and according to plan. We flew from Milan’s Linate airport to London and from London to San Francisco. We had been planning to take BART from the airport to Walnut Creek where we spent the night but three of our grandchildren and their Mother surprised us at the airport. It was so wonderful to see them.
Our wonderful welcoming committee.
Wednesday we drove from Walnut Creek to Reno. Now we are busy going through the mail, doing laundry, and working on all the other things on the todo list.
It was a wonderful trip. I have so far posted 14 videos of our trip on my YouTube channel. I will edit and post the rest over the next couple of weeks. I’m also planning to do a video of Duke and I talking about the trip and our plans for our next trip. Let me know if you have suggestions for questions we should answer.
Thank you all for following along. it makes a trip more fun when we get to share it with others.
This morning Duke and I spent more than four hours getting our covid tests so that they will let us back into the U.S. We spent an hour walking to the train station, we spent an hour waiting in line for our tests, we sent an hour waiting for results and we spent an hour walking back to our room. What a zoo! But we are cleared to travel.
Waiting for our covid test results.
This afternoon we did The Rick Steves walking tour of the Duomo neighborhood of Milan. We went into the massive Duomo.
The DuomoInside the Duomo
We went down into the basement under the church and saw the archaeological remains of earlier churches.
Under the Duomo
We took the elevator and then climbed a bunch of steps to get to the roof of the Duomo. Getting an up close look at the spires and getting to see the view of Milan was very cool.
Looking down on Piazza del DuomoDuomo flying buttressOn the roof facing the back of the facade of the Duomo. The view from the roof with the Alps in the distance.
We walked through the Galleria Victor Emanuele II. And we saw the La Scala opera house.
La Scala Opera House
For dinner we ate at Spazio, a Michelin listed restaurant on the fourth floor of the Galleria Victor Emanuel II, overlooking the Piazza del Duomo. It was an absolutely perfect last supper in Europe. Tomorrow we fly home.
Homemade Tortellini filled with chicken and pepper sauceLinguine with clams and parsley sauce. Fish soupPandolce with ice cream and sour cherries.Duke at our table in Spazio
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