It was a little bit thrilling to know that we were traveling the same route as Vasco De Gama had traveled in 1497 when he sailed south, around the Cape of Good Hope, and discovered India, which ,had been what Christopher Columbus had been looking for in 1492. 

As we slowly made our way upstream we could see fisherman pulling their nets and also see parts of the skyline of Lisbon far in the distance.  As we neared Lisbon we could see the beautiful 25th of April Bridge which was patterned after the "Golden Gate Bridge" in San Francisco.

After docking and waiting for the Portuguese Officials to clear our passports and the ship, we boarded a bus and set out to see part of Lisbon in route to our hotel "Le Meridien".

Our first stop was the Tower of Belem which is located on the banks of the Tagus River in the section of Lisbon with the same name "Belem".

Next stop was the very beautiful Monastery "Dos Jeronimos" which is also located in the Belem section of the city.  As one faces the front of the Monastery, to the right end is the old Church and to the left are the Cloisters which have been converted into a marvelous Maritime museum with artifacts, pictures, sculpture, models and artifacts.

We then rode through different parts of the City of Lisbon until we reached the section called Alfama.  Here we got off of the Bus and walked for about 15 minutes through the very narrow streets of The Alfama.  Alfama is like a Ghetto with everything needed to sustain life tucked away in the damp narrow streets. Some of the buildings were very beautifully covered in tiles, some forming mosaic  designs and pictures.

From the Alfama we rode through the downtown area and eventually arrived at our hotel about 1:30.

The rest of the afternoon we wandered around the streets near the hotel before having dinner in the hotel Restaurant