Crystal Symphony Food and Wine Theme Cruise - Barcelona to Dover

Sailing up the Tagus River to Lisbon is one of the reasons why I love cruising. Three prominent monuments are best seen from the river, including the Belem Tower built in 1520 to defend the city, the Monument to the Discoveries built in 1960 and dedicated to all the Portuguese explorers, and the Cristo Rei, a huge statue of Christ similar to the one in Rio de Janeiro. As you sail into Lisbon, the huge suspension bridge over the river looks a lot like the Golden Gate because it was built by the same company!

Crystal provided a free shuttle into the center of Lisbon, so we decided to explore Lisbon on our own and use one of tour buses to get around the city. We caught the bus at the main square, Praca do Comercio. It was a beautiful day, so we either rode on top of the double decker bus or walked between bus stops along the sidewalks that were often decorated with ceramic tiles.

We spent some time in Lisbon's best museum, the Gulbenkian. Its artifacts span 2000 years, and the exhibits are tasteful and open. After walking around the Gulbenkian Museum, we hopped back on the bus and rode to the Monastery of Jeronimos, which can be seen in the photo above behind the Monument to the Discoveries. The Monastery was built in the early 1500s, and is one of the most popular tourist sites in Lisbon.

We ended our delightful day in Lisbon by walking along the busy pedestrian streets downtown. We both agreed that Lisbon was an exciting city to vist and worth another trip someday.