We left Porto yesterday and had a good sailing to Lisbon. A little fog, we are in Portugal :), but also the opportunity to use our new gennaker again. Tried the fishing luck too, but unfortunately, no catch today either.

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At the mouth of the Tajo lies Cascais and Estoril with their marinas. But we choose to get a bit into the river, closer to the center of Lisbon and the airport. We want as calm, safe, and cheap marina as possible because we will stay longer, and also leave the boat for a few weeks and fly home to Sweden. We have a good discount at Marina Parque das Nacoes via ARC, which organizes our Atlantic crossing, so it will be.

Before we left Porto we emailed the marina in Lisbon to get a good location for Sally, 15 x 4.5 meters. They were very uncertain if they would have room for us, and asked us to come back later. It always works out, and there were other marinas, so we left Porto anyway. As we approached Lisbon, we called the marina and asked if they have a place for us.

Well, for 15 meters there is probably no room. What length does your boat paper say that the boat has?

Jonas: 14.99 meters

Yes, but then it’s no problem. Welcome!

Who says length doesn’t matter 🙂

The marina has problems with the tide dragging sludge into the marina which settles on the bottom, and they, therefore, need to dredge the docks regularly. Now the marina has probably been built for a larger capacity than has been needed, so they ignore dredging between some jetties. And then it can look like this at low tide. This boat had been here for a year but was towed away while we were there.

There are a few days with boat fix, how much can there be to do really? Sometimes it feels like owning a boat does more work than owning a house! But we also have time to be tourists. We walk up and down the streets of Lisbon, the city is just like Rome built on seven hills, and there are very steep hills. Have no memory that it was so in Rome.

If you can’t walk, you can always take a tram that goes up and down for some slopes.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of graffiti in some places. Has been so in both Spain and Portugal. Sad to see.

You can also pick up this lift. Constructed by an apprentice to Eiffel, who seems to have a finger in many steel structures around the world.

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We travel with tram 28 up and down the hills and through narrow streets, a must for every tourist.

Visits Castelo de S. Jorge, a castle ruin from the 11th century at the top of one of the hills. Great views and a lot of history!

Walks over one of Europe’s largest squares, etc. But still, there is plenty more to do and see. Maybe next time!

It happens quite often that I choose something I do not really know what it is from a menu, do not want to miss something new that can be good. Try local specialties. Sometimes it will be the top ….. and sometimes the bottom. This time I see something on the menu of potatoes and aioli. Should be exciting to see what they make of it, potatoes sound like a pretty safe card anyway. In comes ….. potato peel, lightly fried 🙂 Jonas looks very pleased with his safe card, a gazpacho soup. But creative and good environmental thinking, I think, is better than throwing, and it tasted good as well.

SINTRA

Another must, if you have time and want to leave town one day, is to go to Sintra. A fairy tale town in the mountains filled with various castles and palaces.

We visited one of them, Quinta da Regaleira, a rather odd place. Built by a wealthy businessman in the early 1900s, not so old, which after various tours with private ownership was forcibly purchased by the Portuguese state and opened to the public. The palace was amazingly decorated with strange animals and symbols, and if you were to add to the conspiratorial direction there is much to indicate here, but the most fascinating was the large garden. Childishness and imagination must have been strong attributes of the businessman and his architect who created it. It was…

… peaks and towers … bridges and wells

Winding big and small trails, tunnels into the mountain

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A lot of different trees, even a couple of Segoia.

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Well worth a visit, even despite the long queue at the entrance.

SWEDEN

We love our new lives, being retired and sailing is not so foolish. We like the freedom and opportunities to experience so much new and meet lots of new people. Most often other sailors, where the common denominator is just sailing, but otherwise with such different backgrounds. But … the lack of loved ones at home is sometimes difficult. Have read several stories where sailors describe the longing for above all children and grandchildren as the most difficult, and that it is the one that eventually gets more people to come home again. But for now, we can simply fly home to Sweden when the opportunity arises. So here in Lisbon we leave the boat and have a few weeks in Sweden where for the first time we get to meet our newest little granddaughter Klara and hug about beloved Sixten again. We have wonderful weeks in Malmö with Sofia and Johan, and a road trip around Sweden to meet our other children and parents who are a little scattered. We had a 50th birthday party too, but unfortunately did not meet all our friends, we will see you later. A big hug to you all from us, and no one mentioned so nobody forgot.

Back in Lisbon, we had planned to go relatively soon, but we had to wait for two solar panels and some other things we ordered. Unfortunately, one solar panel is completely cracked when it arrives, and new ones must be sent, so after one more week can leave.

A nymph cockatoo also called a nymph parakeet, visited us on the boat one evening. We offered some water and it kept us company for half an hour. Because it is native to Australia, we assume that it was on the run.

On August 31, we take two-hour motoring out to Cascais, at the entrance to Lisbon. Here we are now waiting for the right weather for crossing to Porto Santo, a small island that belongs to and is located just north of Madeira.