Tangier

Unfortunately, we were completely disappointed in our excursion to Asilah - an artisan community outside of Tangier, Morocco.  It was not at all as advertised, and we ended up on a walking tour through the streets of the Medina (old town) Tangier - which we did the last time we were here.  It was just exhausting and frustrating - not at all up to Oceania's standards. 

Anyway, because we had the tour, we got up early...this was the best part of my day:

Yeah, that's the moon in the upper right.  Just a crescent, but at 6am, it was brilliant. 

Tomorrow, we meet up with friends in Malaga - I'm sure I'll have much better stories to tell.

Cádiz

Cádiz is one of the oldest continuously inhabited city in the Western world.  It's rich history serves as a background for its fabulous squares and beautiful parks and monuments.  The city itself is on a thin strip of land with a deep port on one side and long sandy beaches on the other.  It's about 77 miles from Seville, but seems much closer in culture, city planning, and vibe.  We loved it!

We docked mere steps from town and headed in with not much of a plan: walk around, shop a bit, find something to eat, find a craft beer bar.  Actually, that's quite a good plan, and we were completely successful!

We had a glorious day for walking.

Old walls

Lovely tiled plaza

and fountain

unbelievably large rubber tree (I think) 

Pink (kinda art deco) church

window above a dress shop...wouldn't I love to live there!

The city's main cathedral

the beaches

As I said, brilliant day.

fantastic plaza

shopping managed

We were very proud of our selves: We had a delicious lunch and a very patient waiter - we ordered our meal speaking Spanish for almost the entire exchange.  Same at the beer bar later in the day.  Muy bien!  We're working on it.

Lisbon - Act 1

We're coming back to Lisbon after we disembark the cruise in Barcelona later this week, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time here today, but...LISBON IS 10 LBS OF WOW!!! IN A 5LB BAG.

We took a tour this morning that highlighted some of the historic landmarks and included a walk through the old city.  I took copious notes for our return!  The Manueline (or Portuguese Late Gothic) style is impressive, and everywhere.  I'll bet you can spot it in the pics below.  The city is at once active and laid back...so many people bustling in the streets and at the tourist stops, so many people lingering at cafes in the brilliant sunshine.

So here are some of our pictures from Lisbon.  More will come - I'm sure - when we backtrack here on Friday.

This is Jerónimos Monastery in Belém (Portuguese for Bethlehem) 

Amazingly ornate.

Very few plain spaces

Very few.

Like, almost none.

My favorite - spotted in a doorway

Vasco de Gama is buried here.

Next, is Saint Antony's.  He was born here - in a tiny little crypt under the main chapel - back when it was his family's house.

This is the Se Chapel 

Lovely Pieta

This is the Tower of Belem.  Originally a defense/lookout, as well as the point where Portuguese explores departed for to establish trade routes with China and India.  

Not far from the Tower is the Monument to Discoveries, dedicated to the explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries.

32 characters in all (16 on each side), lead by Henry the Navigator.

In front of the monument is a huge map (this is a drone shot I got off the internet) showing all the ships, years they traveled, and discoveries they made.

Cool tiles in the map; this is the North Wind

Love this one.  She's beneath Africa - where they thought monsters resided.

Beautiful tiled houses

Old walls and an orange tree.

I can't wait to return and explore more.  It's a fabulous city with huge squares, loads of shopping, fabulous architecture, and friendly people.  As much as I hate that the cruise is coming to an end, I look forward to our time in Lisbon.  More then.  Now...onward to Cadiz, Spain

There's No Port Like Oporto

Perched near the mouth of the Douro river in the northern end of Portugal sits an architecturally stunning city that just happens to be the home of Port wine.  Oporto is one hoppin' place.  Tour buses and hop-on-hop-offs trawl the streets and river and ocean cruise passengers cram into the plazas and the narrow passageways of the old city.  And you don't mind it at all - especially on such a glorious day as we had today.

We had relatively little time in town today, so we did a hop on/hop off just to see the city; totally worth it.

Still more great churches.  Many older buildings are covered with the most beautiful tiles called Azulejo (Az-oo-lay-ho).  Most of the tiles are blue and white, but I saw yellow, bright green, and even pink ones.  They cover the better part of the buildings, and many of them are murals.

Absolutely gorgeous.  

We passed a couple of beautiful old cathedrals.

The tiles even covered this entire building!  

And let's take a look at the architecture...

We crossed over the river to check our the cellars.  There are so many port cellars in Oporto, I couldn't find a definitive number.  We saw signs for at least 20...but we needed to eat something first.

Back towards the old town, we noticed a market by the riverside and decided to check it out in hopes of a nosh.

We were not disappointed.

The rest of our short time here was spent back across the river at two cellars: Porto Cruz and Sandeman.  Both were excellent and really inexpensive.

Bottom line - we'll have to come back and visit...and stay for many more days.  Thanks for the taste, Oporto!