Celebrating Portugal's Carnation Revolution in Lisbon!

 

Cheers to Portugal’s 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution!  And also a chance for you to see Beth’s new Lisbon haircut!

Lisbon is a sprawling, hilly, coastal city of around 600,000 people (metro population is approximately 3 million) that serves as Portugal’s capital.  It’s one of those places that the more we visit it, the more we like.  There’s plenty to see and do around Lisbon and there are a number of interesting places nearby that can easily be reached by rail, bus or car.  

A beautiful day in Lisbon’s Rossi Plaza

A full over Lisbon.  My sister-in-law Debbie tells me this was a “Pink Moon”.  She keeps me up to date on these things!

We have had four days in Lisbon since disembarking the Celebrity Equinox and before we get on the Norwegian Star.   Little did we realize that one of these four days would be a national holiday celebrating an event that occurred fifty years ago that changed Portugal’s future.  

Steve and Marilyn spent two nights in Lisbon after the cruise.  We got together for meals in the evening and swapped stories of our days adventures.  

One final meal together before their flight back

One of our favorite places to visit near Lisbon is the small coastal city of Cascais.  It’s a short (around 30 minutes) and inexpensive (around $5 per person round trip) train ride from Lisbon.  It’s well worth visiting!

There are a couple of more photos from Cascais below:

On April 25, 1974 (50 years ago) a nearly bloodless military coup took place led by military officers who were seeking to oust the authoritarian regime that was in power.  Miraculously, there were very few shots fired and only five fatalities.  Tragic, but as history has shown, these military coups can get quite messy. 

In this case, it was a very peaceful transition that has led to a better Portugal socially,  economically and politically, both internally and on the world stage.  In many ways the day, which is a national holiday, is celebrated similar to the way we celebrate the 4th of July.    

The day seems to be known by many different names including liberation and freedom day, but it is also known as the Carnation Revolution.   According to historians,  once the coup was successful, citizens joined the soldiers in the street to celebrate their new found freedoms.   A restaurant worker named Celeste Cuerio began placing carnations in the barrels of the soldiers guns.   Other citizens joined in and the Carnation Revolution was born.  Red carnations were on sale on practically every street corner and most folks carried one around throughout the day.

Red carnations were plentiful around the city center

Among the festivities in Lisbon there was a symphony and choral concert followed by fireworks from 10pm to midnight on the evening of the 24th.  The morning of the 25th there was a military flyover along the riverfront, a huge run/walk event that had thousands of participants, an open house at City Hall, a military motorcade that included veterans from the Carnation Revolution, live music and a parade.

Thousands of runners running and walkers walking!

The military motorcade featured vehicles and veterans from the Carnation Revolution era. 

The line to tour City Hall was long but moved quickly…..

…..and was well worth seeing!

The parade was an event unlike anything Beth and I had ever witnessed.   There was a “Freedom March” down the main avenue  (Avenida de Liberdade) with thousands of participants.  They were in groups enthusiastically (signs, flags, chants, cheers, drums, horns and whistles) supporting what seemed like every side of every social, environmental and political cause known to man.  Obviously the viewpoints were very different,  but the real beauty of it was that by all appearances every group was respectful of the others. It was quite a sight to see and we were happy to be able to witness it!

This is a picture of the spectators walking up the street toward the beginning of the march.  There were so many spectators and marchers that it moved very slowly.  Our new cruise friend Robbie described it as a “reverse march”, where due to the number of participants and congestion, the spectators marched by and the participants were at a standstill.  

European Adventure Part 1……Bermuda, Azores and Portugal on the Celebrity Equinox

 

Fort Lauderdale to Lisbon…3,869 nautical miles!

To enjoy Europe, you gotta get there first.  Planes are nice, but with plenty of time on our hands, we prefer to go by sea.  Our ship of choice for this trans-Atlantic crossing is the Celebrity Equinox.   The Equinox was launched in 2009 and has a capacity of 2,850 passengers.  Size wise I would say that would make it a mid-size ship.  Although it was “sold out”, without many children and teenagers,  and some solo travelers it doesn’t seem overcrowded or busy.   The ship itself is quite nice with plenty of public spaces, two pools, six hot tubs (we go at night and they are mostly empty) nice food choices, great service, and on this particular cruise outstanding entertainment and the best cruise director we’ve ever had (Angela Clark from the UK).  Angela’s husband (Dave) is the activities director.   They’re great individually, and even more hilarious together.  

After two days at sea, we reached our first port which was Bermuda.  We had been to this island playground of the rich and famous once before.  When I looked back, it was 364 days before this visit.  We’re not rich or famous, but it’s been a nice place to visit twice recently.   

The island is approximately 21 miles long and a little less than two miles wide at its widest point.  The water was a beautiful blue and looked inviting, but at around 70 degrees it was too chilly for these native Floridians to dive in.    

We docked at the Royal Navy Dockyard, which offers convenient bus and ferry service to other parts of the island.   On our last visit we enjoyed strolling the beach at Horseshoe Bay (by taxi) and roaming around the town of St. George (reached by a free ferry compliments of Norwegian Cruise Line).  This time we purchased round trip transportation to Hamilton, which is Bermuda’s largest city.  We had the option of taking a ferry or bus, so we did both.  We took the twenty minute ferry ride to the city and the 60 minute bus ride back to the ship after wandering around the town a bit.  It was a Sunday and most of the shops and restaurants were closed, but it wouldn’t have mattered to us either way. Bermuda is incredibly expensive. Thankfully the impeccably clean and garden like city is free to enjoy.  The buses and ferries run frequently and round trip was $18 a person.  By taking the ferry one way and the bus back we had two very different but nice experiences.  The ferry took us past houses and yachts owned by folks who have a bunch of zeros on the end of their portfolios.  The bus made its way through the residential areas of those we can more easily identify with.  Both are extremely well maintained and worth seeing.  We hopped off the bus one stop before getting back to the Royal Navy Dockyard and did a short hike to the Glass Beach.  At some point back in time this was an area where trash was dumped into the sea.  Thankfully, like many places they figured out there are more environmentally friendly ways to dispose of trash.  Ironically the glass that was dumped years ago has been smoothed by the waves and water.   Nowadays the small beach is a popular destination for both locals and tourists.   

Downtown Hamilton was pretty sleepy on a Sunday morning!

Hamilton City Hall

Sculpture in the Marina recognizing Bermuda’s aggressive role in ending slavery.  

The short hike to Glass Beach was well marked. 

Trans-Atlantic cruises are going to have a lot of sea days.  Once we left Bermuda we had four sea days in a row.  We love sea days.  What’s not to love about someone preparing all the meals, keeping your room clean and providing entertainment from morning till night?  These four sea days were made even better by smooth seas and temperatures in the 60’s.  

Smooth seas will put a smile on your face!

Our second stop on the crossing was Ponta Delgado on the island of San Miguel, Azores.   The Azores are an autonomous region of Portugal made up of nine islands. The islands were formed by volcanos and lie in the Atlantic Ocean roughly between New York and Lisbon.   San Miguel is the capital and most populated of the nine islands.  About 50,000 people live in Porto Delgado, making it the largest city in the Azores.    

We booked a three hour tour that took us around a small section of the island including Sete Cidades, a village of around 3,000 people, which is located in the crater of a dormant volcano.  We also visited a black lava sand beach and a pineapple plantation.  After the tour we took some time to wander around the small, but busy and colorful downtown.  

Me, Beth, Steve and Marilyn on the bridge that leads to the Sete Cidades village.  It’s the only way in and out of the village.  

The tree lined walkway leads to the Catholic Church in the village.   

Beef, dairy and pineapples are the main agricultural products of the Azores.  Pineapples are grown in greenhouses due to the chilly winters.  It takes around 2 years for a pineapple to mature.  Not too bad….I’m sixty six and still working on maturing.  

Black Sand beach courtesy of a volcanic explosion and time.

A little browsing in Porto Delgado.  Our favorite store was Prince of Cheese which was located a short distance from the King of Cheese!

Downtown Porto Delgado

Like Bermuda, we were in Ponta Delgado last year and enjoyed our return visit……

On Monday, April 22 we officially made it across the pond!  We arrived in Porto, Portugal at around 7:00 a.m.  The weather for the entire crossing was absolutely incredible.  Daily high temperatures were in the 60’s and the seas were exceptionally calm.  We feel very fortunate to be here in Porto again (we were here around 5 years ago).   

Porto is Portugal’s second largest city and is located a few miles inland from where the Douro River flows into the Atlantic Ocean.  The city itself has a population of around 250,000, but with the metropolitan area included, the population is close to 2 million.  It’s famous for it’s Port Wine, which is a fortified wine (with all due respect, not my favorite)..

The Equinox docked at the Leixoes cruise terminal which is about 10 miles from the Porto city center.  We were very pleased that they offered a complimentary shuttle that took us to a location near the Ponte Luis I Bridge.    This gave us easy access to Porto’s historic city center.   We were off the ship early and on one of, if not the first, shuttles to leave the port.  

Arriving at the new and very modern Leixoes Cruise terminal.

The shuttle took us to Gaia…..

The Ponte Luis I bridge connects Gaia to Porto….

From the Gaia side looking across the Douro River to Porto.

We had no real plans other than roaming around, which is something we’re pretty good at doing.  There’s plenty to see and do around Porto for several days.  I’ve attached a link to previous blogs below.  Our day was full of simply enjoying the sights and sounds of this magnificent city.   Below are a few photos from around Porto…..

By all means if you end up in Porto try to take in a few of its numerous churches, visit a wine cave (we did this on a previous visit),, enjoy the beautiful blue and white tile murals inside the Sao Benito Train Station, spend some time along the riverfront, walk across the Ponte Luis I Bridge and check out what has been voted as one of the world’s fanciest McDonalds!  

Inside the Sao Benito train station…..

…..the architecture and tile murals are stunning…..

…..equally stunning is the stained glass and chandeliers inside the worlds fanciest McDonalds……

……you can have your Big Mac in style…..

…..or opt for a Francesinha,  which originated in Porto.  It’s two slices of toasted white bread, beef, sausage, ham, and cheese.   It’s topped with a fried egg, smothered with gravy and surrounded by French fries!   Not the healthiest of sandwiches!   If you get one definitely split it and call your cardiologist!

From Porto it was a short cruise to our final port, Lisbon.   We arrived before sunrise and were off the ship by 8:00.  We’ll be here roaming and wandering about this amazingly gorgeous city for the next four days…….but that’s for the next blog!   

This is Bridget and Robbie from Idaho.   We loved meeting them and hearing their amazing travel stories.   They taught us a thing or two along the way that may be helpful in our future travels.  We look forward to staying in touch with them!   

Europe by sea and land...........

 Today (April 11), is world Parkinson's Day.  According to the Parkinson's Foundation nearly one million people in the US are living with Parkinson's.  Globally the number of cases is around 10 million.  I've been living with Parkinson's for around two years and feel very fortunate that in my case so far, the progression has been very slow.  I'm grateful for the support of Beth, family and friends and continue to work diligently to live with Parkinson's and not let it control me.

We've loved the vagabond (Sarah calls it gypsy) lifestyle and fully believe that for us travel is so much, including therapeutic.  It's time to head out on another adventure.  

It will start in Ft. Lauderdale with a cruise (Celebrity Equinox)) that will take us to Lisbon, Portugal by way of Bermuda, the Azores and Porto, Portugal.  Beth’s brother (Steve) and sister in law (Marilyn) will be with us on the cruise.  We'll have four days in Lisbon before getting on the Norwegian Star for another cruise that will take us to Southampton, England.  We'll then spend some time on land in London, Amsterdam and Paris before heading to Barcelona.  In Barcelona we pick up the Norwegian Pearl for back to back cruises that will end in Athens, Greece in early June.  

There will be great adventures along the way and even an opportunity to catch up with some friends in Paris (Ed and Judy, we look forward to seeing you).  I'm not taking the laptop (we're traveling very light), but I will document our trip as time and connectivity allow.  Gotta keep moving!   

Springtime in New York...............at least the calendar said it was spring!

A beautiful day for baseball.......just don't look at the thermometer!

At this time of year, you can almost feel the state of Florida sinking a bit under the weight of the millions of people who make their way to our beaches and theme parks.  Out here on Anna Maria Island visitors from up north are so happy.  They tend to walk mindlessly down the middle of the road, ignoring the traffic and the third degree burns on skin that hadn't seen the light of day in several months.  We're happy to have them and their dollars, especially since their stay is short and they leave their money behind.

Beth and I had somewhat of a different "spring break".  Over the Easter weekend we flew to Binghamton, New York to spend four days with Ben and his sweet dog Allie.  While the calendar said it was late March/early April, and that spring was officially here, it didn't quite feel like springtime..........at least the type of spring we're accustomed to enjoying, but we had a wonderful few days.

We flew from Orlando directly to Binghamton on Avelo Airlines.  Avelo is one of the many low cost carriers that are out there these days.  They currently offer non-stop service to and from Binghamton twice a week.  They currently have service to 44 destinations and have announced expanded service that will be starting soon.  The planes were clean, the flight attendants were courteous, and we made it safely and reasonably on time both on our flight up and back.  No complaints about Avelo, just don't expect too much more than a smile.  If you want something to drink (even water) buy it before you get on board!  

We had to drive to Orlando for the early morning flight, so we made the best of it by going up a day early and roaming around Disney Springs for a few hours.  Disney Springs is a mix of restaurants, shops and entertainment that is located on the Walt Disney World property.  The beauty of Disney Springs is that parking is free and there is no admission fee.  There are plenty of choices of places to eat, shop and keep yourself busy and entertained for a while.  We enjoy visiting Disney Springs whenever we have a chance.

Disney Springs  

As is always the case with visiting Ben, we knew we'd be kept busy and have fun.  He picked us up at the very small airport and we were off on our first adventure.  We enjoyed a nice "southern style" breakfast and headed for Syracuse, which is just a little over an hour from Binghamton.  Springtime means baseball, and it was opening weekend for the Syracuse Mets, the Triple A farm club of the New York Mets.  The gametime temperature was 44 degrees.  Thankfully it was a sunny day and there was no wind, which although it still wasn't truly baseball weather, it wasn't uncomfortable and we ended up staying the entire game.

Syracuse Mets

After the game we made the short drive to Syracuse's Destiny Mall.  The mall is one of the ten largest malls in the United States.  Unlike many malls, it seemed to be doing a very brisk business, in part thanks to the fact that it is as much an "entertainment destination" as a "shopping destination", with plenty of restaurants and entertainment options including bowling, escape rooms, a trampoline park, a ropes course, a indoor go-cart track and much more. 

We arrived in Binghamton around 10:30 AM and didn't check into our hotel room until around 9:00 PM.  Just the kind of day we were expecting, fun and full of adventure.

The pace on Easter Sunday was a little less frantic, but very enjoyable.  Based on a recommendation from Ben's friend, we attended an Easter Service at New Life Ministries Church.  It was a very nice service and reminded all of us of the church (Pathway Church) that we attended in Burleson during the 20+ years that we lived there.

We were invited to join Moriah and Andrew for a really nice traditional Easter meal that was delicious. We enjoyed the food and visiting with both of them at the game on Saturday and again for lunch on Sunday!

The campground where Ben works opens for the season the first weekend of May.  They're busy getting preparing for the opening and have made significant improvements that I'm sure the guests will enjoy.  Ben had been keeping us posted with pictures and videos of the progress and it was nice to see be able to enjoy walking around the campground and seeing it firsthand.  They're excited for the season to start and we're sure it's going to be a good one.

Binghamton Jellystone Park

Ben had to work Monday which gave us time to explore a little more around the Binghamton area, which is made up of several small towns and communities (Endwell, Endicott, Johnson City, Vestal and a few others).  It also gave us the opportunity to spend a bit of time with Allie who has the most amazing ability to spread morsels of love (dog hair) in copious amounts. 

Ben and Allie!

Ben was able to take Tuesday off and we had a very special day planned.  The small village of Cooperstown is about an hour and a half from where Ben lives.  Cooperstown's Main Street looks like it's  right out of a Norman Rockwell picture.........incredibly charming.  It is also the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  Ben and I enjoyed visiting it a few years ago and were excited to make a return visit.  Beth is a really good sport about our goofy sports passions and while she's a little less passionate, she does enjoy taking part in some of the activities.

As you would imagine, much of Cooperstown is dedicated to baseball with themed shops and restaurants.  We shopped a bit and had lunch at the Doubleday Cafe before spending a few hours in the Hall of Fame.  The Hall of Fame is fantastic.  We spent about three hours roaming the three floors of exhibits and admiring the plaques of the 346 people who are enshrined in the Hall of Fame.  Even if you have only a slight interest in baseball, Cooperstown and the Hall of Fame are well worth visiting if you're in the area.  Depending on how big of a baseball geek you may be, I would recommend a minimum of two hours for the Hall of Fame.

Doubleday Field......just a few steps away from the Doubleday Cafe!

Sign on one of the many baseball memorabilia shops in Cooperstown

Watch out for flying bats in the Hall of Fame

The first class enshrined into the Hall of Fame.  Clockwise from the top right:  Christy Matthewson, Honus Wagner, Walter Perry, Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb in the center.

Statue in front of Doubleday Field.  It's title is "The Sandlot".  The young boy is barefoot and wearing overalls...............

A few weeks ago, my niece Ashley sent me this picture of the 1934 Pierce Junior High Baseball Team.  The young boy on the left front row is my dad.  I've been told he was a heck of a player..........we're thinking he was the youngest on the team and that they ran out of uniforms.  If you look closely, he's barefoot and wearing overalls...........I guess he made it to Cooperstown.........well done Dad!

Cooperstown NY

Doubleday Cafe

Baseball Hall of Fame

We flew up on Saturday morning.  It was a whirlwind four days and it seemed like we were heading back to the airport in the blink of an eye.  We love our children, grandchildren and grand dogs but with Ben and Allie in New York and Sarah, Joey, James, Emma and Scooter in California, seeing them often is a challenge and the time always goes by much too quickly.