THE LAST DAY

the '25th April Bridge', so called after Portugal's return to democracy in 1974
The weather forecast for today was heavy rain, like Lisbon had yesterday, but as can be seen in the foto - not a bit of it. This was taken from the ferry crossing to Almada which is a suburb of Lisbon on the other side of the river estuary. The Atlantic lies only a few kilometres beyond the iconic red coloured suspension bridge. 

D.FERNANDO II E GLÓRIA - the last Portuguese navy warship under sail

Unfortunately this ship is a carefully reconstructed replica of the one that was built in an Indian Portuguese colony in 1865. (about the same time as the Cutty Sark) The original very badly damaged by fire in the 1960's. Somebody's done a really good job of resurrecting this ship which is now a floating museum; when its not in dry dock in Almada, that is. Here are some more pix of the ship. 

the lower gun deck. total of 50 guns

Who's been a naughty boy then?

the ship's bell

This ship had crew of about 600 which isn't surprising when 4 or 5 men are needed to handle each gun, not to mention those who managed the sails.


To finish off the day I made a return trip to the Moorish castle high above the centre of town.

And finally, for anyone who has been to Lisbon, this picture of the trams will bring back some fond memories. I used the yellow one, number 12, to go up to the castle.

So thats it and hopefully my flights home will go according to plan - unlike the flight out here 5 weeks ago. Seems a lot longer than that. D