Kitten of Doom

Kate, Gavin and I got into the back of a soft-top 4WD with a mother and son outside our ship when we docked in Lisbon, and were driven, along with four other 4WD’s, through Lisbon up to the Sinstra Mountains.  It was a great drive through Lisbon, even though it was an hour long – I liked that the drive was this long, even though most people would be more concerned with the destination than the drive there.  There were a lot of abandoned buildings and a lot of graffiti – two things that, if you are a regular reader of my blog, you would know I am a fan of.

When we got to the base of the mountains the ride became a lot slower but a lot of fun, as some of the inclines were quite steep.  It was fun bouncing around in the back of the 4WD, in addition to viewing the lovely mountain scenery.  When we stopped, we had to get out of the 4WD’s and put on helmets.  Turns out we’d be going for a bit of a climb, which none of us had been aware of.  Good thing I hadn’t worn thongs!  We climbed over and up and down quite a few boulders, the high ones offering us lovely views of the slightly foggy city far below.  When we reached a clearing, we all stopped for lunch.  As well as antipasto, there was also Portuguese beer, which made Gavin and I very happy.  We sat near a giant rock.  It was a cool rock.

Afterwards we all climbed back into the 4WD’s and drove a different route back to Lisbon, through the mountains.  We stopped at a lookout which gave a view from cliffs to the sea below.

Throughout the mountain drive we saw more beautiful architecture (seems you can’t get through Europe without stumbling across some beautiful architecture, dammit), and stopped for a break during which we strolled down a street lined with cute little shops (in one I bought a handmade ceramic salt-and-pepper set shaped like strawberries).

The drive back through Lisbon was fast and we were pretty tired by that point.  As the ship pulled away from the port, we got to see the Ponte 25 de Abril (25th of April Bridge), a suspension bridge that is over 2km long and bears a striking resemblance to the Golden Gate bridge.  The bridge connects Lisbon with Almada, and is so named to commemorate the Carnation Revolution).  Believe me when I say the top of the ship only just fit under the bridge!

We then sailed on to Vigo.  I didn’t take any photos here, and we only wandered around a little before returning to the ship, so I won’t do a post about Vigo.  I also realised I didn’t mention our stop in Marseille – our only French stop.  Kate, Gavin and I didn’t love the port, and I don’t have any photos from either, though Mum went off on her own and quite enjoyed it.  I would have liked to have checked out some of the cathedrals, and this just goes to show what some forward planning could have achieved!

Well that’s about it for my Mediterranean holiday and film photos.

x Kitten of Doom

~ by Kitten of Doom on November 16, 2015.

Posted in Europe, Things I see
Tags: europe, film photography, lisbon, mediterranean, mountains, Pentax, pentax me, ponte 25 de abril, port, portra, portra 160, porugal, sintra, suspension bridge, vigo