Freya & Us

And now all our visitors are gone and Freya seems very empty and quiet! We're keeping busy here, in Lisbon where our mooring is cheap, with laundry shopping etc. Yesterday we accidentally went exploring! A couple of weeks ago we ordered a new dinghy cover from the chandlery and yesterday went off on the bus to collect it. When we arrived they were closed and we realised, surprise, surprise that it was a national holiday - yet again! Having spent best part of an hour getting there it seemed a pity to go straight back and so we hopped on a nearby ferry - no idea where it was going! We found ourselves on the opposite side of the Tagus in a lovely sleepy village with traditional fishing boats moored on the beach - and a commercial dock with giant silos but we ignored that. We wandered for a while and had lunch (I ordered something that looked exciting and ended up with crab sticks - we definitely haven't mastered Portuguese!) there wasn't a ferry back for a couple of hours and so we hopped on a bus. The journey went through modern and sometimes very run down Lisbon commuter areas and we found ourselves at another ferry terminal in the old town - we set off to explore. There were stunning views of Lisbon across the river and the last sailing Portuguese man of war fully restored. It was beautifully done, really interesting and only 3€. Finally, we got a ferry to the centre of Lisbon and a bus back to the marina.

Craig, Karen, Callum and Chloe spent a week with us - 6 on the boat, a bit cramped but in lovely weather it seemed to work well. We sailed back down to Cascais - much brisker than the forecast suggested but good fun although it was Karen's introduction to sailing! We anchored in the bay for 2 nights and went to the beach. Craig and I swam ashore - it's always much further than it looks! And freezing. The wind disappeared and so we motored back to Oeiras marina which has a lovely sea water pool. It's an expensive marina but with 6 of us using the pool for 2 days we felt we had our monies worth this time. It got hotter and hotter as the week went on - our sightseeing motor back to Lisbon was boiling and we all sat on the side dangling our feet in the spray. We spent a day at the zoo which was really good but I think the highlight was the water sprinklers to cool us down - and a brilliant dolphin show. Their final day we spent in the aquarium which included sun fish, turtles and sea otters as well as an amazing central huge tank over 2 floors.

It was really sad to see them go but no peace for the wicked - Andrew, Paul's brother arrived in his 5* hotel that afternoon and so it was a quick shower and off to meet him for a lovely dinner. The few days with Andrew felt like a different world now and consisted of food, food and more food - all lovely. After a bit of Lisbon sightseeing the next day we had lunch and decided we had to see some Fado in the evening - which included dinner. The Fado was excellent - we couldn't understand the words but the depth of feeling of the musicians was loud and clear. On Andrew's last day we took him sailing - not much wind but we started with a gentle sail - we anchored off the beach down river and had lunch and, of course dinner that evening!

And that was it - they were all gone and now it's just the 2 of us again (and Freya, of course). We'll be heading south again tomorrow..........

Click here for the map of our travels