Hi everybody. Sorry we have been out of touch, but the internet was down on the ship yesterday.

We spent a wonderful day in Lisbon, with another hot, sunny day. (We are certainly expecting that kind of weather when we get home!) We knew we were back in the “western world” because there were 2 other cruise ships in port with us and we spotted a Starbucks within 10 minutes of our arrival. (That is the first Starbucks we’ve seen in the last 3 ½ weeks – still no Tim Hortons in site……)

Instead of doing a ship tour, we picked up a “Hop On, Hop Off” bus and did a double decker tour around the city. We had spent a few days in Lisbon in late 2001, so we were quite familiar with the city, but wanted to refresh our memories. It is a beautiful city with lots of monuments, a big castle and many parks that make the city seem very spacious. After the bus tour, we took a tram ride up towards the castle that overlooks the city and then walked the rest of the way. The views of the city below, the cruise ships and the ocean beyond were exquisite! We then walked around the downtown area a bit and headed back to the ship.

We are now en route to Le Havre, France which is our last stop before heading home from London on Sunday. Last night we were sitting in the lounge at the front of the ship before dinner and watched the dolphins gracefully jumping out of the water, in perfect synchronization with each other. That is one of our favourite things to do on the ship (besides eating……) and we have been thrilled to see whales, sea turtles, one hammerhead shark, flying fish and now the dolphins.

We’ve just posted 4 pictures of Lisbon, but they won’t show up beside the diary entry.

Hope all is well with everyone,
Luv to all,
J & R