Our Venice Cruise Chapter 23 Part 4: Elevador da Gloria, the Finale
We took in the sights of the beautiful city of Lisbon Portugal for most of the day. It was after dark and we were in the Parca Rossio. The Rossio is a large plaza with two beautiful fountains. It is paved with a wavy mosaic. Our group was ready to head back to the hotel. We had a flight back to Miami in the morning. I really wanted to see the Elevador da Gloria. I wasn’t sure exactly where it was, but I knew it was pretty close to the Rossio. So as Robbie and the rest of the group started back to the hotel. I set off to find Gloria in the direction that I thought it might be.
Lisbon has several fairly steep hills. They have several ways of getting to the top of the hill to the Barrio Alto. We passed the Elevador de Santa Justa earlier, an ornate iron elevator to Barrio Alto. The Elevador da Gloria, also known as the Ascensor da Gloria, is a trolley/funicular that carries people up the hill to and from Barrio Alto. Gloria is actually two trolleys that are designed to climb the steep hill. One trolley goes up as the other trolley comes down. They pass in the middle of the hill so there is always one at the top and one at the bottom. A new group of passengers climbs aboard and the process starts all over again.
After leaving the Parca Rossio I passed the Rossio train station. It was a beautiful building and I wasn’t sure at the time that it was actually the train station. I continued past the train station and only a few blocks farther I found Gloria. It was totally worth the extra walk. Gloria was amazing! I spent quite a bit of time watching Elevador da Gloria making the trip up and down the hill several times. I was able to get one of my favorite photos of the trip. I set up my tripod and camera and pointed it at the empty tracks waiting for Gloria to make the return trip back down the hill. A cute couple in orange coats stopped on the corner under a streetlight also waiting for Gloria. The guy was looking at his phone, and just as Gloria appeared the girl nibbled on his ear. I took the photo. It was one of those fleeting moments in time that unless captured, go unnoticed and unseen. I doubt that I could have setup the image any better. It’s possible that she did the ear nibble for my benefit. I had a big camera set up on a tripod pointed in that direction. I’m pretty sure they knew I was going to photograph Gloria. I had lots of fun photographing Gloria. I probably could have stayed longer, but it was getting late and I thought I should get back to the hotel.
Robbie and I woke up early the next morning and packed our bags for the last time. One of the perks of cruising is that you travel to all of these wonderful places and you unpack and pack once, while you’re on the ship anyway. We checked out of the hotel and met everyone in the lobby. Sandy hired a van to get us all to the airport. We got a box breakfast from the hotel that we ate while we waited for the van. The van arrived and we loaded our suitcases into the back and made the short trip to the airport. The Lisbon airport is bigger than it seems. It was pretty far from the front desk to the gate. We were a little early so we got a little more to eat on the way to the gate. Once we were at the gate, once again, we needed to take a bus out to our plane on the tarmac. Just like on our previous flights to and from Lisbon. We boarded the plane and found our seats. This plane was a little bigger and more comfy than the one we had on our first flight from Miami. Robbie and I were in the middle row with 4 seats. Luckily we had all 4 seats to ourselves, whoo-hoo! The flight to Miami was good, well as good as a long flight can be anyway. We picked up our rental car, Robbie, Barb, and I drove back home to Titusville. Sandy, Jerry, Marcia and Jack had another rental. Sherry and Jeff were not going to Florida, they took different flights out of Venice and were not with us in Lisbon. Kris and her sister Kim made other arrangements out of Venice as well. Everyone made it home safe and sound.
Wow, what an awesome trip! Robbie and I had an amazing time! I know everyone else did as well. This was a trip that we will always remember. A huge thank you to Sandy and Jerry for inviting us to come along with them! Sandy did an awesome job arranging flights and the trip! We had a great time with everyone. What a great group of people to travel with, we had fun, it wouldn’t have been the same trip without all of you! Stay tuned, we have been making plans for our next trip after Covid in 2022. It’s going to be full of lions and leopards and giraffes, OH MY!
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Our Venice Cruise Chapter 23 Part 3: Lisbon at Night
Robbie and I along with our other traveling companions explored Lisbon all afternoon. We really enjoyed this beautiful city. The sun was setting and it was time for a break. We moved off of the main street to find a restaurant for dinner. We found a quiet little Portuguese restaurant. Although we were quite hungry, it was still a little early by European standards, for dinner. That was good for us, we had the place to ourselves. We had the undivided attention of the owner and staff, we were treated like kings! We had a really nice Portuguese dinner and relaxed with some refreshments. We were all refreshed and ready for more of Lisbon.
Lisbon really shines after dark. It becomes even more charming, almost fairy-tale. The lights of the city were beautiful. We meandered down the mosaic sidewalks. There were chestnuts roasting on an open fire, adding to the charm. As we were walking, someone would see a shop they wanted to go into. While they were doing a little shopping, I would take the opportunity to take a few photos. We found ourselves at the beautiful Santa Justa Lift. Lisbon is by no means flat! The old town area where we were, the Baixa Pombalina district is in a valley, surrounded on three sides by large hills. We in fact had a bit of an uphill climb to get back to the hotel. The Santa Justa Lift was built in the early 1900s as an easy way to get to Barrio Alto on the top of the hill. It’s a beautifully ornate iron elevator. The lift was designed by Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, an engineer from Porto who was a student of Gustave Eiffel, of Eiffel Tower fame. You can see the similarities in the ornate iron work on both towers.
We continued taking in the beauty of Lisbon after dark. We then found ourselves at the Rossio (town common). Its official name is Parca de Dom Pedro IV. The centerpiece of the huge plaza is the bronze statue of Dom Pedro IV, king of Portugal, on top of a tall column. An interesting urban legend about the statue says it is actually a statue of a Mexican king who looked like Dom Pedro and was purchased at a bargain price. The statue is flanked by two beautiful fountains. The plaza is paved with a wavy tile mosaic. It’s meant to mimic waves, highlighting the seafaring explorers of Portugal’s past, as are many of the mosaics. If you stare at them, you actually feel like you are on the ocean. The beautiful National Theater and the Rossio Train Station are at the far end of the plaza. The group was ready to head back to the hotel. I wanted to try to find the Elevador da Gloria. So Robbie and the rest of our group set off for the hotel, I went in search of Gloria.
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Our Venice Cruise Chapter 23 Part 2: The Trams of Lisbon Portugal
Lisbon is a very old city with lots of character and charm. I really enjoyed walking around this charming old city. It was amazing to walk down the beautiful mosaic sidewalks and admire the architecture of the buildings. I think it was one of most fascinating and photogenic cities I have visited, that includes Paris. Aside from Lisbon’s beauty, one of the things that gives Lisbon its character and charm are the iconic old trams. Lisbon has had trams since the 1800s. They were originally horse drawn trams. Around the turn of the century the trams were electrified. To this day they refer to them as the electricos. The classic old trams in use today are from the 1930’s. One of the favorite things to do while visiting Lisbon is to take a ride through the city on one of the classic old trams. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to take a tram ride. Lisbon does have new, sleek, modern trams in the more modern areas of the city. I photographed some of the classic old trams.
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Our Venice Cruise Chapter 23 Part 1: Lisbon Portugal
After a very full itinerary of cruising the Adriatic, Aegean, and Mediterranean Seas, Robbie and I spent a relaxing evening in Mestre, Italy. We were up early the next morning. We had a morning flight to Lisbon, Portugal. Sandy found very inexpensive flights with TAP Air (Air Portugal). They want you to spend time and money in Portugal. You have the option of laying over up to 5 days in Portugal before going to your destination. We opted for one night in Lisbon before heading back to Miami. Sandy arranged transportation to get the group to the airport. I always have a little airport anxiety. Are we on time, are our bags overweight, getting through customs and security, it’s all a bit nerve-racking for me. Once I get to the gate I can relax. Everything went smoothly, our flight was on time and we were on our way to Lisbon! After taking off we could see the snow capped Alps on the horizon. We had a nice flight to Lisbon. We flew over the city before landing. Our plane was on the tarmac again, so another bus ride to the main terminal. The trip through the airport went well. We hired some taxi-vans and loaded our luggage. It’s amazing how much luggage you can get into those vans. We had a short trip from the airport to our Lisbon hotel.
After we all got settled in to our hotel rooms, everyone met in the lobby. We decided to take a walk into downtown Lisbon. We walked from the hotel through Lisbon taking in the sights along the way. The mosaic cobblestone sidewalks were amazing! It was hard to know where to look. I kept looking between the sidewalks and the architecture of the buildings. We walked through the huge Arco da Rua Augusta. The arch was built to commemorate the reconstruction of Lisbon after a huge earthquake. Walking through the arch takes you to the Praça do Comércio, a large plaza along the mouth of the Tagus river where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. We took in the view of the plaza and the river as the sun was setting. All of this walking and sightseeing around this beautiful city made us hungry. We set off looking for a nice Portuguese restaurant. We found a nice out of the way place and had a very tasty meal.
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Our Venice Cruise Chapter 1: The start of our adventure
Authors note: We took this trip in Oct./Nov. of 2019. I took a gazillion photos. It takes me a long time to sort and edit my photos. My plan was to write most of the posts about this trip before I started to post them. I am not the fastest writer by any means. It’s surprising how long it takes to write 500 or so words when you choose your words carefully. So I knew from the beginning that it was going to take me a while to start posting about this trip. Anyway, I’m ready to start posting and BAMM!! We find our self in the middle of a global pandemic! Cruise ships are stranded at sea and people are dying onboard! That sort of took the wind out of my sails. I didn’t think this was an appropriate time to start posting about a wonderful cruise. So I shelved my cruise posts. Time flies when you’re not having fun. It’s now been a year since we departed on our trip. What a year it’s been! I’m not sure what the future holds for the travel industry. I was hoping to be traveling again in the spring of 2021. Now it may be longer and even longer yet for the cruise industry. For now I hope that you will enjoy reading about our Italian, Aegean Sea cruise.
The adventure begins
My wife Robbie and I booked another cruise! This was our first European cruise. We sailed out of Venice, Italy making stops on several Greek islands, Israel and Croatia. Friends of ours, Sandy and Jerry found a great deal on this cruise and invited us and several other friends to join them. Sandy, Jerry and a few of the others started a week earlier. They took a short tour of Italy before joining us and some of the others in Venice. Sandy is a master at finding great travel deals and found insanely cheap flights to Venice with TAP Air (Air Portugal). They offer flights where you are able to layover several days in Lisbon if you like. Hey, come spend money in Lisbon! I’m sure that’s the plan but Lisbon is great! I wish we could have staid longer. Sandy and Jerry’s group stayed over a few days in Lisbon on the way over. We unfortunately could not be away from home for as many days. We did, however, spend the night in Lisbon on the way home.
Our inexpensive flights did start in Miami though. Our “home” airport is Orlando. Yes they were inexpensive enough to justify a night in Miami and a rental car to and from. Luckily we decided to leave a day early and spend the night in Miami; we had a horrible snafu with the rental car company and ended up leaving home several hours late! If we hadn’t gone the day before we would have missed our flight for sure. After finally getting our rental car sorted out, Robbie and I picked up our traveling companions, Barb and Jeneen here in Titusville. The trip to Miami went well and the next day we were excited to be starting our journey from Miami to Venice. Although we don’t look too excited in the photos, we really were! I think we were suffering from airport anxiety.
We flew from Miami to Lisbon and then from Lisbon to Venice. During our flights we saw the sun set over Bermuda and the sunrise just after takeoff in Lisbon. We had a bit of a thrill in the Lisbon airport. We had a 2hr layover in Lisbon, that sounded like enough time but, the flight from Miami was very full. We were not at the main terminal. We were way out on the tarmac. We used the old fashion roll away staircase to deplane. Then we were all loaded onto several buses and taken to the main terminal. At the terminal we needed to go through customs and then security. We were at the end of a very long line. We made it through customs but time was growing short to make our connecting flight. We spoke to airport officials who took us to the head of the security line and then escorted us at a trot to the gate. Just in the nick of time we boarded another bus to our connecting flight to Venice. Way out on the tarmac again!
We arrived in Venice on time. We visited Venice for a few days before our cruise. Robbie and I stayed in a Venetian B&B. The rest of our traveling group stayed on the mainland in Mestre. Barb and Jeneen grabbed a taxi to their hotel in Mestre. Robbie and I took the airport ATVO bus to Piazzale Roma, the transportation hub for Venice. From Piazzale Roma there was a short walk to our B&B. We did take a wrong turn and ended up needing to drag our luggage over one extra bridge. After checking into our B&B we were exhausted and jet lagged from our trip. We took a 2hr nap and then ventured out. We took a short walk to the Prix Discount Super Market for some supplies. Prix was awesome, they had great prices on wine, cheese, bread, and water. We got our first glimpse of Venice.
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