Lisbon: Azulejos & A-Wander

Silhouette was already docked at the Lisbon Cruise Terminal when Mui came to wake me up. The first words out of his mouth were, “5G signal.” Aha! T-Mobile was on. He’d already been up and checking his emails and the news.

A quick breakfast on port days works best for us. So, we went up to the Oceanview Café to sate our tummies. Then it was time to set off to explore Lisbon.

The sightseeing plan today was a loose one … with one particular goal … the Museu Nacional do Azulejo … the National Tile Museum. I’d hoped to visit the museum when we overnighted in Lisbon in 2017. But with the location of the museum on the other side of the city from everything else we had on our list, we never got there. I was going to rectify that today. Anything else we got to do would be a bonus.

The walk from the terminal to the museum was pleasant enough … flat along the waterfront, with a slight elevation gain as we got into the hillside neighborhoods. Maybe about 30-45 minutes.

“The azulejo is an identity art of Portugal.” Those were the words that greeted us when we entered the old Madre de Deus Convent (founded in 1509) where the museum is housed. The tiles have been used uninterruptedly throughout the past five centuries and the museum is designed as a place where one can begun to appreciate this heritage.

Appreciate and enjoy is exactly what we did. The €5 admission (half that for Mui as a senior 😉) was definitely worth it. The three hours we spent studying and photographing the beautiful tilework — especially the “Great Lisbon Panorama,” which depicts the city as it was prior to the earthquake of 1755 — went by in the blink of an eye.

From the museum, we began a meandering walk back towards the main part of the city. Our goal, as we walked up and down the hills and along narrow roads, was to locate the restaurant Mui had selected for lunch. We got very close, but after about 1.5 miles, decided we were going to be too rushed if we insisted on getting there. After all, it was nearing 2:00p already.

Instead, we decided to meander down towards the port and find someplace else along the way. Somehow we had made our way into Lisbon’s popular Alfama neighborhood. Here, on a narrow cobblestone street, we came across a small café — Antù. Tucked into an alcove overlooking the street, it was exactly what we were looking for.

Tasty food … a pitcher of red sangria with plenty of berries … a charming local ambiance (I think we were one of the few tourists there). What more could we have asked for? Well, maybe octopus for Mui … but he was more than happy with the bacalhau à brás (bacalao) he ordered — salted cod mixed with rice … almost like a seafood risotto … an easy introduction for those who haven't had the chance to explore salted cod yet. No complaints whatsoever.

Continuing down the narrow, winding street after our meal, we turned a corner and found ourselves across the road from Silhouette. Excellent. Embarking the ship, we had time to spend on the veranda before sailaway … checking messages and sharing newly-made memories with family and friends.

And now, it’s time for us to take Celebrity up on a special invitation … more about that in the next footprint.Read more