Patricia Greig is currently cruising from Barcelona to London on the Viking Sea's christening cruise. She will be posting updates throughout the trip.
Day 5: We felt the Atlantic rumble as we sailed into Lisbon, the city of seven hills. Portugal has a fascinating history and Lisbon is a display cabinet of statues, sculptures and grand buildings telling the story of the country's rich past. Our tour took us around the city to the Jeronimos Monastery, a stunning piece of Manueline architecture, and Belem Tower. At each of these places there are plenty of tourists and plenty of women in black drapes who will stop at nothing to sell visitors shawls and scarfs. I'm quite certain they would have held onto the tour bus as it drove away if they could in their efforts to make a euro or two.
As we left the city we encountered a protest involving anti-uber taxi drivers. Apparently these drivers are angry on a good day so you can imagine the state of affairs on the roads which had ground to a complete halt.
Back on board, the sea was hurling itself against the ship but fellow guests enjoyed movies under the stars on the outdoor screen by the pool as we dined at the Chef's Table, a restaurant offering a five-course degustation menu which changes three times throughout the course of the journey.
