The quaint winding cobblestone streets, outside bistros, and friendly people immediately welcomed us to Portugal and its capital city of Lisbon. We only spent one day in Lisbon exploring its hilltop castle, old town and cafes along the harbor –and it was not enough!
Jay snuck away for a round of golf at Oitavos Dunes before meeting up with the family in Cascais. Cascais is a town set on spectacular cliffs that are interspersed with pristine beaches. We had dinner at romantic restaurants overlooking the sea – well, they would have been romantic without the kids – and enjoyed the beach with the partying SAS students.
As the students headed back to rejoin the ship for the passage to Spain, we decided to travel overland to Spain via southern Portugal and the beach town of Olhao. Although Olhao itself was nothing special, the sand barrier islands, a short ferry ride away, were exceptional. We explored the expansive, isolated beaches for hours before plopping down under a beach umbrella.
While in Portugal, we were disappointed to learn that our voyage was being rerouted to avoid Morocco, our next scheduled port, due to safety concerns after the response in the Muslim world to the YouTube video about Mohammed. The positive was that we ended up with two extra days in Spain and two days in the Spanish Canary Islands.
