Tuesday May 2nd started bright and early. Getting up at four AM, Carrie meets us and takes us to SFO airport. We get help with getting our boarding passes since the system says we don’t have tickets. All ends well and we take off on a beautiful morning.
It is a long day, we loose eight hours. We arrive in Lisbon at 6 AM on the 3rd only to face a 1 1/2 hour wait in customs. Then it is on a bus into the heart of Lisbon. We have booked a 6 hour tour of Lisbon with Lisbon Riders. We are to meet them at the statue of King Joao I in Prada da Figueira. No one is there and Rick manages to get through to them on his phone and they are delayed because the traffic is so heavy. We find our tour guide, Tenyia, and are off to see Lisbon.
Our first meal in Lisbon – fresh squeezed orange juice and a pastry!
Narrow cobblestone streets everywhere and old buildings.
Our first stop is to try the famous Pasteis de Belem. Custard tarts made with secret ingredients originally made by the monks. They were great!
Blue tiles are everywhere in Lisbon and very pretty.
We are on to see the Jeronimos Monastery which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The columns and stained glass windows are beautiful. I am reminded of the book “Pillars of the Earth”.
Vasco de Gama also lies in state here.
Hand laid cobblestone sidewalks.
“Pink house”-their White House.
Tower of Belem, built at the mouth of the Tagus River between 1514 and 1520. The monument is another UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Discoveries Monument .
The carvings are all from limestone. With Henry the Navigator at the tip.
The April 25th bridge in the background. Very similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
The huge monument of Christ.
Very narrow streets of cobblestone. 
We enjoy walking the streets after a nice grilled fish lunch.
Lisbon’s famous electric Tram 28. 
Fountain – one of many left from ancient times of using the old aqueduct system to deliver water to the city.
Ruins of Ancient Carmo Church which was destroyed by the earthquake of 1755. It has no roof but has been maintained.
We meet up with Carla who has helped set up this tour and she takes us to Sintra. We end the very long first day in Portugal at our hotel Pestana Sintra. We have been up over 36 hours and it is time for us to hit the sack.