Lisbon
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Before entering Lisbon up the Rio Tejo we stop at Cascais the Double bay of Lisbon. Cascais recently held the 2007 ISAF Olympic class regatta and were a consideration for the Americas Cup. The anchorage outside the marina is excellent and we catch up again with Don and Agnes Reed from Noosa on their yacht 'Honey Moon'. With a sea side village ashore we stay three days it is so beautiful. Janey is now back wi
th us for a few days, recovering from one too many discos in Ibiza. We absolutely love Portugal, and will return. Everyone speaks English and they have all been extremely pleasant and helpful. The marina has good facilities and tradesman so Ian has taken the opportunity to get some repairs done so a lot of our time is taken up with workmen coming and going.A country rich in history our first tourist trip by bus is Sintra where the once deposed Royal family built The Palace of Pena. High above the Sintra village in a 
landscape of planted trees the area covers two hundred acres. On this very hot day the coolness of the trees is very welcoming as we wind our way up to this Disney like castle painted in pastel colour. Turrets, towers and terraces are an interesting mix of styles that at the time was absolute opulence but now are a legacy for Portugal. Up the river to Lisbon to Marina Alcantara which is close to the centre (getting the tide right is important, against us at 3 knots), you pass many forts and impressive monuments to "The Great Discoveries".
Lisbon and a lasting memory of a barmy evening traveling on an old wooden tram, rattling along, window down and watching history pass by in this multi cultural city of African, Indian, and Portuguese. Castles, Churches, Museums, Lisbon has it all. In particular the Cloisters, the 16th century Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, was amazing with its ornamentation in Manueline style. Sunday our big day out starts with breakfast with fellow Australians Annie Cleghorn, Ian Bone, Peter Thompson and Tommy Negendahl delivering a 62 foot catamaran to Valencia. Back to the yacht for Afonso the electrical expert to try and solve our problems and on to The Museum National Art Antiga with the Portuguese master piece 'The Panels of St Vincent' consisting of six panels by Nuno Goncalves in the 15th 
century.Also the painting 'The Inferno' Hell it is called and sure is. Also many other treasures bought back from newly discovered lands including Japan. On the way to the Maritime Museum we pass the changing of the guard of The President of the Republic in what was the Royal Palace. One young local said that the opulence of the royals was being repeated by the President.The Maritime Museum "A World of Discoveries" is one of the best we have ever visited. At the entrance stands 'Prince Henry the Navigator' who from his "School of Navigation" in the 14th/15th centuries directed discoveries further a 
field than had been attempted before. Vasco de Gama reached Goa (India), with others venturing to Angola, Brazil, Indonesia, China and even Japan. Not bad for such a small country which now has a population of 10 million. No wonder 120 million people in the world speak Portuguese. A fascinating insight to the history of maritime adventure but too enormous to write about here. Thirty minutes away by train is the Portuguese MotoGP with Australian Ca
sey Stoner riding and the chance of winning the 500cc world championship if he wins, not to be missed if you are in town. On arrival its paddocks full of colourful motor bikes. Loud and fast we sit in front of the checked flag with our lonely two Aussie flags amongst many Italian, Spanish and locals. Casey came 3rd so has to wait a little longer but in a way it was still exciting to see Italian Valentino Rossi win, the crowd went wild as he has such a huge following. Leaving was a grid lock of bikes revving and rearing to go 
back to neighboring countries all thinking they were on the track.It not easy to find the restaurants that locals eat at when traveling but our electrician Afonso who had become a good friend after several visits sends us to his favorites.Espacio Lisboa served suckling pig with crackling to die for and Tentacoes de Goa the best Indian we have had for a long time. Specialties of the area are the pastries' and we couldn't believe how long the queue was at Pasteis de Belem; they were renowned for their custard tarts. We didn't buy enough!! We have just rounded Cabo de Sao Vicente on the SW corner and are now heading east along the Algarve following the summer, with very little wind and no sign of the 'ever present' swell. We are motoring as much as we did in the Med. PS from IanAndrea is very good at telling you what I do wrong so now it is my turn.The outboard had been difficult to start and on investigation I discovered that she had been sold 'petro' (degreaser) instead of petrol. Its amazing it still ran, albeit on one cylinder. 
