new lands. Standing in the middle
of this illustration and looking
straight across the marina and its
small pleasure boats, I could see the
famous Jerónimos Monastery—also
a UNESCO World Heritage Site,
and part of which now houses the
Maritime Museum.
We headed there next and saw
one of my favourite exhibits, the
Map of the World, which shows the
demarcation upon which Spain and
Portugal agreed to divide the known
world in 1494; Spain got everything
west of the line.
If you have ever wondered
why Brazil is the only country in
South America whose inhabitants
speak Portuguese, it is because
King John II was convinced that
new lands lay to the south and
west of the Azores. In 1500,
Pedro Álvares Cabral discovered
Brazil—which, luckily, lay to the
east of the 1494 line, meaning
Portugal was able to claim it.
In Lisbon, we also had the
opportunity to visit a famous
bakery, Pastéis de Belém, the only
place in Portugal where custard
tarts are allowed to be called by
this name (elsewhere, they have
the suffix "de nata"). If you are
prepared to wait in line, you will
be rewarded with the taste of
still-warm deliciousness.
e next morning, it was time
to say "Adeus!" to Lisbon and board
the luxury motor coach heading
north to Porto, where Viking Osfrid
and the Douro awaited. I took an
optional half-day excursion to a
historic estate outside of Porto.
We discovered the lush oasis of an
IT WAS A CHANCE TO APPRECIATE THE
BEAUTIFUL VINES AND WHITE QUINTAS
THAT ADORN THE DOUROʼS BANKS
Clockwise, from
left: Colourful
sights on the
streets of Lisbon;
the funicular is a
popular way to
get around Lisbon;
an archway
decorated with
blue-and-white
azulejo tiles;
the landscape
is dotted with
terraced fields
and villages
70
VIKING
