Lisbon Archives - A Boomers Life After 50A Boomers Life After 50

“This is a beautiful city and I’m sure you are going to fall in love with it,” said our Viking Program Director Ileana as we boarded the buses to tour Lisbon. It was day two of the pre-cruise trip on “Portugal’s River of Gold,” courtesy of Viking River Cruises.* My lucky boyfriend L (always remind him how lucky he is) and I were assigned to Bus B for the morning and all future tours during the cruise.

Touring Historical Belém
We started our guided tour of Lisbon in Belém, located in the southwestern tip of the city along the Tagus River, one of the longest rivers in the Iberian Pennisula bordering between Portugal and Spain. Our guide Maria told us all about the ravishing earthquake, tsunami and fires that destroyed much of Lisbon in 1755. “Portugal’s royal family moved to Belem because it wasn’t destroyed by the earthquake,” said Maria.

Belem, Lisbon, Tower of Belem, Pasteis de Belem, Monastery, Lisbon, Portugal, VIking River Cruise River of Gold

Sites in Belem (l to r): Tower of Belem, Monastery, Pasteis de Belem

Belem is home to many of Portugal’s historical landmarks and we visited several: Continue reading →

In yoga we learn to flow with the river. That’s exactly what I did during my travels last week on “Portugal’s River of Gold,” courtesy of Viking River Cruises. I was invited to, as Viking says, “explore the world in comfort” along the Douro.* My boyfriend L (I tell him how lucky he is every day) joined me.

As our first-ever cruising experience, L and I agreed that river cruises, because of their small size of only about 100 or so people, are the way to go cruising during one’s life after 50 and after 60, 70, 80, and even 90 (I will share more in future posts about the two inspiring friends R and A who were in their 90s.)

My first-ever @VikingRiver cruise in #Portugal was a best-ever #lifeafter50 vacation.

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If you haven’t planned a trip yet, not to worry – there’s plenty of time ahead. While not inexpensive, we found that these inclusive cruises are well worth the value and convenience if you want to travel with ease.

There were many stops on our Portugal cruise and I took time to do as the young students in the small village of Favaios (one of my favorite excursions) encouraged me to do: “observe, feel, taste, smell, buy, play, enjoy, and learn.”

It was an amazing trip and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

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