Snow Goose of Grenofen: Leg 6 – Peniche to Oeiras (& Lisbon)


Marquis de Pombal Square - Lisbon

Because we were all rafted at Peniche it was not possible to have a formal start to this leg. Instead, we recorded our own start times as the boats were disentangled! After a drizzly start to the day we were greeted with blue skies and sunshine. Again we had light winds and we motorsailed for a fair part of the trip south, in the company of another school of dolphins. We arrived into Oeiras at 1800 on Sunday afternoon and had a frustrating time trying to moor in a very compact marina with very strong cross winds as a result of rather convoluted and confusing berthing instructions!

On Monday (26^th) we departed for a tour of Oeiras. The tour started at the Barcarena Gun Powder Factory and museum. This was followed with a guided tour of the Palace of the Marquis of Pombal and culminated in wine tasting at the historic wine cellar. The bus then dropped us at a local supermarket to replenish our stores and we had the afternoon to explore Oeiras.


Entrace Hall Fireplace at the Palace


Palace Gardens

Wine Cellar

In the evening there was a prize giving dinner at the opening night of one of the marina’s restaurants, “Charqal”. Due to the short time spent in Peniche prizes were awarded for legs 5 and 6, after which we were treated to a three-course dinner cooked by a famous Portuguese chef.

Rally Participants at the dinner

Keith & Val enjoying the dinner

On Tuesday (27^th) we took the train into Lisbon for a break and a day’s sightseeing. The open-top buses operate on a number of routes around the city and we took two tours; one of the city centre and one of the wider city. These were separated by lunch at the Martinho da Arcada; a very stylish restaurant in one of the historic city centre squares.