Port Of Call Portland Maine

Spending a day in Portland Maine

This charming city is a popular port of call for New England cruises particularly in the fall along with cruises visiting Canada’s Maritime Provinces and Old Quebec.

Called Machigonne by the original Native Americans the Portland peninsula was settled by the British in 1632 as a trading port. Development quickly followed and the area became a center for shipping and trading. The town was named Portland in 1786, and when in 1820 Maine became a state, Portland was its first capital.

Portland is a great city to explore and right on the waterfront the Old Port offers a glimpse into the cities history. Old Port is also noted for its microbreweries and remarkable restaurants, so sign up for a free brewery tour or head to the waterfront piers and enjoy some of Maine’s freshest lobster and seafood.

Where Your Ship Docks

Your ship will dock at the cruise ship piers right in the center of Old Port. Your first stop should be at the Portland Visitor Center only a block or two from your pier. They’re eager to offer suggestions on what to visit and they have a great free map.

Transportation

There’s more than enough to keep you busy within easy walking distance of the dock. Taxis are readily available but a better choice would be to book with the Uber app. The Portland METRO provides bus service throughout the Greater Portland region and makes convenient stops within walking distance of museums, shops, restaurants and historic landmarks. See the Metro website HERE.

Currency

Portland is a U.S. port and the currency accepted is the U.S. Dollar. Some places will also accept Canadian money but you’re probably better off converting to US Dollars. Most credit cards are welcome and ATMs are easy to find.

Attractions

There’s much to explore in Maine’s maritime history with lighthouses and forts nearby on the coast. Stroll Portland’s neighborhoods preserved 19th and 20th century warehouses, homes and mansions near the heart of the city’s downtown. Spend time browsing through shops and galleries lining the cobblestone streets of the Old Port or find a microbrewery for a pint and maybe lunch.

Eastern Promenade – a neighborhood with incredible views of Casco Bay. Its large lawns are a great place to watch the boats on the water. It features a small beach open to the public.

Portland Museum of Art – Charles Shipman Payson wing built 1979-83. Henry N. Cobb of I.M. Pei, architect. Contemporary Post- Modern, reflects a traditional architectural vocabulary. Built of locally-made brick with granite string courses.

Portland Observatory Museum – National Historic Landmark in Portland’s East End. Only remaining signal tower in America. Views of cruise ships, lighthouses, and Western Mountains.

Victoria Mansion – This National Historic Landmark was originally built in the mid-1800s as a summer house for hotelier Ruggles Morse. After the mansion was damaged during a hurricane in 1938, the house was scheduled for demolition. To save a local resident bought the home and turned it into a museum.

Take the opportunity to head out to Freeport, it’s only 18 miles away featuring world-famous outlets and L.L.Bean’s original store that’s open every day 24 hours.

Todays Featured Street Art • Azores #1

The Hindu God of Graffiti on an old set of wooden doors in Ponta Delgada. We thought this was the perfect image to kick off our collection of street art images. The Azores have a vibrant street art culture ranging from elaborate wall murals to stencil art and smaller creations like this one. Soon available in giclée prints in several sizes, custom printed for each individual order on archival, museum grade paper using fade resistant inks.

Drop by regularly as we offer up street art treasures and interesting graffiti from cities around the globe. Celebrate a world of travel captured in images selected for their creativity.

Please Help – We would really appreciate your input. While we’re still working out the details of offering our Travel Prints from The Intentional Traveler’s home website the overall response has been very encouraging from our online store. Printing street art has always been of interest as a decorative art form and we would love to hear your thoughts?

Let’s Stay In Touch – We know that subscribing to yet another email list is the last thing you want to do, but we promise to make this worth your while. Give us a try and see what we have to offer.

Lisbon Portugal – A Port of Call

It’s easy while walking the streets of Lisbon to think you have somehow slipped back in time. The port of call of Lisbon really seems to live in the past. Quant cobblestoned streets lead to plazas bordered by palaces, churches and castles. Attractive small cafes and restaurants abound and shops and galleries invite at every turn. Streetcars that look like they really belong in another time, glide down narrow streets. Even much of this cities graffiti rises to the level of fine art. Portugal seems to have deliberately let the world speed on by, having discovered a comfortable place to sit back and watch everyone else frantically race on to – not sure where.

Where Your Ship Docks

The Mariners Monument Padrão dos Descobrimentos

There is a stretch along Lisbon’s central waterfront where cruise ships dock. There are two terminals not far apart, Terminal de Cruzeiros de Lisboa and Terminal de Cruzeiros de Santa Apolonia. Both feature good access to ships and town and have free public facilities. Much of central Lisbon is within a mile of the cruise piers.

Transportation

Lisbon features a good public transport network, both underground and surface using buses and trams but for the one day visitor the system has two issues; first it is difficult to change lines, as there are few connections between the networks. Second it doesn’t run past some of the most popular tourist attractions in the city.

There are 24 and 48 hour passes available and the funicular system can also be used.

1 Day ticket (24h) Metro pass is 6.40€ -Valid for unlimited journeys on the Metro networks during 24 hours after the first validation. The full Carris/Metro/Transtejo (Cacilhas) pass is 9.50€ – Valid for unlimited journeys on Carris, Metro and Transtejo (river connection), during 24 hours following the first validation.

Ticket Offices are open every day 7:45 a.m – 7:45 p.m at the following Metro stations include Marquês de Pombal, Campo Grande, Colégio Militar/Lu, Jardim Zoológico, Marquês de Pombal,Rossio, Baixa-Chiado, Cais do Sodré and Oriente Aeroporto. There are vending machines at every station.

There is also a visitor’s card called the Lisboa Card where you get unlimited travel for 24 hours for just €20 that also includes free access to Lisbon’s best museums and attractions like the Torre de Belem, Jeronimos Monastery and the Santa Justa Elevator and more. You can buy the card online HERE.

DOWNLOAD LISBON METRO MAP

Currency

The currency of Portugal is the Euro and major credit cards are welcome almost everywhere. ATMs are also readily available.

While in Lisbon don’t miss an opportunity to pick up Portuguese gifts. The country is famous for its reasonable prices. Portuguese ceramics are famous and authentic cork craftsmanship is remarkable. Look for the Barcelos Rooster, it’s Portugal’s national symbol and can be found in woodwork, ceramics and embroidery handcrafts. The countries Port Wine is known the world over and the prices here are difficult to pass up. You’ll also find bargains in distilled spirits and local speciality foods.

Attractions

Castelo de S. Jorge

Castles, museums, churches and palaces all within a mile or so from the cruise ship.

Santa Justa Lift
  • The Santa Justa Lift is an elevator in Lisbon and the fastest way to get from the Baixa neighbourhood to the Bairro Alto district. It was inaugurated as one of the city’s public transport in1902 and was called Elevador do Carmo (Lift).
  • Castelo de S. Jorge at R. de Santa Cruz do Castelo. Hilltop Moorish castle & palace ruins
  • Jerónimos Monastery at Praça do Império 1400-206 Lisboa. World heritage listed Gothic monastery
  • Oceanário de Lisboa at Esplanada Dom Carlos I. Waterside aquarium with ocean ecosystems
  • Museu Nacional do Azulejo at R. Me. Deus 4. Ceramic collections located in a church
  • Belém Tower at Av. Brasília. Medieval defensive tower
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  • Padrão dos Descobrimentos at Av. Brasília. Concrete monument to maritime explorers
  • Santa Justa Lift at R. do Ouro. Elevator linking city levels from 1902
  • Carmo Convent at Largo do Carmo. Medieval ruins & archaeology museum
  • Basílica da Estrela at Praça da Estrela. Baroque church with twin bell towers
  • Ajuda National Palace at Largo Ajuda 1349-021. 19th-century royal palace and museum
  • Arco da Rua Augusta at R. Augusta 2. Triumphal arch with a viewing platform
  • Miradouro da Nossa Senhora do Monte. Popular destination for city views
  • Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga at R. das Janelas Verdes. Historical art collection in old palace
  • Palácio dos Marqueses da Fronteira at Largo São Domingos de Benfica 1 Grand palace
  • Miradouro Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen at Calçada da Graça, Terrace park featuring sweeping city views
  • Museu de Marinhaat Praça do Império Maritime museum in sixteenth century monastery

Useful Apps For International Travel

Ten Great Travel Apps You Should Consider

Where would we be without our phones? Every day we use them to navigate, take photos, send and receive email, play music, surf the web and who knows what else. They’re cluttered with dozens and dozens of apps and often we cringe when some store, restaurant or bank tells us we need to add their app – I know I do. When it comes to travel, especially international travel you may have overlooked just a couple of great apps. Following are ten of our newest favorites.

WiFi Finder shows you where you can snag free public WiFi. When you’re traveling internationally wouldn’t you like to have a list of available public WiFi locations? WiFi Finder finds you the closest public Wi-Fi near your current location.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)

WhatsApp is the easiest way to communicate anywhere in the world. Simply the best for staying in touch with friends or family while overseas. WhatsApp allows you to send all kinds of text and multimedia messages while only paying for the data. Before traveling we confirm connects with local friends and booked drivers at destinations so we can let them know when we have arrived.

Price: Free for first year, then $0.99 per year (iOS, Android, Web)

Currency Converter keeps you current on how much you should pay to change your money. Currency Converter displays both the “buy” and “sell” prices, and will factor in typical ATM or credit-card premiums you’ll pay on conversion. This is a great app for consistency and is a better approach than an internet search.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)

Google Translate not only can tell you what a foreign sign is actually saying, this translation app is the best free option available for translating what someone is saying. Just point your smartphone camera at a sign in a foreign language and Google will quickly display text in your language. We first experienced this app a number of years ago in Buenos Aries with a taxi driver. Over the course of a half hour ride we carried on a real conversation using his Google Translate.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)

Foodspotting shows you what meals are being served near you in real time. Foodspotting is like Instagram but shares only posted restaurant images of dishes, including the location. This app shows you the best food being served up near you tagged with the time it was uploaded. It’s a great aid to reading restaurant reviews while on the run.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)

TripAdvisor is the best source for travel reviews. It has information on the best of everything from hotels, restaurants and attractions. Installing their app on your phone is the easiest way to always have their reviews and articles at hand (internet connection required)

Price: Free (iOS, Android, Web)

Hopper tells you when is the best date and time to book a flight to save. Simply tell the app a destination, and it displays a calendar with are range of dates, times and prices. If you’re traveling and are flexible on the day you go from one city to another, Hopper can help you save on flights.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)

Green Tracks a great hiking app that has road, satellite and topographic maps and allows for downloads for when you’re out of cellular range. Works everywhere but if you’re into back-country hikes this is best app.

Price: Free (Android only)

Mobile Passport is a great app to speed you through U.S. Immigration. Fill in declarations before you get to Customs and zip through in a fast lane. In our experience this app is often faster than Global Entry and the paid version is much cheaper. The free version requires you to enter your information each time.

Price: Free and an annual fee versions (iOS, Android)

Wikivoyge is an app from Britain with a huge library of travel information on thousands of locations and it works without an internet connection. Great for international travel using on phones, pads and tablets. Great information to keep handy.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)

Port of Call San Francisco

Visiting San Francisco And Fishermans Wharf

Alcatraz

If you’re coming to San Francisco to catch a cruise or visiting as a cruise port of call, San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf is a great starting point. While the wharf is an exciting area there are also a number of adventures and excursions that depart from here. Catch a famous 100 year old cable car that has made San Francisco famous or rent a bike to take you up and down San Francisco’s hills or even across the Golden Gate Bridge. Also no trip to San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf is complete without a trip to Alcatraz Island. The Alcatraz ferry departs from Alcatraz Landing – Pier 33.

Where Your Ship Docks

The cruise piers in San Francisco occupy a great location on the city’s waterfront and only a few blocks away from the famous Fisherman’s Wharf. This area is the focus for most visitors to the city. The cruise terminals have public facilities and walking out is permitted and right outside the port area is the center of San Francisco’s tourist hot spots. Taxis are easily available but chances are, all you need is to stroll down the street.

Transportation

Riding Cable Cars – It’s easy to catch a cable car. The city has three cable car lines – two start at Powell and Market and continue to Fisherman’s Wharf; one starts at California and Market and continues to Van Ness Avenue. Board at the cable car turntables (the beginning or end of each route) or look for the brown-and-white cable car stop sign post. Ride fares can be purchased at a number of locations. General fare is $8.00 each trip, Senior/ Disabled/ Medicare $4.00 with children 4 and under Free.

For all-day travel, you may want to purchase a visitor Passport. A Visitor Passport can be purchased at ticket kiosks, on Clipper® and sales locations for 1, 3, or 7 consecutive days of unlimited rides on Muni, Muni Metro, historic streetcars, and cable cars.  Single ride Cable Car tickets are also available. 

  • Passports are the same price for all ages and abilities.
  • Muni Passports are good on Muni only. They are not valid on BART, other transit systems, tour buses, or for transportation to or from San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
  • Passports expire at 11:59 pm. on the first, third or seventh day of use, and must be used by January 31 of the year following the year printed on the cover of the Passport.
  • 1-Day Passports $24
  • 3-Day Passports $36
  • 7-Day Passports $47
  • Cable Car Single Ride Ticket $8

Currency

Local currency is the U.S. Dollar and most major credit cards are welcome with ATMs being plentiful.

Attractions

Aquatic Park Pier (MUNI Pier) – A great place to start exploring at Fisherman’s Wharf offering great views of the Golden Gate Bridge, or the remarkable 22-acre Alcatraz island, Ghirardelli Square, Coit Tower, and the sweep of San Francisco Bay. The pier runs a good distance into the water and the views are spectacular.

Umbrella Alley – Don’t miss Umbrella Alley near Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s located between buildings on Beach Street, featuring the California Dreaming, I Left My Heart in San Francisco, and Greetings from San Francisco murals with brightly colored balloons and umbrellas suspended overhead. Find new murals being painted next to the Summer of Love Monarch Wall which features a huge 3D butterfly.

Ghirardelli Square – San Francisco’s chocolatier encompasses an complete plaza dedicated to a love of chocolate. The complex features great shops and restaurants where you can stroll the plaza and enjoy waterfront views, don’t pass up the original Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop.

Cartoon Art Museum – At a new Fisherman’s Wharf location, the Cartoon Art Museum on Beach Street is a must do experience with exhibits on comic strips, comic books, political cartoons, graphic novels, and even underground comix.

Stroll through Fisherman’s Wharf world of art featuring galleries filled with paintings, sculptures, mixed-media along with street performers, and public space art. Don’t forget to get a caricature drawn and post an Instagram selfie in Umbrella Alley.

Visit a Liberty Ship – The SS Jeremiah O’Brien is one of the few remaining fully functional Liberty ships built during World War II. The O’Brien has the distinction of being the last unaltered Liberty ship and remains historically accurate. Moored at Pier 45, Fisherman’s Wharf, a popular San Francisco attraction.

SS Jeremiah O’Brien

Any visit to Fisherman’s Wharf requires getting your picture taken under the Fisherman’s Wharf sign. It’s at the corner of Jefferson and Taylor streets and was installed in 1968 featuring a giant crab on a ship’s wheel.

Food

If this city is famous for anything it’s food. Boasting a number of originals like Boudins and Ghirardelli it also has some really great seafood.

Boudin Bakery, Bakers Hall Fisherman’s Wharf – A cafe, famous for its San Francisco sour-dough bread. Features indoor and outdoor seating and the perfect place for their clam chowder served in that sour-dough bread bowl.

Crab House – PIER 39, Level 2 -Well known for their world-famous “Killer Crab” a two pound whole crab roasted in their secret garlic sauce.

Fog Harbor Fish House – PIER 39, Level 2 – Considered one of San Francisco’s best seafood restaurants and a dining landmark. Featuring fresh 100% sustainable seafood with spectacular views of the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Dining room or outdoor seating available.

For a link to a complete directory to restaurants in the Fishermans Wharf area click HERE.

Graffiti Everywhere

I am not sure why but my camera is drawn to record graffiti as we travel. Some of it is incredible street art worthy of being recorded and saved, but much is just a defacing of public and private property.

Housing project, Crete
Historic fortifications, Vigo Spain

I have developed some opinions about why some places are rank with graffiti while others are completely devoid of it. My first belief has to do with how attractive a place is along with a natural reluctance of most people to deface real beauty. The exception of course involves a subculture that sees destroying a places intrinsic value and even natural beauty as a form of expressing hatred for the very place where they live and perhaps the very people they live with.

It looks more and more like the growth of graffiti in much of the world is the result of growing population displacement and immigration to places with major cultural differences. Often it seems like biting the hand that feeds?

My second belief involves regional and local authority. Some places are either overwhelmed by the task of trying to prevent or punish street vandals or perhaps do not think the vandalism rises to the level of a serious enough crime to warrant strong punishment. In these circumstances the result is usually a growing blight on the community where the locals just learn to accept the problem as part of life.

Ho Chi Minh City

The counterpoint to that is a strong local government where punishment is quick and serious enough to cause potential “artists” to reconsider their chances of arrest, jail or worse.

Stangeland, Norway

Graffiti is not new but has been around for thousands of years. Examples of graffiti have been unearthed from ancient Pompeii and Rome (above). One of the most common forms has been to protest but more and more recently it seems to have no real purpose other than to desecrate.

There are places where graffiti has been channeled into a socially acceptable art form where artists are celebrated and whole communities get involved in decorating walls and fences. In addition to the above there are economies where tourism is a major source of income to the community and tolerance for graffiti has a serious economic impact.

Quebec

Western Europe seems to be an increasing target for graffiti and many locations seem to be helpless to stop it. Unlike graffiti in many places in the world, the canvas in Europe has often become churches, historic sites and public buildings. Before the recent clash of cultures from major immigration, these buildings were considered cultural icons and considered off limits.

Above from top left: Monte Carlo, Italy. Malaga, Spain. Lisbon, Portugal. Tahiti.

Above – Top left-Monte Carlo, Italy. Top right – Palma, Spain. Bottom left – Lisbon, Portugal. Bottom right – Tahiti.

Stangeland, Norway

Often modern graffiti is becoming less political protest and more an ethnic challenge. Political protest and anarchy are growing causes that spread graffiti. It is becoming more and more common in the West to see Antifa symbols, revolutionary slogans and Arabic scrawl as a major element of graffiti, showing up from Greece to Germany, Norway to Quebec, Canada and the U.S.

Above from top left: Crete. Canary Islands. Palma, Spain. Montevideo, Uruguay. Venice, Italy. Barcelona, Spain. Cyprus. Saigon, Vietnam. Rome, Italy.
Vietnam

Interesting that there are places in the world that are virtually graffiti free. It is rare to see it in rural areas of America, or in cities in Australia and New Zealand. I can’t say I noticed any in Amsterdam which is a very permissive culture, nor in Singapore. In the case of Singapore it probably has to do with a very harsh criminal code and strict enforcement. Even the fine for not flushing a public toilet in Singapore is S$200.

Graffiti on graffiti in Lisbon

Anyone else a collector of graffiti? Care to share? Love to see what you found and where. E-mail us at TheIntentonalTraveler@gmx.com