Wed Jan 22, 2025
Hi Gang! Today was a glorious sea day! Great weather, a great speaker, great entertainment and great food! Who could ask for anything more? We are so blessed.
We got to sleep in which was nice after three straight days of touring and exploring. We started our day listening to the speaker with the subject “Royalty in Exile – Portugal Moves to Brazil (and Back Again!) – Travel Agent – Napoleon Bonaparte”. (Be forewarned… this is long!). Lol
The speaker talked a lot about Napoleon and how he shaped the history of Portugal. From 1790 to 1821 Napoleon was pretty much the center of the world. The 1789 Revolution of France started Napoleon’s advancement up to Brigadier General. He became a hero and the govt doesn’t like heroes since the people love them more than the govt so they shipped him off to Egypt.
Things did not go well there so he fled Egypt and staged a coup to take over the French govt in 1799. The people voted for him to be the Emporor of France. He wanted to make Spain and Portugal part of France. So Napoleon moved the Spanish royal family to France and put his brother in charge. He then invaded Portugal.
Admiral Sir Sydney Smith from England helped the Portuguese royalty move from Portugal to Salvador, Brazil on Jan 22, 1808 (same day as we were there!). But they soon moved on to Rio. Britain was sending troops to Portugal to fight France. On June 21, 1813 both Spain and Portugal were liberated.
In 1814 Napoleon was forced to abdicate. He was sent to the Italian island of Elba. But in 1815 he returns to France and gathers an army and heads to Paris.
June 18, 1815 was the battle of Waterloo which ended his reign for good. On May 5, 1821 he dies.
Portugal is now in severe trouble after the Napollianic wars. King John of Portugal leaves Brazil and goes back to Portugal but his son Prince Pedro stayed in Brazil.
Prince Pedro married Maria Leopoldo of Austria who is part of the Bonaparte family. Pedro was demoted and started an army to gain their Brazilian independence.
He then became the Emperor of Brazil from 1824 to 1825. The people revolted against Pedro’s govt. Pedro’s father John died in March 1826. Pedro took the title of King of Portugal. But he couldn’t be both King and Emperor so he abdicated his throne to his 7 year old daughter! Crazy!
His brother Miguel was to be the regent until he marries Maria. Pedro took a second wife in Oct 1829 who also was part of Napoleon’s family. Trouble is brewing in Brazil with inflation, increased cost of living, etc. so the army was rising up.
In 1831 Pedro abdicated his throne to his 5 year old son Pedro the 2nd! Crazier! Older Pedro sails to England to get support to get back to Portugal. Now it’s Pedro vs Miguel. Europe came down on the side of Pedro and Miguel was banished. His daughter was now queen of Portugal and Pedro died at 35 from Tuberculosis.
Back in Brazil, Pedro II was crowned in 1842 and reigned for 58 years. He was overthrown by a coup in 1889 and died in Paris in 1891. They said he was the Greatest Brazilian. WOW… that’s all some crazy history!
After the speaker we had a nice lunch, sunned and relaxed in the afternoon then went to the Afternoon Tea since it was all chocolates as their treats. And as card carrying chocoholics, we had to go! (Pic included!)
We then got ready for dinner and since it was formal night we got all gussied up and went to the early show which was the Krew Kapers show. They do this on all Regent ships and we love it. The crew practices hard on their off hours and puts on a spectacular show. So fun!
After the show we went to dinner at Compass Rose. Once again we had a great meal of caviar, lobster risotto, grilled dorado fish and chocolate volcano cake. Yum Yum!
After dinner we went to the evening show of Josh Henderson and Lisa-Marie Holmes doing a show together. They each previously did shows individually but their combined show was amazing. They sang songs of the iconic duets. What great talents!
After the show we listened to the Regent Signature Orchestra play 70’s and 80’s rock music. We knew all the songs! Tomorrow we are in Buzios, Brazil. Can’t wait since we’ve never been there. Hope everyone had a great Hump Day!
The Wandering Italian 