----- Óbidos -----
(Including Nazaré)
Heading south from Aveiro, we tried to see some of the coast and were not disappointed.
I think this place is Pedrógão, a small town with a great beach and a few restaurants and shops.
We stopped for a coffee and WC break!
Some places reminded me a lot of California.
The coast road was nearly deserted and it was a beautiful drive.
There was a bluff-top parking lot with walkways and stairs leading down to the beach. I wondered what this place would have looked like in August. Crowded? Hard to imagine.
Farol do Penedo da Saudade. Guess what "farol" means. This was not far from Nazaré.
Another shot of our little Beemer. Fun to drive on these empty twp-lane curvy roads along the coast, even if I did sometimes confuse third gear with fifth.
We made it!
We arrived in the old village of Nazaré, a bustling little town just south of the famous surf spot.
We did a little exploring, had lunch and then found a tourist information office and got a map to the surf break point.
The famous spot is just on the far side of that point at the top left of this photo.
So we jumped back in the vehicle a headed up.
From the top of the bluff you have great views back down to the town.
And it's become a very popular place to visit and take photos and look at the big break.
This girl was oblivious to us tourists trying to get a good photo. The statue commemorates the Legend of Nazaré, a 12th century tale of a deer-hunting nobleman, according to Surfer Magazine. I'm guessing the surfboard is a later addition.
Walking down to the fort.
People were actually fishing the waters 50 or 60 feet below.
Looking out from the point, the break is to the right.
Looking north along the beach.
It was a little breezy
Another look back at the town.
The girl left so we had another tourist take our picture with the Legend of Nazaré.
Óbidos
Our hotel was within the walls of the Old City. Google Maps did not understand this and took us to a spot outside the walls, where we parked and then went to find the hotel.
That door with the "Hotel" sign next to it was the entrance to our Hotel.
This is the entrance to our hotel.
This is what our room looked like.
But, to get our car and luggage to the hotel, we had to drive through an entry gate where I had to back up once to be able to make the turn in.
Once inside the gate, I had to drive down narrow streets and up these stairs. Just kidding. I didn't drive up (or down) stairs, but the streets were narrow.
Narrow streets shining in the night.
Another Italian dinner in Portugal! ...and another good one.
We shared our table with a very nice young Portuguese couple from Lisboa named Tiago and Bia. It was one of those experiences that make traveling so much fun!
According to my sources (Lonely Planet) the Romans had a fortress here.
The Romans were evicted by the Visigoths and...
The Moors chased out the Visigoths.
Just checked Rick Steves and he says Óbidos was founded by the Celts around 300 B.C.!
Anyway, the walls are Moorish
Also, according to Rick, when King Dinis brought his bride Isabel here in 1282, she liked the town so much, he gave it to her!
Then he built this castle
We liked the town a lot too. Lots of whitewashed buildings with blue and yellow accents
We never got tired of stuff like this. Oficina do Barro, Clay Workshop, according to Google Translate.
We made a dinner reservation here
As if the tiny streets weren't crowded enough.
My beer and Lorri's beer. Lorri's is a Super "Blah Blah", according to Google Translate. I wonder why they label the girl-size beers Blah Blah?
We're walking along the wall now, looking down at the patio where Lorri just drank her Blah Blah.
No guardrails along the walkway! I stood on a small out-crop to take this photo.
This is the back of our hotel taken from the wall, and our room was the one on the left.
Lots of bougainvillea adds color to the town.
Looking outside the town toward the countryside.
Lorri, being a little acrophobic, never got more than a couple inches from the wall.
I think this will be my next painting.
Igreja da Santa Maria
The facade of Igreja da Santa Maria
St. Martin's Chapel dating to 1331
Love the bougainvillea and the Lorri!
Saturday night dinner at Patrerum Domus ("Country House" in Latin) - the wine list.
We opted for this one from a local producer, a steal at 13.50€
Another great dinner of cod
and chicken (I think)
I stayed up late and watched Penn State play Michigan State on BTN2GO. It was kind of fun to stream a game live in a hotel room on a Saturday night in Portugal. It would have been more fun if we had won!
