Left Porto in thick fog – made everything look a little ethereal. Stopped at Aveiro - Portugal’s version of Venice (on a small scale) in bright sunshine. They have a series of canals with boats (similar to gondola’s) which were originally used to transport salt & seaweed for fertiliser but now for tourists. Also sampled two local treats, ovos moles (made from eggs with a sort of rice paper covering) & francesinha (a toasted ham & cheese sango with an egg & melted cheese floating in tomato soup - not bad). The touristy canal section of town was very quaint but set in the middle of a much bigger city of 80,000.
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| Aveiro canal boat |
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| Aveiro |
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| Francesinha (better than it looks) |
Next stop, the university town of Coimbra. The university buildings, on the grounds of a former palace, are beautiful and date back to the 18th century. The baroque library is quite stunning but visits are restricted to 20 minutes for 3 floors?? We wandered the streets of the old town & got lost but found a terrific local restaurant for dinner. The city had a vibrant feel with all the young students around.
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| Coimbra University |
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| Coimbra street at night |
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| 125 Stairs to Coimbra university (climbed these twice) |
We then travelled to Batalha (battle). The town & magnificent monastery were built to pay homage to a great Portuguese victory in 1385 which effectively gave Portugal its independence from Spain.
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| Part of Batalha Monastery |
Nazare was our next stop – a beautiful beachside town with rows of whitewashed buildings – some perched on the cliffs overlooking the sandy beach.
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| Nazare from beach (see houses at top) |
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| Nazare |
Our final stop for the day was Obidos where we stayed in a beautiful little guest house within the walls. We were able to walk completely around the town on the walls. A very colourful town with the local delicacy being Ginja (a cherry based liqueur consumed from a small chocolate cup (yum). Also sampled chorizo with cheese cooked at our table.
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| Our room door in Obidos |
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| Obidos |
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| Obidos |
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| Chorizo & cheese cooked at table in Obidos with Ginja (yum) |
The following day we drove to Sintra. It was a bit like driving through the Yarra Valley plus, of course, quaint towns.
Three palaces, a castle, a garden & a walk made for a hectic day. First, Palacio Nacional de Sintra with it’s amazing chimneys, then the colourful fantasy castle of Palacio da Pena, next was the Castelo dos Mouros perched, of course, on top of the hill and finally the Palacio e Quinta da Regaleira with its amazing initiatic well with spiral staircase and grottos. We & the other thousands of tourists were impressed.
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| Palacio da Pena |
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| Palacio da Pena |
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| Walk to Castelo dos Mouros |
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| Initiatic Well |
After a nanna nap we headed out for dinner – cuttlefish, pork, shrimps, beans, sausage, mushrooms washed down with wine & accompanied by two singers – not bad.
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