Day 22 - A Day at Nazare - Saturday , February 25, 2023

Big waves. That’s what Nazare is famous for now. It was a fishing village and a summer beach destination. It is still both of those things, but the surfing layer has been added on top. I suspect the surfing layer is what has brought us here, not because we are surfers, but because we are attracted to natural phenomena, and the mechanics of wave amplification makes this place unique in the world. 

We had little hope of arriving when conditions were ripe to produce the big waves so we weren’t disappointed when they didn’t show. But we hoped to walk out to the point from which they are viewed and get a feel for the area. 

We enjoyed a slow morning. Cooked a breakfast, had tea and were out the door about 9:00am. Our place is right at the foot of the hill that leads up to the ridge line that runs out to the point of Nazare. There is a path of cobblestones that leads up the slope. From it the views of the beach town are amazing. We took our time climbing up, enjoying the scenery and the sun. Once on top we entered the sister city of Sitio. A wide cobblestone paved path walks along the edge of the cliff that drops back to beach of Nazare, again with great views. 

We made our way down the point to the iconic lighthouse at the end, perched 100’ above the sea and paid our €2 each to enter the stone building. Once I side you can access the terraces on the ocean side and climb onto the roof for great views. 

No big waves today. We saw some surfers being towed into waves north of the point, we suspect in preparation for next week’s tow-in surfing competition, but generally a quiet day. There were quite a few tourists like us checking out the place, but it certainly couldn’t be called crowded. 

Sally has been dying to try barnacles as a dish. As we walked back up from the point we passed a restaurant on the edge of the cliff with a fantastic view and barnacles on the menu. They didn’t open until noon, about 20 minutes away. We decided to stroll around the delightful public square, view the tourist truckers for sale in the booths and wait for them to open. At one point I bought some nuts from a older woman with the traditional 7 skirts on just so Sally could get some pictures. 

Back at the restaurant we found out they didn’t have barnacles so we returned to town, regrouped at our place as we passed by and returned to the beach front to find lunch. We did find a beachside cafe that had barnacles and sat down for lunch.

The last time I ate shellfish I turned beet red. I am ignoring shellfish while here until I ascertain just how allergic I am becoming to them. No need to go into anaphylactic shock while here. I had an omelette, fries and a salad. Sally had barnacles and crab. I became a target of shellfish detritus as she squirted barnacle juices on me and flung crab shell pieces about as she hammered, pinched, twisted and contorted the shells to expose the meat inside. 

After our meal we walked the shoreline a bit, then returned home to rest and warm up. It was 38° when we ventured out this morning. It had now warmed up a bit, but the sun had disappeared behind thick clouds and the wind had come up. 

I made a run to a grocery for a few items and ended up walking quite a bit of the town searching for a grocery store that carried Pepsi. Nothing like having a mission to get you out and exploring the area. 

We cooked stir fry again for dinner. I cooked up all the vegetables we had left from last night plus a few we bought today. It made a pan full twice the size of what we could eat. No way to transport it until tomorrow so it ended up in the garbage. Bummer. 

It rained pretty heavily off and on during the early evening. We were glad to be inside content to research tomorrow’s destination, Sintra just outside Lisbon and it’s iconic castles perched on hills. It was nice to have a mellow day as our trip winds down. 

Nazarè as seen as we ascend the slope to the top of the hill north of town

Someone placed a swing along the path. Nice spot. 

On our way up

Town and beach from the top. 

Walking down to the lighthouse 

Up on the r oof of the lighthouse building

View from the roof. No big waves. 

I buy nuts from the local lady with the seven skirts on

Sally’s barnacles. They look like aliens. 

The wreckage of Sally’s meal, beach and ocean

Day 21 - Fatima and Nazare - Friday, February 24, 2023

Today is a two bus day!  First we ride to Fatima from here in Coimbra. We gave ourselves about 5 hours in Fatima to review the miracle of the apparition of the Virgin Mary and the infrastructure built to consecrate the event, then bus two to Nazaré on the Portuguese coast to explore this once fishing village now surfing Mecca. I guess we are visiting two religious sights today, both with their own shrines and believers.  

We picked a somewhat early bus to give us a good start on the day, 8:15am. We left our apartment at 7:25 for our short 10-15 minute walk. It was cold outside, 38. We stopped at an indoor cafe to wait out of the cold and had a cup of tea each (€2 total). About 7:50 am we walked the final 150 yards to the bus depot to wait. Our bus was on time, as all of them have been, and we were on our way to Fatima, about an hour away. 

Dropped at the bus station in Fatima, I got lured into the gift shop at the station by a sign stating they gave away free maps. The clerk was frightfully helpful, whipped out a map and started explaining the whole Fatima complex, making marks all over the map. Then he informed me the map wa free if I bought something. hmmm. . . We left. 

We walked to the massive sight. About 10 acres of paved plaza with an 8,000 capacity church at one end and the old church at the other. To the side was an open pavilion at he exact site where the oak tree stood where the Virgin Mary appeared to the  three kids 6 times in 1917. 

We got an actual free map at the information center and spent a couple hours touring the cathedral, the museum and the open square. Satisfied we had experienced all there was to be had, we stopped in a cafe in town for soup and bread, then back to the bus stop for our ride to Nazaré. 

Our bus pulled in. A woman bus driver!  First we have seen. A couple stops and we pulled into Nazare. It was about a 15 minute walk across town to our place. We called before starting our walk to be sure we could get in. She said she would be there, and she was. We arrived about 4:20pm. 

We checked in then headed out for a walk on the water front. Amazing beach. Amazing beachside stroll. Other than a

delicious dark chocolate ice cream cone we had nothing to eat, although we did stop for groceries for dinner, the makings for stir dry. 

Back in our place we veg’d in front of the news, cooked dinner and rested. Tomorrow it is up to the lighthouse to see where the big waves materialize. 

The big church interior at Fatima

The plaza and church

Open church where the oak tree once stood. 

Sally lights a candle for world peace

The path to approach the site of the seers on your knees

Inside the old church. 

The three kids that saw the Virgin Mary 6 times

Boardwalk and beach in Nazare


Nazare Beach 

Day 20 - A Day in Coimbra - Thursday, February 23, 2023

We have been watching the weather forecasts the whole time we have been in Portugal, trying to go where the weather looks best. We decided to come north to Porto, Coimbra and Nazare because the forecast here looked good while the Lagos forecast was windy and cloudy. Yet, the weather here  up north has not lived up to its promise. It has rained a little everyday; not enough to make us alter any plans we have made, but the glorious all day sun we were hoping to experience has been absent. It pokes its head out for a couple hours a day, then hides behind clouds and allows some rain to fall. Not what we had hoped for, but better than home where it is snowing and well below freezing. 

Today, we have a timed entry into the Joanina Library at 10:20am. The library was built in the 1700’s and currently contains about 50,000 volumes, all from the 1700s and 1800s. Concerned for the preservation of the books, the library is shuttered all day to control the humidity and temperature and 60 people are allowed in every 20 minutes for exactly 10 minutes to view the library, then whisked out and the doors are sealed again. Bats live in the building to eat any insects that could burrow into the books. The floor and tables are covered every night to collect the bat guano. Sounds strange, but I guess it works. 

We left our lodgings about 8:30am, heading for the university. The weather was perfectly clear, but stunningly cold, about 40° with a wind. We wove our way through the ancient streets up to the university to find many students about, a sharp contrast to yesterday when there were virtually none. Rick Steves has a written tour of the old palace which is now the university, so we used that to tour the main building, seeing how they have utilized throne rooms and anti chambers for classrooms and such. The buildings are very old, hundreds of years, and show their age. I suppose trying to maintain them is expensive and time consuming, yet a little fresh plaster and paint work would vastly improve their appearance. 

Part of the tour is the chapel. When we arrived at it the door was closed, but a sign outside said knock. We did, and a docent, in this case the same young woman that sold us our tickets yesterday, opened the chapel door. She recognized us and welcomed us in. We talked with her about the chapel and other aspects of the university. She was delightful. 

Time for our tour of the library, or almost. We moved to the entrance and waited with the other 15 people that would enter with us.  The sun was warm in spite of the cool air temperature. At the appointed time we were allowed into the prison level of the library. Yes, the library has dungeon like prison cells for wayward students and professors that broke the rules. Talk about strict educational policies. 

After a few minutes we moved up a half a floor to a kind of research room with vaulted ceilings, tables and bookcases and then were allowed to climb stairs up to the ornate library itself. It was amazing. Think of Beauty and the Beast and the library Belle is allowed into. This must have been Disney’s animator’s inspiration. See photo from the web below. 

We were ushered out the main door after our ten minutes and were back on the main square. We strolled thru campus to the science museum and we’re admitted. This was a normal science museum except many of the things on display were the original pieces of equipment used to make discoveries. As I worked my way thru the displays it reminded me of my days of teaching science. I guess I miss it a little. 

After 45 minutes we were out the door and down to town for lunch at a sunny cafe. Soup and bread. So good.

While eating a man in his late thirties or so begged me for some euros, saying he hadn’t eaten yet today. My standard reply is a curt no and I gave it. 

After lunch we walked across the square and bought a gigantic loaf of what looked like baked meringue. They wrapped it up. As we walked back thru town to our place the same man begged off us again. We again refused but watched him work the crowd in the street. We passed the hat shop again. This time I stepped inside to see if they had my size in black. They did not. We returned home, ate some of the meringue, rested, then headed back out to buy some gifts, mail a letter to Bob and check out the restaurant we were planning to eat dinner at. 

We walked to the post office. Along the way Sally spied a hat in the color she had been hoping for. However, the store was closed for lunch. We continued to the post office. Just as in America, the line was very long and slow moving. We decided to walk to the lotto store where we had read you could buy stamps. On the way we passed Sally’s hat store. Still closed. Must be talking an extended lunch. We also passed my hat store again, but didn’t engage. We were also hit up again by our begging man. We told him this was the fourth time he had asked us. He looked surprised, but said thank you as he did the first three times and moved to the next person. The lotto store said they didn’t sell stamps anymore and we would have to use the post office. Sally couldn’t resist the urge to play a few lotto tickets and excitedly scratched tickets, entertaining the man behind the counter with her antics. 

We stopped by a second hat store and saw the same style hat. We stepped inside and the woman said no black ones. I tried on a number of different hats and finally bought the brown leather one. It felt good. 

We headed to the restaurant to check it out for dinner.  It was half a block off the nearly vacant Commercial Plaza. We met a man standing outside the restaurant, smoking. He started pointing things out on the menu we were inspecting and soon lead us inside to inspect the fish in a deli case. Turned out he worked there and was glad to hear we would be coming back tonight about seven. 

Back to the post office. On the way we passed Sally’s hat shop. We could see it was open, but on the other side of the busy street. We went to the post office first, the lines were shorter and got Bob’s letter mailed , then stopped by the shop and got Sally her hat. 

We had some extra time and did not have our walking mileage in for the day so we headed back through town and up to the university again, walking streets we had not explored. I told Sally if the guy begging hit us up again I was going to take him to one of the cafes and buy him a meal because he always said he had not eaten today. He did. I asked him to tell us his story, which he did and then made I my offer. I thought he would at least accept the meal. He said no, he would like to buy hamburgers from the vending machine. I again said if you haven’t eaten I will buy you a meal. Again he turned me down. We walked away, wondering what his game was, but feeling a lot less sorry for him. 

At the campus we talked to some black robed students, FaceTimed Bill and Pat and descended back to town via another set of streets and returned home to pack and be ready to leave early in the morning. 

Our dinner was awesome. The guy we had spent time with earlier in the day treated us like regulars to the restaurant and pampered us through our meal. It was good, but all meat based, which is unusual for us. Grilled fish and grilled shish kabob pork. 

Back to the room, and ready for tomorrow. 

Main pedestrian street of Coimbra early in the morning before the locals are out. 

Campus early

Throne room now a meeting and ceremonial room

Another former palace room repurposed

Inside the chapel

Our sweet docent and ticket seller in the chapel

Sally waits for our turn to enter the library

Inside the prison area of the library

Prison

Inside the library (taken from the web)

Sally wins a euro on a scratch ticket

Me, my new hat, the shop and the lady that runs the shop

Sally, me and a couple of students

Day 19- Leaving Porto - Wednesday , February 22, 2023

Our time in Porto has come to an end. We found it much more inviting than Lisbon. Both cities are on rivers, but only Porto has their waterfront developed for pedestrian use. Lisbon‘s waterfront is blocked by railroad tracks. There are passages over and under it, but this really restricts access. It was a bit disappointing to have Porto’s main square torn up due to extending the metro lines. It caused us a little inconvenience in having to walk around it and not being able to see the main square unobstructed, but no biggie. Porto is very hilly and some of the streets are steep, but the narrow lanes and endless shops kept it interesting. 

Our bus to Coimbra, our next city, did not leave Porto until 11:30am. Actually, one leaves every half hour, but when we bought the tickets a few days ago we picked a late departure date, thinking we would enjoy a little more time in Porto and wouldn’t need to rush to the bus station early. We lazily got up this morning, had our boiled eggs for breakfast and left to walk the nearly two miles to the bus station about 9:30am. We dawdled our way across town, peeking in shops and cafes and got to the bus stop by 10:45am. We sleuthed our way through the accompanying train station and found the bus station. Upstairs we found the restrooms and a waiting room. We used both, then dropped back down to the bus level to board. 

As we approached Coimbra (watching our progress on Maps on my phone) I mapped our walking route from the bus depot to our apartment in town. While still riding we were 6 miles from our place, but thankfully the bus continued rolling down the road and I watched the distance drop to 5, then 4, all the way down to 0.6 miles as we pulled into the bus station. It was nearly 1:30pm now and we were both a bit hungry. About 150 yards into our walk we stopped at a cafe and ordered the 2 bowls of the soup of the day and a sandwich. €6.10. Delicious. 

Our apartment was on a very busy two lane business road but only about 100ft from the main square, which was car free. We dumped our packs in our room, then headed out to orient ourselves to the town, again following a Rick Steves tour, this one from his book. It took us through the delightful old town and back, then up to the historic university on the hill and back down to old town. While at the university we stopped by the ticket office to buy entrance to the Joanina Library on campus. It is a world heritage site. Look it up on the web. Supposed to be amazing. At the completion of the walking tour I felt I had a good handle on the layout of the town.  

One of the things Steves mentions is an old hat shop at one end of town, one of a very few old time businesses that still remain, the rest moving to the suburbs due to an influx of tourists. I find that he mentions this remarkable, because it is his guide books that are bringing the flow of tourists that is ruining the very town they came to see. The hat shop got my attention because in their window I saw a hat I have been casually looking for for the past 40 years. In my youth and thru my first years of teaching I wore a black leather cap. I lost it on a Toledo High School Alpine Club ski trip in about 1985 and have been casually looking for the same hat style ever since. In the window of this hat shop I saw, for the first time, my hat. It was brown leather instead of black. I stared in disbelief but told myself it wasn’t black and I really didn’t need a replacement. I didn’t go in the shop, but for the rest of the evening it weighed on my mind. 

We stopped for a bowl of soup and bread at a cafe on the square before returning to our room. 

Back in our apartment Sally got a chance to rest while I ran down to the corner grocery store and bought Muselix cereal, milk and, of course, Pepsi. 

Back home we rested, blogged, studied up for tomorrow’s visit to the library and went to bed. Another very cool day. 

Main Street of old town Coimbra 

Old bank and Hotel Astoria

Main square of University of Coimbra 

Founded in 1290

Part of university recreated under dictator Salizar in Facist style. Totally without style or class. Compared to old university it is lifeless and stark. 

Day 18- In Porto - Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Sally had a street she wanted to visit that was a shopping district. We set our sites on that for the morning. It is just a couple blocks behind the cool train station. Since nothing opens until 10:00am, we weren’t too bothered about getting an early start. However, the Clerigo Tower right next door, a pinnacle of granite constructed in the 1800s opened at 9:00am. That was our first objective. 

We walked into the church, paid our entrance fee and were expecting to start our climb right away. But, first we had to tour the church by walking around a sort of viewing level above the sanctuary. This required climbing and descending about 50 or more steps. Was this a warmup lap?

Climbing the tower was about 250 steps. It was somewhat reminiscent of other stone structures we have climbed before, such as the Duomo in Florence. Cramped stairway in between granite blocks winding up the tower.  As I climbed, my mind drifted to the earthquake in Turkey and the 1755 quake here in Portugal. There is no way this thing would survive. A pile of stones glued together with cement. 

If you have been reading this blog you will notice my preoccupation with ceramic construction and earthquakes. It doesn’t stop me from doing things, it just adds another element to the experience. 

The view from the top was great. Since we had walked all over this part of the town in the past two days we were able to put this part of the city together. 

We descended and then headed for the “Harry Potter” book store to see how bad the line to enter was. If short, we would enter. If long, we’d skip it. It was ridiculous. Clear down the block. That poor/lucky bookstore. They charge $5.00 a head to enter the store. They are making a fortune, but they are more tourist side show than bookstore now. Their income must be beyond their wildest dreams. 

We walked across town to the public market because I thought that was our destination. About 2/3 of the way there Sally let me know that I had missed the boat. We were to walk up the shopping district on our way to the public market. Oh yeah. I focused on the end goal and not the path to it. Course correction and we were soon in the car free street lined with shops of all types. We passed a busker setting up. He played the cello and had a remarkable electric cello. We were well up the street by the time he started playing but his music was beautiful. After we discovered the public market was not open today we walked back down the same street and sat down to listen to him play. The sound echoed off the walls of the buildings and filled the air. It was magnificent. We sat through 3 or 4 songs before dragging ourselves away. We had items to hide outside the stock exchange for Mike Morgan to find when he visits Porto in May. 

But first, we had to go to restaurant called Santiago’s and have this dish we had scene. Two pieces of toast with beef, pork and chick steaks between, a fried egg on top surrounded by French fries and smothered in some kind of sauce. It looked like a real gut bomb so decided to get one and split it, hoping the smaller quantity would not prove fatal as we surmised eating one each would be. Surprisingly, it was good. The meats were a little tough, but it was good. The restaurant was packed with people. Over 50% having the same dish. Everyone we saw survived. After we paid and had exited out of the place Sally was joking with another customer about surviving the meal. Turns out he was a local and had been having one every Tuesday for the last thirty years. He loved them. 

Bellies full, we made our way to Henry the Navigator square, where the stock exchange is. We fiddled around testing hiding sites and finally settled on three unique places to hide our prizes for the Morgan’s to retrieve in May. Do I think they will be there in three months?  Not a chance. But, you never know. Never done this before. 

After our fun of hiding things in the square we visited the San Francisco church right next door and the crypts. Interesting. 

We had to be to our Fado show/Port Wine tasting event at 6:00pm. We cruised the riverfront then climbed back to our apartment to get ready, then dropped back down to the river level, crossed the bridge and entered the Calem Port Lodge. We listened to conversations but did not hear anyone speaking English. The guide took us through the process of making Port, then into the cask and barrel room and then upstairs to the entertainment venue. There were about 20 tables each with 4 pairs of wine glasses situated so the occupants of the table would face a stage lit corner where two men sat with guitars on their laps, one a standard guitar, one a Portuguese guitar. We were led to a table where a couple was just taking their seats. We introduced ourselves. They were from Belgium and spoke French but no English. Using Google Translate we were able to converse a little. They were very nice. 

About Fado. It is traditional Portuguese music featuring guitar and a male or female vocalist singing laments. Of course the words are in Portuguese so we have no idea what they are lamenting. It could be their dog died or their car transmission is being repaired in the bathtub. Whatever the lament, in any language the music was not appealing to me. Putting Port tasting and Fado together was our way of killing two undesirable birds with one stone, and nearly killing us in the process. As each song ended I clapped loudly, hoping that was their last. It went on longer than we expected. About 7:30pm we were released. We walked back across the river and up to our apartment. We had not eaten dinner yet. We prepared a spaghetti dinner similar to the night before, watched the news and called it a day. 

The Clerigo Tower

The sanctuary in Clerigo

Under that park is a parking garage and small shopping mall as seen from the top of the tower. 

The gut bomb that was actually pretty good

Henry the Navigator Park outside the Stock Exchange. Somewhere in that park are three hidden items for the Morgan’s to find when they come in May. 

San Francisco church next to the stock exchange. Each of those wooden panel is a grave for dead 1800 parishioners. 

Kegs and casks full of aging Port Wine. The casks hold 28,000 liters of port. 

The Calem Lodge where the port is aged. 

Day 17 - In Porto - Monday, February 20, 2023

Yesterday we did Rick Steve’s’ tour of the upper part of Porto. This morning we started our day with a tour of the lower part of town, down to the riverbank quays. First we were at the train station in town, a beautiful building with a lobby full of tile painting of Portugal history. Down the street across the main thoroughfare past shops to an open square, then down to the stock exchange building. We were disappointed to find it was closed for an entire week. will miss going inside. Bummer. But, we did scope out the area for a place to hide something for the Morgan’s to find when they come here in May. Oh well, down to the river front. 

A 6 bridges tour boat was leaving in 15 minutes, so we paid the entrance fee and got a seat out on the deck. The boat goes upstream under three of the bridge until you can see two more, then downstream past the starting point to the last bridge before returning to the starting point. Nice to get out on the river and see the town from that vantage point. It is a cool looking city. 

We Aleks across Gustaf Eiffel’s protégé’s bridge to the other side of the river, signed up for a Port Wine tasting and Fado music session (killing two unpleasant birds with one stone), strolled the waterfront gawking at tourists and tourists shops then wound up the steep embankment on stairs and roads to the upper bridge deck. Here I had my first roasted chestnuts (12/€3) and toured the church plaza above the bridge, then walked across the upper deck of the bridge dodging the passing trolley to visit the church plaza on the other side. Here we saw the starting point of the Porto to Santiago Camino. 

We wound our way back to our apartment. Having the Clerigo Tower right outside our door, which is visible from just about anywhere, makes it easy to find our place. We rested for an hour or so and cooked dinner, spaghetti noodle and vegetable laden tomato sauce to top it. After dinner we went back on the streets to enjoy the city after dark and get a few more miles of walking in. With the big dig of extending the subway right in the middle of the main square we have to work around it or we get dead ended  at construction fencing. Out for about an hour, then back inside and to bed. Great first full day in Porto. 

Blue tile mural in train station in Porto

Henry the Navigator statue in the plaza named for him

Sally on our boat tour of the six bridges of Porto

Porto from the river. Cool city!

Gaia side of the river where are the distilleries of port wine are. Anchored boats are the style that carried barrels of port down the river from the Douro Valley in the old days. Now they just carry tourists or are anchored for show. 

Bridge over the river with pedestrians and trolley

Mile zero of Porto to Santiago Camino