Portugal Trip

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Today we got off to a slower start. We all slept in and decided not to wander too far from home. It’s a bit chilly this morning but we’re hopeful for a day like yesterday - around 18 - 20 degrees. We decided to walk back to Sao Martino so that Pete, Renita and Jo could climb up to the lighthouse as Cath and I did the other day.

We got to Sao Martino about 11:00 a.m. and the town was pretty quiet. We headed around to the point where the lighthouse is located and started the climb up the hill. When we got there we realized the tide was out and we watched several people about 200 feet below us exploring all sorts of tidal pools. We took a bunch of pictures and then took the lighthouse stairs back town to the street. Once back in town we looked into several little shops and then we looked for a beach cafe for lunch.

For lunch, most of us decided to try other Portugese specialities besides fish. Jo did have a fish filet but the rest of us tried a variety of beef and veal dishes. All were incredibly delicious. After lunch we hit a few more shops and then started to head for home. Cath thought she would like to walk along the boardwalk that went around the far side of Sao Martino, a walk that looked to be a couple of miles. Pete, Renita and Jo decided to go back to Alfeivisaro. instead in order to do the shopping for tonight’s spaghetti dinner.
The walk along the boardwalk was all of two miles, if not more. We ended up at small village called Salir do Porto that has a huge sand hill that rises up about 100 feet from the beach. Like tobogganing down a hill back home in the winter, kids climb up the soft sand dune and the roll or slide back down. We watched for a few minutes and had a couple of good laughs. From the beach we walked into Salir do Porto in order to pick up the main road back to Sao Martino instead of backtracking along the boardwalk. We bumped into a local resident who pointed us in the right direction and we set off down the road. We found a short cut back to the main highway so we didn’t have to go all the way back to Sao Martino. However, the road was so twisty and turny that I don’t think we really saved any time or distance to the highway. Once back to the highway, it was only another 20 - 25 minute walk back to Alfeivisaro.

On our way back, we stopped at the church just outside Alfeivisaro. We went to look at the cemetery and found all of the graves decorated in fresh flowers for the Easter week end. The entire cemetery was a portrait of colors and aromas from a huge variety of flowers. It was one of the most beautiful gardens we have ever seen. We didn’t stay long because people were arriving to meet with departed loved ones. One our way back to our villa we stopped off at the shop of a young woman who speaks quite good English and who has helped us find our way around. Her name is Paula and she (and 4 of her friends) translated a verse for me. From there we bought some pasteries (they make the most incredible pasteries around here) and we headed home to our wine and port on the pool deck (that one was for you, Don & Lyn) and our spaghetti dinner. As we’ve been doing every night, after a late dinner, we watched a slide show of everyone’s pictures of the day and then we headed off to bed. Tomorrow it’s a bus trip to Alcobaco.

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