Blogs from Nazaré, Central, Portugal, Europe

Since Dave, Merry Jo and I were not catching a flight or train, we were among the last of the passengers to disembark the ship. After lingering over coffee, and saying goodbye to the crew, we were taken to the rental car center at the airport, where we sat, and sat, and sat outdoors in the gloom waiting for our rental. Soon, we were on our way out of Porto driving the somewhat bland countryside. Before we left Lisbon, we had changed our plans and decided to visit the ancient city of Coimbra rather than spend another night in Porto. It was a great plan, and we were all excited to stretch our traveler legs again after such a pampered time on the cruise. With Siri as our guide, Dave did the driving while I was ... read more

Il y a une semaine déjà... voila où nous étions... Grand soleil et grands sourires... Nous quittons Costa Nova et prenons la route vers Nazaré mais celle-ci nous montrera encore des choses intéressantes. Nous trouverons en effet des forêts de pins plantés pour la récolte de la sève. D'autres villages nous offriront de beaux paysages aussi. Nazaré, petite qui est devenue grande ville que nous avons appréciée déjà lors de passages précédents. Le tourisme s'y est drôlement installé et il est même parfois gênant de n'entendre parler que le français... Dès notre arrivée nous n'avons heureusement pas de peine à trouver un parking, car des terrains ont été aménagés et l'on y trouve des dizaines de camping-cars qui semblent aussi y passer la nuit. Pas pour nous car nous préférons le camping. Dans le temps les ... read more

I´nt Portugal fab!!! This is our second week in Portugal now and despite not understanding a word anyone says we are having a super time. After a night by the sea at Isala Cristina we crossed the impressive border at a suspension bridge over a dried river bed. There was almost immediately gentler scenery, lush green dotted with white houses. We stayed in a lovely house just outside Tavira, surrounded by olive trees with a view to the sea. Highlights include a bucks fizz breakfast at 10:10:10 on the 10/10/10 ; the enchanting Santa Luzia with its wading birds, little train, magnificent fish restuarant and magical beach; Pojo Inferno- a waterfall into an emerald green pool where I would have loved to have skinny dipped but was already in trouble for having a muddy bum ........and ... read more

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 ... read more

Everyone slept better last night. We’re getting better at sleeping in this climate as we’re adapting beautifully to the temperature and dampness. Cath wore full pajamas, I wore sox and a T shirt, Renita was in her track suit, Jo had all the extra blankets in the villa and Pete was so full of wine, he really couldn’t feel much of anything. After breakfast we made our plans for our trip to Obidos. Of course, we had to walk into Alfeizerao but then we encountered our first problem of the day. We didn’t know where the bus stop was. So we wandered up and down main street for awhile trying to get directions and, while everyone we tried to talk to pointed us south to Obidos, it was awhile before we found someone who could actually ... read more