Castelo de Vide to Nazare--- Portugal

---

---

Nazare, Portugal
Castelo de Vide to Nazare--- Portugal
Campismo Paradiso
May 3
Nazare is a coastal town just north of Lisbon (Lisboa). During the second half of the 17th Century, the sea level fell... uncovering an extensive area of sand where today stands the centre of the town. Until then the population lived in the highlands, up on the cliffs.
This campground has Wifi, so Bob is happy. The gal tells me Nazare Beach is about two kilometers away. So I start off on my walk. Believe me it is not two kilometers, (maybe 2 kilometers to the start of Nazare) because one full hour later, walking at a quick clip, I am just approaching the beach in the distance. It has to be at least 3+ miles At first the area was rather flat and I thought immediately, it would be a great bike ride with Bob tomorrow. However, as the ocean came into view, the HILLS down, down, down to the town and beach were more than significant. It is a lovely area for fishing, sunbathing, and surfing. I walked the beach and found the Atlantic to be quite cold. I began to think of the walk back up and up. So I stopped by the tourist office and she suggested a funicular ride that would bring me half way "home". It was a delightful experience but once on top I wasn't sure which way to go. Let me tell you... Portuguese is NOT a type of Spanish. With some help and my trusty map, I found my way back, and the funicular ride saved me a long uphill walk.
We both worked to get out some blogs.
May 4
We have found a gold mine! Campismo Paradiso has Wifi!! So we have spent quite a bit of time getting blogs out!!
Eventually we began our walk to the beach of Nazare. Now I am the guide, and I know the way, and the short cuts---a little practice helps. We were anxious to try a Portugal seafood lunch, but there are so many choices. So we scout the fellow walkers and spot a couple, well dressed and YES! they speak English. Bob has a good knack for finding helpful folks. These people had visited the US and were delighted to speak English for a while, and express their experiences in the US. Their recommendation was great. Grilling is very popular here in Portugal, so I enjoyed a grilled fish kebob. It was served on a stand and I had to learn the procedure to remove fish wihtout making a mess. After a nice lunch we continued on to the funicular. There is more to the highland area then I realized yesterday, so we browsed about for a while. The day was foggy ...so not too great for many photos. Nazare was a diversion from out plan but a pleasant surprise.

---

Photos

Funicular
The track for the funicular. Unlike Pittsburgh's Incline, at the midway point
one car goes to the left one to the right.

Comments

[joan Roolf]

A great story
It looks like a great place on the beach. I hope they have not heard about global warming. Enjoyed your story and the pictures of your food. We can always tell when you have a good wifi sight. Keep it coming.