Nazare, Obidos, Peniche & Ericeira

We set the alarm for 7:30 and between that, and the dog that wouldn’t stop barking we were awake. We got ready and re-packed all of our things and were out the door by 9:30. We decided to haul all our stuff in one trip up the hill to our car. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Before we left Nazare we wanted to check out the Forte de Sao Miguel Arcanjo that we saw on the cliff in the distance from our balcony.

We pulled into the main square and someone directed us into a parking spot. We thought this was good fortune but as we got out of the car he asked for a small donation. So there it was . . . the first time we’ve been hit up since we’ve been here. We obliged and moved on. The Portugal guide book gave us some information on the Santuario da Nossa Senhora da Nazare that was located in the square and Ermida da Memoria chapel. There was an excellent viewpoint of Nazare and the beach that we had just spent the last couple of days at.

We then walked down to the fort where it now holds an exhibition on the big waves and the surfing history in the area. It was quite interesting and I can only imagine what those waves must look like. Today it was pretty calm. Back in 2011 Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara broke the world record for the largest wave ever surfed at this spot. On one side of the fort the view was of the beach we were on, and the other side was Praia do Norte (North Beach) where the big waves break. We learned the big waves are caused by an underwater canyon. When we were done with the fort and surfing exhibition I checked the geocaching app and saw there was a virtual close by. I got to within 60 feet of it, but knew I wasn’t in the right spot because it asked for how many steps were visible on the cliff side and I was on top of the cliff. There was a path down to the beach so I talked Tom into going down to the beach.

Tom sat in the shade while I walked over to where I thought the spot was but found I couldn’t get any closer than to within 100 feet. I did see the steps that the cache referenced so I took a selfie and thought that would have to be good enough. I walked back over to Tom and picked a few pieces of small sea glass up along they way. Back with Tom we took a few pictures before I saw people walking up on the cliff side and going up the steps I had saw. Tom suggested that we go back up that way. I wasn’t entirely sure because it didn’t seem the safest. Climbing up to the ladder was no problem. Just for giggles we checked the compass one more time and wasn’t really and closer. I went up the ladder first and got up to the top rung, but then couldn’t find any good place for me to grab to pull myself up off the ladder. This put a little fear in me and I climbed back down. Tom then went up and since he’s a little taller, he we was able to pull himself up a little easier. I got myself together and went up the second time and with Tom’s help made it up. The rest of the steps up were easy peasy. That ladder business was pretty nerve racking. We probably should have never done that. I’m re-nervous as I’m typing about it (and yes Leah I totally thought of the ladder app and Check 3 GPS while we were doing it). Needless to say we weren’t any closer to the cache location without going on slippery rock. I was done with attempt and will just log the find from the point on the beach.

We had spent a couple of hours here and it was time to get back on the road. Several of the local people and tour guides we have met recommended that we stop in the city of Obidos to see the castle. The Castelo de Obidos is one of the best preserved medieval villages in Portugal. We plugged it in the GPS and were on our way. We found some parking on the street outside the castle wall and walked back to where we saw you could enter the castle village. Walking through the labyrinth of cobblestone streets and ended up in a square with a church and the castle in the background. This is exactly how I pictured a medieval village would be. We started to wander to look for somewhere for lunch, but ended up at the castle first. I pulled up the geocaching app and found one relatively close by. I got within 6 feet and couldn’t find it. I had a feeling it was on the other side of the wall, but it was roped off. I read other people’s logs and it sure did seem like it was pass the roped area. Tom encouraged me to go for it and I found it right away. After the geocache we went up some stairs to climb the castle wall. Although there are no guardrails, the path is quite wide. I was surprised when I turned around and saw it was now Tom that looked like he was a little scared. So far we’re batting a thousand for getting our adrenaline pumping. When we got off the wall we found a nice little place for lunch. We order a trio of toasts and lemonades. The toasts were perfect and since we were at a restaurant called Nata I figured that we should also get the pastel de natas. They were very good and I think better than the ones we had in Porto. The day was quickly slipping away so after lunch we agreed it was time to get back on the road.

The next stop was to the city of Peniche. This city is also known for surfing and has become the Portuguese surfing capital. We didn’t come here for the surfing, but for a lighthouse and view point that Tom learned about in his research. This was meant to be a quick stop and after taking a few pictures and walking the area I asked to check for geocaches. There was one not far down a trail that Tom agreed we could do. I think it ended up being the best one of the day. Easy to get too and easy to find.

From Peniche we had had about an hour and fifteen minute drive to Ericeira, the city we are staying. We again opted to avoid highways in favor of the local route. We stopped once at a beach we were passing just to jump out and take a look. I promised Tom no geocaches or glassing!

We arrived in town at 6:00p.m. and found a parking spot on the street a few blocks away from our hotel. Since we are only staying one night and it was planned to be kind of a pass through, Tom had booked a hotel room over an AirBnB. The room is nice and includes breakfast in the morning. We dropped our stuff and set out to go find the beach. On the way we passed a seafood restaurant that overlooked the cliffs and ocean and was a perfect spot for the sunset. Tom decided this was the place we would have dinner and popped in to make a reservation for 8:00. We walked down to the beach, and since it’s so small we walked the whole thing before we walked back up and back to our hotel to shower and get ready for dinner.

I have never been to a restaurant where you pick out your meal before you even sit down. Walking in, just inside the door, there was a fresh fish case with the prices on the wall by the pound. We had no idea what we were doing, but the worker spoke English and pointed out the several different types of fish. We ended up picking a half of grouper (the other half was already gone). The worker also talked us into a baby lobster as an appetizer. Once we were seated we received menus to add on anything else we wanted for our meal. We had been thinking surf and turf so we also ordered a filet mignon. I was also going to order a side of vegetables, but once the waiter told us the fish came with potatoes we opted to just stick with what we had. Like many restaurants in Portugal/Europe there is plenty of time between courses and nothing moves fast. It was 20 minutes between the lobster course and the main fish course. The waiter brought the fish out whole and served us the fish at the table. It was more fish then I realized and I was really beginning to regret having ordered the filet as well. I only ate one of my three potatoes as I was waiting for the filet to arrive. Halfway through the fish and I was really kicking myself for having eyes bigger than my stomach and Tom and I started talking that maybe they did us a favor and forgot about the filet. By the time the waiter was clearing away the fish and our plates we really did believe we weren’t getting the filet and we couldn’t have been happier about it! In lieu of the filet, we ordered dessert (apple pie a la mode). When we finally got our check there was no filet on it and the total price was a lot cheaper than we had anticipated. We had no idea how many pounds of lobster or fish we ordered so our estimates were quite high. All in and all it was an excellent meal that we considered to be our 20th wedding anniversary meal. Thanks Mom!!

Stats of the Day

Steps: 17,552
Geocaches: 1 Virtual/2 Regular
Miles Driven: 76