Tomar

I spent the night in Tomar, right in the center of town where the lovely Rio Nabão runs. I sat at a table at a cafe in Mouchão Park on the riverside, watching the children ride a zip line on a little island in the river while I drank Super Bock and ate caracóis, little snails cooked in broth which are a popular Portuguese drinking snack. I used a toothpick to slowly pull them out of their shells.

I wandered around enjoying the views and the plants (the Portuguese must be the most obsessive gardeners - seriously, everywhere I went people were growing fruit and flowers). Then I had an amazing dinner at Clandestino, a tiny restaurant with charming and friendly staff, who helped me order french fries and chicken gizzards, and then tried to explain to me how the gizzards were cooked.Read more