- Mostrar viaje
- Añadir a la lista de deseosEliminar de la lista de deseos
- Compartir
- 14 oct. 2015 17:17
- ☀️ 22 °C
- Altitud: 16 m
- PortugalDistrito de CoimbraFigueira da FozPraia do Relógio40°9’8” N 8°51’54” W
Figueira da Foz
14 de octubre de 2015, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
This little fishing village turned resort town was supposed to be a one night stand for us as we made our way down the Portuguese coast toward Lisbon. As it turned out, we ended up spending a week here while Brenda convalesced from her biking injuries. We stayed at the Hotel Aviz, a nice little Mom and Pop establishment owned and operated by a charming couple who were very helpful despite the language barrier caused by our lack of Portuguese. For the first couple of days, I was pretty much on my own as Brenda was in a lot of pain from the severe road rashes on her right arm and both legs, her bruised ribs and her fractured cheekbone. On Friday we got her out of the room for the first time when we drove back to Coimbra for her appointment with the maxillofacial surgeon. Once we learned she wouldn't need any reconstructive surgery, we came back to Figueira to chill out for a few days.
And chill we did, literally and figuratively. Although Figueira is probably a pretty happening place in the summer, it's pretty sleepy come mid-October. The main attraction here is the beach, which is absolutely huge. From the coastal road to the water, the sand must stretch for at least 500 meters. Unfortunately, some nasty weather set in over the weekend and didn't really clear out until Tuesday morning. Thanksgiving weekend was rainy, windy and pretty cool. On Monday Brenda was nonetheless feeling strong enough to venture outside to explore the town with me. We stumbled upon a little hole in the wall restaurant that was brimming with locals and decided we'd have our Thanksgiving lunch there. Of course, there are no Thanksgiving celebrations here, so we had to improvise, particularly since none of the local restaurants cater to vegetarians, let alone vegans.On the other hand, without exception, every restaurant offers up wonderful soups at bargain prices.They're almost always thickened with potatoes and are usually vegetable based. They have all been delicious. This restaurant brought a cauldron of soup to the table, followed by a rice dish, a plate of chick peas sauteed with onions and a delicious salad. And no turkeys were harmed in the making of our meal!
By Tuesday the sun had returned and we ventured out to take our first look at the beach. It is spectacular. The sand goes on forever and eventually brings you to a steeply sloping shore with crashing waves. We walked along the shoreline to a breakwater with a lighthouse where we sat and enjoyed the sun and ate some delicious grapes from the Algarve. Aside from the gulls and one other couple, we had the entire beach to ourselves.
On Wednesday, we again strode along the water, in the opposite direction from Tuesday, and one again felt like we were the only people enjoying this beautiful place.
Tomorrow we pack our things and head south to Lisbon where we'll spend another week. For the time being, we'll be traveling by car, but hopefully we'll be back on or bikes fairly soon. One thing at a time.Leer más
So glad to hear Brenda is on the mend! And good idea to go by car for a bit. Sounds like a lovely place you are at, and your soup looks absolutely yummy! Chicken noodle? Mabel xo
Betty Jay Glad to know you're up and about doing some sightseeing Brenda n Roch. Soup looks wholesome! btw, any advice on exchanging euros? shd we change in canada? or do you have some good advice on best way to handle this?
Roch Pelletier Betty, we bank with Tangerine who charge only $2.00 for an international withdrawal, but we can only pull out 200€ at a time. The plus side is we're never carrying too much cash, the down side is we have to hit the ATM more often than we'd like. It still comes out much cheaper than the exchange and fees charged by the credit card companies.
Betty Jay thx Roch...we will look into this. What do you think of Lisbon?!! if you book accom in seville pls let us know asap so we can be in same neighbourhood. my goal is to have sth booked by oct 19th latest.