Caldas da Rainha Municipality

A leisurely start today with breakfast at the cafe below our room and then it was off to Obidos, about 90 minutes south of Coimbra. We had planned a couple of stops on the way and our first was Nazare, where Atlantic swells are funneled into the underwater Nazare Canyon to generate huge swells and some iconic surfing photographs. Silly us actually went to the wrong spot, a breakwall on the south side of Nazare and got selfies etc till we realised it was not the lighthouse in the photos. So back in the car and 3km north we found the bustling upper town of Nazare, where Forte de Sao Miguel Arcanjo is located with the red lighthouse in those iconic photos. It also has some very cool exhibitions in a cavern with a lot of boards from big wave riders on display. No big swells today but it was great to get the perspective in real life. Back up the hill for lunch and the heavens opened for around 10 minutes so lucky we had an inside seat. Our next stop was to have a look at Praia del Rey golf course, rated as one of the best in Europe. Couldn’t help ourselves so we booked a round for when we are returning back this way. Time to get to our rooms for the next two nights and we have another great location directly on the outside of the old town wall and we even scored a parking spot. It is the owner’s family home from some time in the 1700’s with some beautiful furnishings and a garden out our window. The host welcomed us with a drink of ginja, a sour cherry liqueur which must be a local specialty as lots of shops are selling it. A typical way of drinking it is out of a small cup made of chocolate so I had to try that but Debbie found one was enough for her. A storm has come over this evening so hopefully that clears and it’s a nice day for exploring Obidos tomorrow.Read more