The day began
bright, sunny and comfortable, however it ended cold, rainy, and downright
miserable. Ow ow
We checked-out
of our lovely hotel/guest house, and drove down the street to the historical
district of Sintra. We toured the
National Palace located in the heart of the village. Kings lived in this Palace
for many centuries.
 |
| Sintra National Palace |
 |
| The Great Swan Hall |
 |
| Swan Hall Ceiling |
 |
| Courtyard and Kitchen Chimneys |
 |
| Different types of Tiles |
 |
| Design with tiles |
 |
| Chapel |
From Sintra
we began driving northwest so that we could drive the coastal highway (back
roads) north along the Atlantic coast.
We stopped many times at overviews, enjoying the sea, waves &
beaches.
We spent
about 2 hours in the village of Ericeira.
It was an authentic little village of cobbled streets, white washed
houses, and narrow streets. We walked around
the harbor area where fishermen were working, then along the street at the top
of the stone faced cliff overlooking the harbor and sea. At that point it was still sunny and
comfortable, however the farther north we drove the cooler it became and the
clouds heavier.
 |
| Ericeira - White and Blue Buildings |
 |
| Central Park |
These back
roads follow along the ridges, and this is also where the little villages are
located. Between the villages there were fields going from the ridges down to
the valleys, growing all sorts of agricultural items. We saw fields of cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts,
garlic and lots of onion. This area also had fields of greenhouses in which
they grow vegetables.
 |
| Portugese Windmill |
 |
| Walking on a Beach |
 |
| Big Waves |
 |
| Onions in the field |
We went to the
town of Peniche, located on a peninsula jutting into the Atlantic. As we
entered town it began pouring and the wind was horrible. The town is partly
enclosed by a 16th century wall. After we drove around the old town located
inside the wall, we decided we did not see anything for which we had to stay
overnight. It was too miserable to get
of the car, so we don’t know what we missed! We continued driving to the village of Obidos
located nearby.
Obidos is a hill
town enclosed with a 14th century wall. As we approached Obidos we
knew we liked this town! By now it was about 5:00 and we needed to find a hotel
for the night – we had no reservations.
It was still raining. Finding a place to stop/park along these narrow
streets is a challenge in the best of conditions. The
first hotel was full due to a group reservation but she told us where to go for
other good accommodations. Jumping out
of the car and running into hotels was a wet situation! We were so lucky at our
second stop. They do not open for the
season until April 1, but she would rent us a room for tonight – She took pity
on us being out in this weather! It is actually a little one-bedroom apartment with
a sitting area, table, and a loft where a single bed is located. It is situated right outside one of the city
wall entrances.
After
settling into the apartment, we decided to venture out to look for a restaurant
inside the city wall. Cars cannot drive
inside the city wall, thus we wanted to find a hotel outside the wall – we did
not want to drag any luggage around on a cold rainy night like today.
The
temperature was dropping so that you became chilled to the bone with the
dampness and wind. It simply was a miserable
evening! One of those nights you simply
want to stay inside, but we had to find food!
We found a
cute little restaurant where we sat upstairs - (a little warmer up there).
