Wave Watching, Castles and Sardines

 PORTO--Saturday morning and we look back on a Friday of travels celebrating Ben's 70th through two very different villages on the road north from Lisbon to Porto.   The roads by the way are excellent, very well-maintained toll roads with the equivalent of EZ passes, and well sign-posted. We spent most of our day on Routes A8 and A1.

Our first stop was the village of Obidos.  John is  a bit cynical about ancient villages, tarted up with gift-shops, always with the mandatory castle, but Obidos is very old:  Roman aqueduct, Moorish castle and 16th through 19th century churches.   Very pretty, steep hill sides, and so forth.   Gift shops offer many products made of local cork.  

It also gave us chance to enjoy one of the Portuguese national pastimes, small slugs of a sour cherry liqueur, this time sipped from a chocolate cup, called ginjinha. It's a pleasant experience, particularly with a sour cherry on the top.

A bottle of Ginjinha is now in Ben's suitcase for travel home.  The tour director Marco gave him a lovely birthday present of a bottle that we expect to enjoy at home.  Recipes exist for cocktails, which we will likely try.

Sardines and frites

On the bus north from Obidos we learned about the ocean that provides some of the largest surfer waves in the world.  Nazaré, on a bay, but close to a very deep ocean canyon, has them.  They are not tsunamis, though.  One tsunami contributed to wiping out Lisbon in 1755 as part of the earthquake and fire.  Marco, a marine biologist, gave us an eloquent description of how the waves form when the conditions are right.  Nazaré also gave us chance to enjoy our favorite--grilled sardines, at a sidewalk café, served with the mandatory French fries.  Excellent lunch at Infusão.   

The Douro at night

Ben at the end of the day

Back on the bus and north to Porto.  We are staying at Pestana, a newly-renovated soap factory on the banks of the Douro, within two and a half miles of the city center.  It's a modern, spartan style hotel, with excellent beds and bathroom.  it also has a lovely view of the river where Ben and I watched the lights at the end of the day.