Road Trip

We set the alarm clock for 7 am.  My son was wanting  to go to the beach.  He asked, "Does Portugal have beaches Dad?"  I answered, "Yes it does."  He followed up with,  "Can we go?"  "OK." I said.    We decided to go to Nazareth the next day.  What we didn't plan on was the rain first thing in the morning.   We were still determined to go.  My son asked are we still going?  Yes we are because the sky looked as though the rain would break up and stop.   We were wrong.  It rained pretty much the whole way there.  We almost abandoned the trip a few times while underway.   We finally reached the Figueira Da Foz and decided we were committed to go no matter what the weather.      We finally arrived at around 1 pm  after a 3 and half hour car trip.

As soon as we arrived we ran down to the beach to see the most incredible waves.   They were perhaps the biggest waves I have ever seen in my life.  The waves were crashing down very close to the edge of the course sand beach.  A couple of waves caught some of the people who were only intending to wet their feet but instead got completely soaked.   The Red Flag was flying which indicated that no one is allowed to go swimming in the Water.  My son was very disappointed that he wasn't able to go swimming in Portugal.  The lifeguard approached my son, daughter and mother and asked that they back up further out of the water for safety sake.  The surfers on the other hand were riding the big waves. 
After checking out the waves we  stopped at the Golden Key restaurant for some food.   Chave De Oro.   The restaurant was right on the main beach strip.  My wife and I shared a arroz de merrisco that although the menu said was adequate for 2 people could have served the entire family.  My mother got some Bacalhau and the kids a steak.  It was quite a tasty meal.  With Crab, Lobster, clams and shrip with a tomato based rice.  After lunch we took the Ascender to the top of the Nazare Cliffs to see the incredible views of Nazare.  We bought some beautiful pottery for friends and our parents.  Afterwards we had a Biqua and of course the famous Magnum Ice creams for the kids.  My wife and I became addicted to the Magnum Ice Creams last time we were here in Portugal. 

We left Nazarre at 8 pm after taking another look at the monstrous waves and doing some additional gift shopping.   It took us less than three hours to get home via A8, to A1, to IP3 to N17.   N17 was a tiny road that wove through the top of the mountains.  Not the greatest road to be on in the middle of the night but it added some adventer to finish off another great day in Portugal.