A beautiful sunny and warm day started with a huge Dutch breakfast from Ronald and Margriet: first a lovely plate of fresh fruit-kiwi, pineapple, pomegranates, grapes and mangos, 3 kinds of bread, cheese and meat, an egg, coffee and apple cake plus homemade jams that were really yummy. The sun was shining on the patio and after breakfast we started on our day trip...first to Obidos which was busy with bus tours already...it's a cute, small walled fortress city with a main narrow road to the castle which is now a Posada or fancy, expensive hotel... We walked and explored the two little church's which were ornate with lots of gold gilding but there were too many tourists and expensive kitschy shops so we didn't stay long....too nice of a day.
So we thought we would drive along the coast to eventually get to Nazare... First stop was a seaside village called Foz do Arelho which was really nice...it's on the far end of the Obidos lagoon and has a nice wide sandy beach on the lagoon, inner side and a really rough, large wave beach on the Atlantic. We walked along the beach and dipped our feet into the Atlantic after we had a coffee Bica at a beach hut cafe... We were drying our feet on the beachside boardwalk and we bumped into Margriet and Ronald from our BnB....weird eh?!
We then drove on along the coastal road which is very nice with large sand dunes and cliffs and roaring waves below....through Sao Martinho do Porto ,whic is on the far side of a port with little boats.. There were men raking and drying seaweed on the sand....supoosedly it's used for make up...guess like Agar gum..Finally made it to Nazare which was ugly old high rise, tourist town with tons of buses and campers....we drove right out again and headed to Alcobaca and the old Monastery there..
The monastery is awesome...very somber and simple ...no stained glasses or flying buttresses....but elegant and contemplative. The tombs of King a nod his love Ines were very poignant...quite a love story....the cloisters were sunlit and very peaceful and there were very few people at all.. We even saw a high tenor and his accompanist on a n organ do a short Renaissance song in one of the smaller chapels....great acoustics. The monastery was quite impressive and spiritual. We were too early for dinner when we finished the tour so we drove on to Batalha and quickly toured the church and monastery there...beautiful stained glass windows but not as well restored or impressive.
Then back to Alcobaca for dinner at Riu restaurant onn one of the side street right of the Main door.. W started with a Rose apparat if, then bread and flavored butter, olives and marinated tomatoes ....then a wonderful large steak cut in thin slices across grain with spinach, fries and a salad...then coffee and of course great wine...for 40€ for both of us..then back to Quinte Verdi for another great sleep.