Day 3: Planning and the unexpected

Today we thought we had a great plan: get out of the city and see some other parts of Portugal. Specifically head to Nazaré on the coast for some seafood and cooler temps then stop at the walled city of Óbidos for some history stuff before returning to Lisbon for our Portuguese cooking class. However, reality doesn’t always respect one’s planning.

First we slept late. Okay, until 8.30 but still that is very late for us even on holiday. We had breakfast, did a load of laundry, and finally got out of the flat about 10.30. It was a 121 km through a very dry landscape (reminded me of southern California actually). Frank had way too much fun playing with the Assistive Cruise Control in our rental Corrolla, testing how long he could take his hands off the wheel and let the car drive on it’s own. (Answer: 15 seconds before the Toyota “yelled” at him. )

Unfortunately the late start meant that it was after noon when we arrived in Nazaré. It is a lovely beach town with an amazing expanse of sand and a funicular that goes up to the old town on the top of a cliff – which of course was out of order. So we wandered around town and found a little back street cafe for lunch where Frank continued his seafood quest with a shrimp and squid skewer. I opted for the grilled sea bass and we shared a fruity sangria. Of course, “shared” has many meanings and since Frank was driving it meant that he had a glass and I had the rest. Ooops.

Fully sated we headed back south to see some medieval sights. Because the cruise ships in port in Lisbon today had day tours to Óbidos, we wanted to let those crowds disperse and head back to the city before we arrived. Of course, that implies that we would actually arrive and be able to explore the city. And that didn’t happen. One of the downfalls of our reliance on technology is that when Google maps gets it wrong, we often don’t have alternatives to help figure out what is right. And our mapping software got this spectaculalry wrong, trying to get us to go up a road that was closed and offering no alternative routes. So we spent more than half an hour driving up and down tiny wee streets to no avail. We even got stuck behind a Belgian van that was trying to squeeze past a delivery truck but couldn’t make it until the two truck workers bent the stop sign to allow the van through. That was the sign that it was time to throw in the towel and head back to the city. Maybe next time Óbidos.

We were very glad that we didn’t stay any later as there was already awful traffic getting back in the Lisbon at 4.30pm. We eventually made it safely and parked the car with just enough time for a quick stop at the local grocery store for necessities and then it was off to learn to cook ala Porguese! The Uber ride across town took another 45 minutes (I had no idea we were going from Alfama to Belem when I booked this. Next time I’ll check a map and hope it’s right.) But we made it and began a lovely evening with a teacher from Boston and a Hungarian brother and sister. We made Codfish Gomes de Sá, Pork ribs, rice and beans, fried deviled eggs and the famous pastel de nata. Everything was delicious (even though I couldn’t eat some of it) and copious amounts of wine was consumed during the meal. And then we went to a wine bar with our new Hungarian friends and consumed more vinho verde and tried to solve all the world’s problems. It was an unexpected treat to make such a great human connection in just a few hours.