Portugal

We have been here in Portugal for a couple of days, and it has been wonderful.  Upon arrival, there was a little hiccup with getting our rental car.  the line-up for EuRopcar was incredibly long. It took nearly four hours before we were on our way to find our Bed and breakfast.  Becky loves our tiny Reneault Twingo.  She says it is "Cute"  the same thing she occasionally calls me,  but it isn't something I particularly like to be called.  The car has just enough room for us and our luggage. It certainly wouldn't make much of a family car.  Still, for us, it could not be better.  We headed off into the city of Lisboã, and within 20 minutes we were settling in to our room at the Bed and Breakfast Familia Macedo.  The home is in a very old part of Lisboã, and it is furnished to period with the most beautiful pieces of antique Portuguese woodwork.

We have been teased quite a bit that the first place that we stayed on our honeymoon set us up with twin beds.  The twin beds would not have been a problem had it not been that the combination of the fact that they were little better than a bed of nails, and that we were both painfully jet-lagged,  neither of us enjoyed any real sleep.  Before bed,  we ventured off into the city in search of an interesting place to stop for dinner.  Becky,  who has not travelled before is very frightened of getting lost, and of pick-pockets and other criminals. Like my parents before me,  I am the original intrepid traveller.  I walk out into the place and enjoy everything about the experience -- including the setbacks.  The setbacks on this trip were actually  very few.  The GPS in my phone had some difficulty with the closeness of the buildings to the street, and so sometimes got confused on where we actually were.  In our search for a place that had lots of Gluten Free options named Celerro, we actually found an even better place simply referred to a Restaurant Tipico Portugal. There,  we ordered a mixed meat platter for two,  which to my delight also included pieces of both lamb and rabbit,  which Becky had no interest in trying.  WE got our first opportunity to try the amazing Portuguese wines with our dinner.
After dinner, we stopped at a tiny liquor store where I was able to get the first item that will be added to my collection of world Liquors.  It is a product called Ginja, which is a cherry infused whisky.  It was delicious,  and at 10 Euros for a Litre, I could hardly resist.

Upon returning to the Bed and breakfast, we relaxed, but as said before,  neither of us could sleep.
The following morning, at the advice of our host, we headed off to the Metro station at Intendente.  There we were able to buy a day pass to all the Metro transit system for 6 Euros.  Becky was terrified by getting on the subway of a major European capital,  but we quickly found ourselves down at the Ocean's edge, and enjoyed a nice Espresso there before boarding a bus to the Belem portion of the city.

At Belem, we ventured to the Museum of Architecture.  It was the most beautiful architectural building you could ever imagine.  After that,  I finally found a place where I could get some Gluten-free options for a brunch -- though it was already noon.  I had a remarkable bowl of Split pea soup with mint. I would never have though to adding mint to pea soup,  but I must admit that it will be finding its way into my homemade pea soup from now on.  As well, I enjoyed a Chick pea salad with Cod.  Washed down with a glass of white wine,  the meal was perfect for the hungry traveller.
At lunch, I mentioned that I wanted to add a Pandora charm to Becky's collection.  She was quick to go online and discover that the Pandora store for Lisboã was a mere 2 km from where we were sitting.  Google maps is not so clear on the terrain that the said 2 km covers.  By the time we got to the store,  we were both quite tired,  and only discovered that the store was closed for the afternoon siesta time.  When it re-opened,  it didn't take very long for Becky to find the Pandora that she wanted to remember her time in Portugal,  and there was a quick mutual consent that we would use our unlimited transit pass to get ourselves back to downtown.

Once we returned to the bed and Breakfast, we loaded the car, and headed on to Fatima.  Little did I know as we pulled up to our hotel,  that this very night would be one of the processions at this Holy Shrine.  Our hotelier told us that we must go and buy Candles for the procession and go at 9:30 to take part.  He also told us that we should go to his restaurant around the corner for dinner. His thoughts on both showed up to be very good.  For dinner, I had a wonderful piece of Roast beef -- translated in the menu as Cow in the oven -- and Becky had Codfish with assorted shellfish.  Both meals were outstanding.  WE then got our candles and headed to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima for prayers.  We were there quite early,  and still there were hundreds of people there ahead of us.  Bu the time the prayers began,  there were well over 1000 people there to pray,  and this was simply a Tuesday evening in August. As we prepared for prayer,  some pilgrims would come along the pth crawling on their knees for hundreds of yards as they prayed, in order to demonstrate their devotion.  The Rosary was then led by several priests in 10 different languages before the procession headed out around the huge play at this shrine with 1000's of people who were joined in prayer.  Looking onto the filled square filled with raised lighted candles,  one could hardly help but be moved by the faith that was present in this place.

When the Procession ended,  we returned to our hotel,  where I started to experience back pain related to the amount I had been on my feet.  I hardly slept a wink for this second night.
In the morning, my dear wife,  as usual, was not ready to get out of bed very early,  and as I had never really slept,  I went out in search of a nice coffee shop where I could get a Duplo espresso.  On the way I also discovered a pastry shop that had wonderful meringues (which are of course gluten free).  By the time I returned to the room, Becky was awake and ready to meet the day.  We returned to the Shrine to get some pictures of the magnitude of the place, and then we were on our way to Mira and the home of my friends Silverio and Lourdes Ferreira.

Since we were in no real hurry,  we went up the A1 to Coimbra and did a little preliminary exploration there.  It is a beautiful medieval city,  and bears a return to further explore.  We then continued to Praia de Mira, which is the beach near Mira where we will be staying.  The water was extremely rough,  so we satisfied ourselves that we now knew where we would gone on a perfect day,  and then went for a lunch of Shrimp in Garlic and Olive Oil, fries and Vinho Tinto.

After lunch we got back in the car to go to the home of Silverio and Lourdes.  We got a tour of the fabulous gardens,  and then sat down over fresh fruit, cheese and yet more wine, to catch up.
At present,  Becky is down for the count,  and I am writing.  Silverio and Lourdes are cooking a dinner for the four of us.  These first few days of our time together have been quite outstanding.
Silverio and I will sit down together tomorrow to map out some of the other amazing sites that simply must be seen while we are here in the central coastal region.  I know already that I would have no trouble falling in love with this country.