July 21, 2015Ruth: The Port was lovely, and the Bacalao, as Gord mentioned, surprisingly good, but the crown of favorites so far would have to go to the pastel de nata. To say they are a dessert underestimates their wonder. Move over creme brûlée, cannoli and, yes, even chocolate, these babies are my new favourites. The puff pastry base cups the yummy egg and cream ...
July 20th, 2015Gordon: Prior to our arrival in Portugal we had read in our guide book that the Portuguese prepare bacalhão (dried, salted codfish) in 365 different ways, one for each day of the year. However, we expected that this was a relic of the past, and that they would be eating Captain Highliner's fish sticks like the rest of us. How wrong we were. ...
July 19, 2015Gordon: Our reliable friend Pocket Earth found an excellent route for us today. It has a feature that allows a route to be developed with minimal change in elevation, which is a real boon for cyclists. The route suggested for today's ride into Porto was 15 km longer than the most direct route, but it took us through the flat area along the ...
July 17, 2015The ride from Ansião to Coimbra included a stop at the Roman site of Conimbriga. They have a very impressive collection of mosaics from the remains of a number of villas. From there we parted company with the Camino trail in search of a paved road for the last leg of the day. So far we have been primarily following the Camino route ...
July 15, 2015We spent an extra day in Tomar, partly to recover from our exertions during Disco Inferno, but mostly to visit the Templar Castle and the Convento de Cristo. This is a fabulous sight. We even violated our rule of not spending more than two hours gawking at a monument, museum or art gallery. The castle, built in the 12th century, was the Portuguese ...
July 13th, 2015Fatima to Tomar 35kmThe day began with a lovely ride through the hills and an encounter with a medieval castle, and ended with Gordon and I shaking our booties in a disco flash mob on our street in Tomar. We delayed our arrival in Tomar to miss a festival when accommodation is all booked up and 600,000 visitors flood the streets to see a ...
July 12, 2015Alcobaça -Batalha - Fatima 44kmThe most important pilgrimage in Portugal is not to the tomb of Saint James in Santiago but to Fatima. Here pilgrims wearing yellow reflective vests walk through the street led by a singing Priest with a megaphone. My aunt Joe, one of my most devout Catholic relatives, came here on a trip that also included a visit to Lourdes.Fatima ...
July 11, 2015Ruth: Not all kilometres are equalTwo days riding with completely different effort spent. Day 2 Vila Franca de Xira to Santarem 61kmThis was an easy ride along pretty farmer's lanes following the yellow arrows the whole way with only one climb up to Santarem at the end.Day 3 Santarem to Alcobaça 59km We are taking a slight detour off the Camino to visit the Monasteries ...
July 9, 2015Although we loved Lisbon it is delightful to be in a small town. We are staying at the DP Hostel, which makes Gordon very happy because we are only paying 25€ for a tiny double room with ensuite. While we are talking about costs, our multi course lunch, including beer and dessert (the incomparable pastel de nata) was 17€ for both of us. The ...
July 8, 2015Ruth: Gordon found his voice today! He has been speaking Portuguese almost as a local, well at least to my ears. I am pleased that I have enough vocabulary to understand simple exchanges, and to complement people on their excellent pastries.Gord: Yesterday we took a tram out to Belem. This is a suburb at the mouth of the Tejo, and the historic departure ...