Nazare

We started the day with a quick look at the cathedral next to the hotel, Santa Marinha da Costa. We then drove into the town of Guimaraes and checked out the castle, the cathedrals, ate some pasties. The rain squalls, wind and cold weather were unbelievable and continued off and on all day. 

We started our drive to Nazare and stopped at a town that’s like Venice with canals called Aveiro. We grabbed a quick snack and tried to sit outside but the rain squalls continued. On a side note, Aveiro is part of the central Portuguese Camino route.

We finally made it to Nazare and checked in around 6. By 7 we took the funicular up the cliff and walked the other side to the famous surf spot. It was very cold and the winds were probably 25-35 mph. The closer we got to the lighthouse viewing site the worse it got and then the rains began. It was quite a miserable trek with quite a beautiful and amazing view.  They have a museum under the lighthouse in a cave with all the famous surfers who surfed the ginormous waves of Nazare. 

We made our long walk back up the hill and took down the funicular back down to the other side of the cliff, to grab some delicious shell fish dinner of an assortment of many kinds of fresh clams: black, razor, cockles and some shrimp and finally called it a night. We are ready to venture to Fatima and Obidos tomorrow. Stay tuned. 

The “Veado Surfista” (Surfing Deer) statue in Nazaré commemorates both the town’s legend and its surfing heritage. It’s a modern sculpture, created by Adália Alberto, that represents Dom Fuas Roupinho’s miraculous escape, symbolized by a deer’s head, and the town’s surfing prowess, represented by a surfboard. The statue stands at the Farol da Nazaré lighthouse, marking the spot where the legend says Dom Fuas Roupinho was saved from a fall by divine intervention while hunting a deer