Lots of walking

One of the great things about living in our region here in central Portugal is there are an abundance of great walking trails. This is especially appreciated while everyone appears to have disappeared on there holidays (which is quite usual for the end of August), and while we await for the house planning and construction to move forward.

We have still managed to do a bit of exploring and had a wonderful trip to Leiria. We had initially planned to find out where the IMT offices were, as I still have not had any reply to my request to exchange my driving license, even though I submitted all the required documentation last year. This is illustrative of what an impact COVID has had on the normal administrative functions here.

However, once we arrived and parked across the river from the center of Leira, we decided to do the touristy bit and visit the old town and it’s castle. However, before that I needed something to eat. I am currently doing the intermittent fasting, and hadn’t had anything to eat for about 17 hours. It was then that I remembered a recommendation I was given from Rui, our Architect. He had mentioned that he had had the best francesinha in Leiria and it was something I had seen on YouTube and wanted to try. For those who haven’t seen or tried one, it’s basically a sandwich with different meats covered in melted cheese and a lush cheese sauce, served with French fries. It’s sounds great, so we put a search into google and one restaurant came up in Leiria, so off we set to locate said establishment.

During our trek through the lovely narrow backstreets of the old town following directions, we were stopped by a guy from proceeding down the street to the square we were heading for and told we were not permitted further. It looked like they had covered the street in dirt and soil, and thought it was probably due to repairing the cobbles (calçada). However, later after the meal while climbing up to the castle it became clear that the dirt was covering the calçada and it was actually a film set for a period production.

We found the restaurant without any problems, although it was a bit of a detour. It was my first francesinha, and I can certainly say I will be returning for more, it was amazing! Visit adegadasfrancesinhas.pt to find out more… They don’t just do francesinha’ s though, and even though there was a vegetarian version Netty opted for a mushroom risotto.

The main highlight was actually the castle though, a very interesting visit with great views of Leiria and surrounding countryside.

The next few days were set to be a bit more cooler. By cooler, I mean 26-28 degrees. That meant I could get out into the hills around our village without getting fried. Unfortunately Netty was suffering from a sore back and decided to stay at home and progress her up-cycling project. She is renovating an old kneeling stool, so hopefully we can share her progress soon. The cooler weather was a bit of a con. It still got up to 29 degrees plus in the shade. however, there was a bit of a breeze so I pushed ahead with the walk. Actually I really enjoyed being out in nature again, so went out again the following day on a nearly similar route.

It’s just over 11 km in length, however much of it is near vertical (well steep up and down for these old legs) so I decided to rest on day three and head for the beach. This time we opted for Nazerè and not São Martinho do Porto. I love this place. It was great to explore, but we still did about 10km of walking, so I need to give these legs a bit of a rest. luckily, it was a breeze for Netty who’s back problem seemed to ease during the day.

One saving grace for me was the amazing ice creams at Gelatomania and a real Magners cider at the Irish bar. I wish I hadn’t had a toastie earlier, as it turns out the Irish bar also do fish and chips!

So, no more walking for a few days. Time to give the legs a rest. Plus Peter arrived back from his work abroad, so a few days drinking are in order!

See you soon folks!