Last day in Portugal

For our last day in Portugal, we went back to Sesimbra with our friend, Paulo, from London.  He had never been there before and, as his partner, Barry, had to work remotely on Sunday, he wanted to hang out with us.  

Before we got there we asked the Uber driver to take us to Cap Espichel.   The location is particularly scenic and, in addition, has a monastery.  I thought both Kim and Paulo would enjoy seeing it.  I'm not sure the driver was supposed to do that even though I'd booked it as an interim stop.  Thankfully, Paulo speaks Portuguese and managed to persuade him to let us wander around for 30 minutes before we headed to Sesimbra.  I think they struck some sort of deal that we'd call him directly to take us back. 

The monastery is called Santuário de Nossa Senhora do Cabo Espichel.  The site itself is associated with the legend and cult of Nossa Senhora do Cabo.  The story involves the discovery of an image of the Virgin Mary by two old men from nearby Caparica.  Another legend has Mary ascending the cliffs on a donkey leaving behind hoof prints in the rock.  These prints are actually the foot prints of dinosaurs but, of course, there was no knowledge of such things when the legend was born!  The monastery was built to house the image and quickly became a popular pilgrimage site.  Lodgings, hermitages and even an opera house were also constructed for the increasing number of pilgrims along with an aqueduct to supply water and a cistern to store it.  The impressive Baroque church there today dates from the early 18th century.  The Chapel of Memory is isolated further away on a cliff.

We started by walking the path around the monastery taking lots of photos along the way, including of the spectacular cliffs, the coastline and the church.












Our next stop was for lunch in Sesimbra where we went back to Forte, the restaurant where we'd eaten a couple of days previously.  It was lovely sitting in the 20' sunshine, chatting and admiring the view. 






 

Later that day, the four of us had dinner together and, with that, our time in Portugal came to an end.  We'd had a fabulous time and, for me, it exceeded my expectations!







 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's John's Party and I'll Go 'Cuz I Want To!

Image
With my apologies to Lesley Gore for poaching her song title!   Around 20 years ago, my cousin, Paul, who was living in London at the time, introduced me to two friends of his, John and Pedro.  That first meeting was quite unique as it was a party at their flat in Maida Vale with 42 gay guys and me.  It was so much fun.  Over the years, I have stayed  closely   connected with them, staying with them in London many times.  Seven years ago, we went to Venice Carnivale; I went to London for John's 60th birthday 10 years ago; a few years after that, I went to their wedding; and, they have visited me in Victoria.  About 4 years ago, they purchased a home in Portugal and I have visited them there a couple of times.  Last spring, John and I did  a road trip along Portugal's "Silver Coast" to see more of the country.  So, last November when I received an invitation to John's 70th birthday party, there was no question I wanted to attend...
Read more

A Sunny Afternoon at the Beach

Image
Thursday, we decided to head to the ocean - the Atlantic.  I had been to Sesimbra once before and really liked it there.  It is a beach/resort town not far from Setubul to the south and west.  We are finding the Uber rides here very inexpensive.  For example, the 40-minute ride there cost about $25 CAD.  That would probably be double at home.  We were dropped on the beachfront, wandered along it for a while before going to a restaurant situated right on the ocean for our lunch.  It was a gorgeous day and it was fun watching the wake-boarders, surfers and people just lazing on the beach there.   We found a lovely restaurant overlooking the ocean and had a leisurely lunch which involved my first Aperol Spritz and a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.  Kim enjoyed her Marguerita too! The temperature was around 21' so everyone was taking advantage of the warm weather.  So, Day 2 of our adventure was another success!
Read more

Setubal

Image
The city of Setúbal is located on the northern bank of the  Sado River   estuary , approximately 48 kilometres (30 miles) south of Portugal's capital,  Lisbon .  It is where we will be staying until we leave Portugal on March 2nd.   It had been quite a long journey by the time we finally arrived midday Tuesday after an overnight flight from Toronto.  It hadn't helped that we were rerouted onto a TP flight (Portugal airline) which didn't have premium economy.  It made for a somewhat uncomfortable 6 1/2 hour flight.  Our hotel is way up a hill overlooking the town and the Sado river estuary.  After a bit of a rest, we headed into town to find a restaurant as our hotel has neither a bar or a restaurant.  The lack of those, however, are made up with the beautiful views from our rooms.   For our first full day, we took an Uber into the centre of Setubal as the walk down (or back up) is too far and difficult for me.  Gosh, ...
Read more