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On our way to the seaside fishing village of Leiria, we stopped in Porto, Portugal, which we are calling a Portuguese version of Seattle. Porto seemed to have a laid back, rugged vibe with tons of cool looking wine/port shops. We roamed the steep streets despite the 90 degree temperature and checked out a cathedral on top of one of the many hills. Once on top of the hill, we then walked down and got on the oldest and likely steepest furnicular down to the river-a short ride but really pretty amazing as you go down at an almost 90 degree angle. We walked along the tourist-packed pedestrian way along the water front with the Eiffel Bridge as a viewpoint. We were given advise at the tourist center to check out a 5D show called "Experience Porto," that was nicely air-conditioned and a fun experience for the kids to checked out all the sites in Porto sitting in a moving chair. Nick and I want to go back to check out all the culinary/wine/port/sailing opportunities geared for adults.
We then headed another 1.5 hours south to the small fishing town of Leiria with an entirely different feel. After getting off the main highway, we traveled through an area that reminded me of the sandhills area in North Carolina, pine trees scattered amongst sandy soil. We approached the town which appeared somewhat run down, got settled in a nice 3rd floor apartment and then rushed out to the beach. It was now at least 10 degrees cooler here and windy. The beach was expansive and with the strong sun setting on the horizon, it was almost blinding. The waves were fairly rough and reminded me of the northwest coast south of San Francisco-perfect sandy beach with aggressive waves and very, very cold water. There was a community dinner, "cena," right down the street that night which we checked out but it was packed with no seating but fun to check out as a band played American 1980's hits, Def Leppard, etc. We walked the short 0.2km into town and found a take out buffet with veggies and a separate road side take out place grilling chorizo, ribs and chicken. Growing up outside of Fall River, MA where there is a large Portuguese population, I am obsessed with chorizo and this grilled fresh chorizo brought me back to my childhood-fantastic!
The next morning Nick and the kids hit the beach, albeit, not much swimming was done due to the very cold temperatures and I had a peaceful run on a desolate road with pine trees on either side. We then packed up and headed further south to Estoril, outside Lisbon, for our last coastal experience of the summer.
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