2 December ’05, Friday.
The shower building was made entirely of concrete, the interior ceiling and all…IT RAINED CONSTANTLY !!! It not only rained off and on last night, it rained in the shower block as well. The moisture levels must have been at peak levels, because the ceiling was dripping so fast you would think you were standing in a rain storm outside of the building…it was tough was to wake up and take a shower under these conditions… On top of that, the coffee beans that I have now are not making it…fact is, they are awful. I decided to toss everything and will try to find some in the next day or so that will pass my “taste test”. So with no coffee at “home”, we headed off to the little village just outside of the campground. At the far end of the road, we saw 4 men going into an unmarked doorway and just knew they had to be heading in for their morning “espresso”. Sure enough, once we went through the unmarked door, there they were, enjoying their coffee and pastry…just what the doctor ordered… It was sooo good. I had two lattes, Louise had one, and we each had a “treat”…I couldn’t tell you what they were, but they were good. Last nights sleep was interrupted by a pounding of rain off and on all night…it was coming at us horizontally and with heavy wind. Fortunately, we did get some breaks in between the squalls so that we could get the van all packed and ready for the road. Once we got onto the highway, we were in a heavy head wind and rain squalls for the next couple of hours…nothing huge, but heavy. About 10km down the road, we came to our next stop Óbidos. The book says it is “the picture perfect postcard” village. It is completely surrounded by a 14th century 45 foot wall and sits at the top of a hill about 8 km away from the Atlantic Ocean. The narrow lanes, laid out in a maze, that you would get you lost in a second, the beautiful hand made roof tiles, wonderful courtyards filled with flowers coming from every nook and cranny, and all the white washed houses. This village was founded by the Celts in 300 BC…amazing.300 BC… Then in 1282, it was given away for a wedding gift. King Dinis gave it to his new bride Isabel…what a guy. Now this little village is preserved as a “National Monument” and I’m sure we will be able to see it in the future the same as we saw it today….”Charming”. Now before it starts to rain again we are off to Lisbon. When we arrived in Lisbon we had to find our ring road and then from that we could find our next turn to the campground. Not an easy task, but luck (or Divine intervention) was with us…what looked like we had messed up tragically, turned out to be right on…it could have been a nightmare. This campground is owned and run by the city of Lisboa (Lisbon), and is within a 20 minute bus ride into the center of town. The sites are all paved with concrete (the first we have experienced), all have the water and electric right at the door, and the toilet facilities are pretty good. There is also a huge swimming pool, 4 tennis courts, soccer field, basketball court, mini golf and over 2500 locations for campers to park and set up…it’s huge and very well run…we even have to check in and check out when we come and go… Not bad for $18 Euro per night… Oh yes, they even have an internet café, restaurant, bar, grocery store, and travel office… The weather has warmed up…tonight at dinner time it was 65 and broken clouds… Tomorrow…Lisboa
The shower building was made entirely of concrete, the interior ceiling and all…IT RAINED CONSTANTLY !!! It not only rained off and on last night, it rained in the shower block as well. The moisture levels must have been at peak levels, because the ceiling was dripping so fast you would think you were standing in a rain storm outside of the building…it was tough was to wake up and take a shower under these conditions… On top of that, the coffee beans that I have now are not making it…fact is, they are awful. I decided to toss everything and will try to find some in the next day or so that will pass my “taste test”. So with no coffee at “home”, we headed off to the little village just outside of the campground. At the far end of the road, we saw 4 men going into an unmarked doorway and just knew they had to be heading in for their morning “espresso”. Sure enough, once we went through the unmarked door, there they were, enjoying their coffee and pastry…just what the doctor ordered… It was sooo good. I had two lattes, Louise had one, and we each had a “treat”…I couldn’t tell you what they were, but they were good. Last nights sleep was interrupted by a pounding of rain off and on all night…it was coming at us horizontally and with heavy wind. Fortunately, we did get some breaks in between the squalls so that we could get the van all packed and ready for the road. Once we got onto the highway, we were in a heavy head wind and rain squalls for the next couple of hours…nothing huge, but heavy. About 10km down the road, we came to our next stop Óbidos. The book says it is “the picture perfect postcard” village. It is completely surrounded by a 14th century 45 foot wall and sits at the top of a hill about 8 km away from the Atlantic Ocean. The narrow lanes, laid out in a maze, that you would get you lost in a second, the beautiful hand made roof tiles, wonderful courtyards filled with flowers coming from every nook and cranny, and all the white washed houses. This village was founded by the Celts in 300 BC…amazing.300 BC… Then in 1282, it was given away for a wedding gift. King Dinis gave it to his new bride Isabel…what a guy. Now this little village is preserved as a “National Monument” and I’m sure we will be able to see it in the future the same as we saw it today….”Charming”. Now before it starts to rain again we are off to Lisbon. When we arrived in Lisbon we had to find our ring road and then from that we could find our next turn to the campground. Not an easy task, but luck (or Divine intervention) was with us…what looked like we had messed up tragically, turned out to be right on…it could have been a nightmare. This campground is owned and run by the city of Lisboa (Lisbon), and is within a 20 minute bus ride into the center of town. The sites are all paved with concrete (the first we have experienced), all have the water and electric right at the door, and the toilet facilities are pretty good. There is also a huge swimming pool, 4 tennis courts, soccer field, basketball court, mini golf and over 2500 locations for campers to park and set up…it’s huge and very well run…we even have to check in and check out when we come and go… Not bad for $18 Euro per night… Oh yes, they even have an internet café, restaurant, bar, grocery store, and travel office… The weather has warmed up…tonight at dinner time it was 65 and broken clouds… Tomorrow…Lisboa
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