I'm a day behind in writing these.

We decided to go up to the lighthouse.  This is where the spotters for the big wave surfers look out over the ocean, as well as the judges, broadcasters and major spectators.  This lighthouse is up on the high cliffs, well beyond the reach of these massive waves.  Note the big waves only come in winter, between January and March, so we did not get to see any of that.  

To get up to the top of the cliffs, they have a faniculare.  The climb is steep and the only other way up there is to drive, and we were not moving the car until it was time to move on from Nazare.  It took about 3 minutes to make the climb, and when we got to the top we just had to take a few steps to the main square where you can over look the beach and take in the view of Nazare.  Spectacular.  We wandered the square, took in the sites, entered the small church, there is one on every square in Portugal, if they put up a timmy's sign and sold coffee and donuts I would feel like I'm at home.

We then decided to make the walk to the lighthouse, about 10 minutes from the square.  The walk was good, but the fog kept coming and going, and the wind was up.  So it was a cool walk at the top of the cliffs.  The lighthouse sits on top of a old fort, a very old fort.  The surfing community here took the fort and converted it into a big wave suring museum, with surf boards mounted on walls from each of the big names in the sport along with their achievements made on the mounted board.  We also could climbe up to the top of the fort to get a view of the beaches, both the Nazare side where the waters say calm, and the side where the big waves come in.  Great views.

With that done we decided it was time for lunch so we headed down to town, grab something quick, a burger - not a very good one though, and then spend the next few hours on the beach, taking in some sun (the fog had burned off by now) and just reading a good book - seriously vegging - it was nice.

Before dinner we went for a walk along the beach, and found our little bar where I had a beer and Krista a white wine, and we tried the barnacle.  They were awesome, saltly and perfect.  These are served cold and eaten raw.  They are a bit chewy but really good.  They make an awesome treat, so happy we tried them.

That evening we had dinner in the same place, the restaurant at the hotel - seriously the best place in town for a great meal.  This time we had the seafood rice bowl for two.  It could have fed four.  Its a dish made in a pot with rice, and lobster, crab, clams, and mussels; pretty much any shell fish you could ask for.

After dinner we headed up to the room to pack our bags, tomorrow we are headed to Combria, where we plan on visiting the university, they have one of the oldest libraries in the world, started in 1290.