Visiting the Fonz

Amanda has told Mirinda how much she loves the west coast of Portugal. She loves it much more than any other part of Portugal, she says. And the other day when we went to Baleal Island, I started to understand the attraction. Today, though, I am convinced she is 100% correct in her opinion. Because, today, we visited the coastal, beach town of Foz do Arelho.

Seriously, if we wanted to spend winter somewhere beautiful and warm, this would be it. With the Atlantic bashing the beach and a massive lagoon, it is pretty much perfect. There are even ballerinas on the sand.

We headed out to the Fonz (clearly that’s what we’re going to call it) after Mirinda’s second project meeting in Santarém. She spent a few hours in a meeting room while I wandered up and down the main road before we hopped into the car and took off on the toll ways to the coast.

It was an extremely pleasant drive too. I think a lot Portuguese drivers (especially the ones in trucks) don’t want to pay the toll, so they leave the pristine tarmac for the more spendthrifty types among us. Which means a lovely, smooth, not crowded, costly journey from city to sea.

Obviously, we started with lunch.

We popped into the very handy Emotions Café…though I think they may have renamed it Oasis while retaining the crockery.

Actually, there is a veritable glut of food places along the beachfront. The summer would be very different but, today, for us, we had a wide choice. This place was Mirinda’s choice. And an excellent choice it was.

I managed to have my second bacalhau which was different to the one I had yesterday. Okay, it had the same ingredients (cod, potato, parsley, olives and butter) but arranged and prepared a bit differently. There was also a lovely pile of string beans cooked perfectly. It was delicious. I am really loving the bacalhau.

I’m also loving Foz do Arelho. Less than an hour to Santarém, beautiful views, walk to shops and a brilliant beach. What’s not to love?

When we return to Portugal, this is where we’d love to stay.

Maybe in one of the new flats to the right of the photo and behind the sandy coloured building.

PS: On a different note, we were almost killed this afternoon on the way home. A lunatic thought it was okay to overtake someone on the crest of a hill. Fortunately, Mirinda saw him in time and veered off onto the grass verge. Had she not seen him and acted as quick as she did, the lunatic driver, the two of us and the two people in the car he was overtaking would be dead now and I wouldn’t have posted this entry. The Portuguese are the worst drivers.