Portugal Travels – The Drive

September 24, 2024

Guest post by Matthew Chaffee.

The first thing to note is that the “adventure” tabs were merely suggestions for a path to walk that had some sights along the way. Mich makes me sound crazy. I’m not that crazy. All of it was optional and flexible. Except the drive. The drive was something the wife and I (and Carolyn) had to do to get a sense of the country that might be our future home – and we achieved that. It felt like California – which felt like home.

Picking up the rental car was easy. Should be easy. The only thing to not forget back at the hotel is your driver’s license. If you don’t forget that, it’s easy. A breeze even. So I’ve heard. The next step is having a man at the counter continue to prove that the people of Portugal are authentically nice – and will do anything to get you what you need without stress. He was great. Mathios. Loved him. Miss him.

Once on the road, only a couple of things to really know.

Traffic circles are a religion that will willingly accept you, but cast you out the second you sin.
Other drivers aren’t crazy or dumb, they’re just existing in a different world with different rules and laws of physics and personal space. Most disputes are solved by yelling out the window and waving an arm in a way that says “I welcome disagreement, come over to my house and let’s discuss.”

Sintra to Torres Vedras

A small sliver of Southern wine country. Expensive houses. Beautiful landscape. Felt like California. Nothing to really stop for – more just to see.

Torres Vedras to Caldas da Raihna

We drove BY Obidos – which on any other trip would have been a wonderful tourist stop, but we just waved at the castle walls and said we’d be back someday. We marveled at the California-like landscape that led up to an ancient town – which was decidedly not California, and therefore better.

In Caldas da Rainha, we targeted the massive Farmers Market – Praça da Fruta – and did some grocery shopping. Megan showed her Davis, CA roots and was right at home despite language barriers.

We had a leisurely breakfast and a pastry at a corner café, followed by a long walk to our parking space – which put us an hour behind schedule – which meant we had to skip Nazaré and Lousã. We weren’t in any real rush, but the idea that the Moodys might be wandering the streets of Porto unaccompanied, unable to open the door to the AirBnb, afraid, alone, without an adventure planned, kept us moving.

Coimbra

On to Coimbra – where we planned a nice stop at another bakery for pastries, and a leisurely walk past a church to a lunch stop. BUT – construction, traffic, and what looked like an hour long line at the bakery slowed our roll a little here. We decided we weren’t hungry yet and with no parking within a mile of our chosen spot, we opted out of any additional long walks. (Or ever taking a car anywhere ever again.) We got a small sense of Coimbra from the outside – which was more the point of the drive. The roads on out of town reminded us of California.

Agueda

In Agueda, we had planned a coffee stop. Only now, because we skipped lunch, we were very hungry, and because I had not planned to eat in Agueda, I had no concept of where to go for food. Fun fact, shops close from 12-3 for lunch, restaurants stop serving food at 2. Arriving at 2 was unfortunate. Some authentically nice people said yes, they would throw a quick salad together for us and let us eat in their already closed / cleaned restaurant section. They also complimented my shoes, I think. Agueda itself – the small section we visited – was charming. We had specifically targeted a more artsy section to see the umbrella streets. And we got our coffee. And I got another pastry.