628 – Tuesday 14th February 2017:  Leiria and Lunch

Luxury – showers in the van!  Overnight in a quiet free car park just a few km from town centre along the riverside. Just one noisy event when a passerby thumped the back of Jez – I suppose we were sort of blocking a few metres of a footpath – but plenty of room to pass by.  Peaceful sleep and running in the morning – I did 2k and K and O ran a splendid 4k!  

Lunch at a nice little cafe (EUR 7 each incl wine, dessert and coffee – can tell we’re not in tourist land) – and we ‘castled’ (not just a chess move, you know…).  Beautiful narrow streets and just a nice town…

Oscar (as you can see) was made to ‘walk the plank’ (sort of) – a grillage section of pavement – he looked as if he would grill us after! 

The riverside walk into town.

You expect me to cross that?  But it has holes in it!

I’m only doing it, as you are forcing me!

The castle, which we made it up to after lunch!

629 – Wednesday 15th – Coimbra

We decided to bypass Pombal (K read that the museum was all in Portuguese) and navigated to Figuera da Fonz “Happy Days – Henry the Fonz” – who remembers that USA TV show?  It’s actually Figuera da Foz. The Apps showed a large free motorhome parking on the seafront – no chance!  They may have been moved on by the Police – we drove on in the hopes of finding another overnight parking – but our version of ‘Henry the Navigator (Colin CoPilot) dragged us up an uneven mountain road that could have been in our beloved Sicilia – ’NFW” – don’t ask the children to translate that acronym, please….. About turn and Fig da Foz was left to FigFoz itself – our gain, as it happened.  Heading towards Coimbra for a Roman Ruins site – Conimbriga – a small piece of heaven for free overnighting – lovely open car park – some vans for company – and quiet….  The best Roman remains site in the Iberian Peninsula as advertised – we are biased as we saw the creme de la creme in Italia et Sicilia – but it was pleasant for a late afternoon stroll. O stayed in Jez – on the dashboard.  When I was a working person – in later years, displaying ‘essential’ company data had to be on a ‘dashboard’ – all the rage. In my working life, I have seen so many fads coming and going – QA, KPIs, CSRs, NVQs, – ad nauseam….  They sort of meant – just do your job efficiently.  K, as teacher is more familiar – each government, tampering with education, invented more acronyms and targets.  Why not call a spade a spade?  The 2 Ronnies – “4 candles?”  Do I undress – sorry, digress? Yes.

We retired to – some Moscatel and food – and qietitude, not dietifood.

A brief note from Oscar…  “I’ll fill their dashboard with narcissyisms, if they persist in leaving me with the hysekeeping – posh voice, you see… I can be a posh K9 – K is a bit of toshpotty, sorry, poshtotty. J is – how shall I say it – Irishness, par3sonified…  Now, Shirley and Margaret – did he really talk an 8 on a par 3 on 3rd of January near Lagos? James – hang your putter in shame, you Omadawn…”  Don’t look it up, please…

Now, next toast (this Mushcasstuffee stuff is good), post – will be Coimbra – extra special place…  hold your breath, (readers)..

We get the squeletons too sometimes!

A couple of old ruins!

The best of the mosaics – whilst under a cover, it was covered in dust, so the colours did not fully come out.