
When we started planning our time in Portugal & Spain, we first had to decide where we wanted to go. Since we would be getting off the ship in Lisbon and getting back on the ship in Barcelona, those two cities were no-brainers. We knew we wanted to visit Porto, since that is the home of Port wine and also an important place in the history of Portugal.

We ultimately decided to visit Porto and Lisbon in Portugal, then Cordoba, Valencia and Barcelona in Spain. More time in fewer cities would allow us time to explore each place, with plenty of flexibility for discovering things not typically on the tourist checklists. It would work out to be a pretty good strategy.



We chose where we wanted to go before we decided out how to get there. We initially figured on using trains to get from city to city. Trains from Porto into Spain generally go through Madrid, and we had decided to avoid Madrid for this trip since we were already planning to visit Barcelona. Yes, there are many interesting places we would miss, but we knew that we were going to miss a lot no matter where we went. Trains from Lisbon tend to stay along the southern coast of Spain, which is the general area we decided to visit. It seemed to make sense to go directly to Porto from Lisbon first, then return to Lisbon before working our way on to Spain.


As it turned out, we used private cars to take us from city to city. It is quite a bit more expensive than taking trains or buses, but it saved us the hassle of schlepping suitcases and dealing with train and bus schedules and unfamiliar stations. It also gave us the advantage of a driver with local knowledge and being able to stop in interesting places along the way.
On our ride from Lisbon to Porto, we stopped in the towns of Obidos (OH-bee-dose) and Nazare (NAZ-a-ray). We had a little time to explore each place, take a few photos, do a little shopping and grab a bite to eat.


In Obidos we explored the town, including the remains of an ancient Roman aqueduct, the city gate dating to the 1300s and an old church, among other sights. We were able to pick up a bottle of Ginja, a sweet & sour liqueur made from cherries. It is typically served in a small chocolate cup, but we just bought a bottle and a couple of souvenir glasses to take along.



Nazare is known as a beach town, and in winter can have huge waves which attract surfers from around the world. The sea was calm during our visit, so we wandered the town and visited Our Lady of Nazareth Church before heading on to Porto.
