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So, how do you start? Maybe with realizing a dream. Perhaps with having a choice of standing  still or moving and deciding to jump, maybe with careful planning and research or just acting on a whim. Maybe with striving towards a defined goal or just ending up somewhere.

 

Answering these thoughts perhaps should be easy, but they are not because all of the above is true, there was a distant dream somewhere, there was also complacency in a great situation but with a restlessness and an urge to just change things and do something, so we did!

 

In a matter of a few months as the world ushered into turmoil with a pandemic that lingered and a country invading another sending the rest of the world into economic hysteria and having people prepping and looking over their shoulders to the east, we decided to go for some extra excitement and hard work and got this place.

 

We love it and hope you will too, take care of it like it’s yours.

 

Also take care of the lady living on the bottom floor who is still adjusting to having foreigners all around here in HER town, which to her and her friends is still a calm fishing village by the sea., bless their hearts.

 

I there’s something you miss or love extra much please let us know.

 

Tor and Lina

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Portugal in short

 

As you probably know by now, or at least should know by now. Portugal is nowadays a fully working democratic country, but indeed had some troubles in the past. 

Famous explorers such as Vasco Da Gama, Magellan among others made Portugal the first big maritime country, forcing colonial rule upon places all around the world, from Brazil to Macau. Hence, Portuguese is the sixth most spoken language in the world.

Portugal is the biggest producer of cork in the world, corking the famous Port Wine as well as red and white wines and with their own green wine, the Vinho verde, which if you haven't tried, you must. Slightly sparkling fresh flavor is the best company on a hot day.

Lot’s to say about the wines and vines, but we leave that for you to explore (one hint, Bombarral).

Food varies depending on where you are in the country, as mentioned Nazaré is a fishing town and it’s impossible not to like the smell of grilled fish and shellfish oozing from the alleys as dusk falls. One thing about the food, the produce is great and so is the cooking, you might think you can get Tapas and flavorful dishes with the proximity to Spain, but, no, The Portuguese have their own, more subtle palette where the main ingredient is always the star. It might be because the Portuguese actually decided to distance the country from the Spanish and Spain, financially, politically and in any way they could. It was actually almost a substate to Spain for a while way, WAY back, but the Spanish treated Portugal in a very step-motherly fashion, so the Portuguese thought, screw you, we are better off by ourselves.

It speaks loads of a country that went bankrupt in 2011 but had payed of  most of their debts 8 years later.

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Nazaré in short

 

As mentioned Nazaré is a Fishermans town and have been for as long as it has existed, which is a long time. It is said the name comes from a holy figurine of Virgin Mary originally from Nazareth but brought here via Spain in year 711. A couple of hundred of years later, 1371 Mary rode in on a cloud and saved a fellow from falling off a cliff while chasing a deer in what is now Sitio, thus bringing forth the legend of Nazaré to eternal history.

 

The town is located in the district of Leiria and consists of three parts, where the old town, Praia is actually the youngest of them (..?) Well, people who faired the seas where not always nice and to protect themselves from the dutch, the Spanish, the French and of course, our beloved Vikings, the people lived in Sitio and in Pederneira, located on a good spear throwing distance from the beaches and any visitors with malicious intent. Later when the bullies from the sea decided to calm down, people moved down to Praia, where you are now, and built these lovely houses and alleys, some of it has been rebuilt during the years, but there are some classic one storie houses left if you look carefully during your morning stroll.

 

Now, what to do? Well everything is about the beaches, no matter what time of year. Swimming, surfing, playing or just chilling.

 

Get a haircut, fix your nails or your beard (or both?), look at beach soccer, go to the festivals, visit the market, eat the Piri-piri chicken, go surf

the big wave, it’s massive, and not just one, seen best during the winter months. 

 

The museum of the legend, the insanely beautiful cathedral, the solemn north beach, the surf schools, the restaurants, the bull fighting arena, the harbor, the spa, there’s lots of things to do if you're restless, if you’re not. Just grab a towel or a blanket (depending on the season) and go to the beach.

 

Practicals

 

Assuming you are reading this online, Getting here is obviously an important point, so, how?

 

Driving here is easy, just write the adress in your maps app and follow instructions. We’ll try to cover the parts before that.

 

Book your ticket to Lisbon Airport, there are many airlines flying here but let’s assume you are flying TAP air or another company landing on the main terminal.

First have a look at travel restrictions, usually there are none but sometimes there are extra curricular things going on like pandemics, forest fires etc, make sure you have all the papers you need. 

Fill up, there’s no food served on most planes flying in from Europe (under 5 hours time in the air) so bring something or get something hearty just before you leave. You can buy something onboard, but quality varies, price doesn’t, it’s expensive.

Bring a book or download some entertainment since most low cost airlines does not have entertainment systems.

Once you land it’s well marked and signs are in Portuguese and English, Get your bag and walk out.

 

Once outside you’ll see a big sign with arrows pointing to taxis, buses and rental cars.

 

Public transport.

There are busses leaving from the airport, you should probably book in advance. The stop is just outside the main terminal. There are a few busses that goes directly to Nazaré, especially at peak season (August- September)  there are also a few that leaves from the bus terminal in Lisbon to which you might need to find a local bus or go by taxi, it’s affordable, takes about 2 hours once you are on the bus and drops you off at the beach walk 5-8 minutes from the apartment.

 

Going by coach, minibus or taxi is ofcourse a bit more expensive, there are numerous companies offering their services for this and price and quality varies, usually ordered online in advance and they’ll stand in the arrival hall holding a sign with the name of your choice, this is easy if you don’t need a car or are planning on renting one in Nazaré (you can get motorbikes in Nazaré as well). But, I’d say if you need a car, rent it at the airport and drive yourself. 

 

Renting a car.

Most major and some minor rental car companies are located at the airport, our suggestion, book from home and look for deals and discounts via airline memberships, store clubs etc. An advice, do NOT get the cheapest car and read the reviews, we’ve been ripped off  and quality and service really differs a lot. Our best experience is with Guerin. But, no matter which company you choose, take photos and inspect the car thoroughly, a light blemish on pickup might be looked at as a major dent on return, get leverage. Another thing, get the smallest car you can fit in, streets are narrow and so are parking spaces. And another, another thing, get the automatic toll box, makes life easier.

 

So, hop in and ease your way out of the garage and aim for A1 oeste towards porto and Leiria. Drive that for about an hour and the you’ll see the road sign towards Nazaré, 10 minutes more and you are ”home”.

 

The roads  are usually in really good condition so fear not.

 

If you have bags too heavy to carry for three minutes, you might want to drive to the entrance, more about that follows.

If you’re from Spain, Italy, or even France you’re good, but for some others, It’s time for southern Europes most feared experience, iiiit’s…

 

…. Parking

and it must be looked upon as and adventure! 

 

You can unload in front of the entrance door but you can’t park there, and you have to reverse out which is not a problem if it just so happens there are no cars parked there, depending on season you might have to navigate through parked cars, confused tourists and grills occupying the street, in reverse remember. It’s not impossible at all, but I’d say it’s a line you have to pass, once it’s done it’s all good.

Again, depending on when you are here an advice might be, just park once, especially during the festivals in the summer it is INSANE.

 

Where?

First, if there are buckets with concrete blocking a parking place it means it’s taken, Park there if you’re ready to face the consequences and DO NOT tell anyone where you live or where you are from, eternal damnation might await.

 

Best option would be behind the market, there’s a pay to park parking close to it, and for the bold there’s a first come first serve parking on the gravel just behind the market. Beware of stones or concrete sticking out of the ground. Otherwise there’s the street, you can park in any direction but there’s a couple of rules, not at handicapped spaces=fine, official parking, police, municipal, loading positions =fine. Blocking someone or a garage= being yelled at, possible fine, guaranteed honking.

 

Just make sure everyone get’s in and out and don’t block the streets and you’ll be OK.

 

You will find something, just keep your eyes open and copy the locals.

 

Live a little.

 

 

Getting in

is not that hard even though there are a couple of keys to keep track off

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KEYS

If you haven’t got your keys allready we might have agreed they are in the safety box outside the door, enter the code you’ve been given and grab the keys.

The one that is not marked is to the entrance, walk in and push the door closed once you’re inside.

The following doors are marked with colored circles above the locks and so are the keys. 

The green door is the entrance to our part of the building, this might or might not be locked depending on if there´s someone else staying in the apartment you are not staying in.

One more stair you’ll find two doors, one to the right marked with blue and one in front marked with red. It’s logic, which one are you going to stay in? Red. Go through that door.

 

OK, this is the place!

 

Getting settled

 

Right here where you are now is where you leave your shoes, your jackets and maybe your towels if you are coming from the beach.

This is also where you brush the rest of the sand off, it’s easier to clean and you don’t get sand in the apartment, sheets, shower etc. OK? 

 

Up the last set of stairs you go.

 

Welcome! 

 

Water

Right in front of you you’ll see a small plastic lid next to the door phone. Open this one, and flip the switch that says C marked in red ON. This is you turning the hot water on. The tap water is OK to cook in and brush your teeth with, but it really doesn’t taste that good. It’s up to you, It’s drinkable.

 

Turn the Fridge on.

It’s a fridge, open it, turn the wheel to about 70%. Make sure the freeze compartment is closed. Good to go.

 

Now, leave your bags in the rooms., storage is under constant reconstruction, be nice to each other and agree. There’s hangers on the inside of the doors to both bedrooms as well.

 

Terrace needs to be furnished and also sometimes cleaned. If you are lucky it’s not too bad but the birds* constantly cruising over Praia loves the roof tops as much as you will and well, it’s kinda their domain. 

Sidetracking, sorry, swipe it with the broom (in the hallway downstairs), get some water from the shower, use the mop and the bucket (on the terrace) to sweep it, there’s some cleaning materials under the sink.

Place the table and the chairs. Sit down and relax for a bit. You’re worth it.

 

Too hot, too cold?

There’s AC units in all rooms, the remote controlling all these units (as you point at them) is in the small basket on the shelf in the kitchen, it’s cream white with a display.

Point to the AC, press ON, choose a snowflake for AC, choose sun for heating. Setting it to 23 degrees usually does it. It cools down and heats up really quick.

 One important thing. Do NOT leave the ACs ON when you are not inside unless it’s really necessary. Let’s all help the planet by not over consuming power. THANKS, we knew you would understand!

 

While in an environmentally friendly state of mind, lets talk about Garbage and re-cycling. There’s a garbage bin under the sink as well as some cleaning products and waste bags. You can sort the waste from the recycling and the closest recycling stations are by the market (close to the parking) or just up the street to the left and first right. You can sort domestic waste, paper and plastic, glass and paper.

 

 

You are not in Nazaré to watch TV, hence, there are no TV channels but you might just need to chill a while or the kids might have a favorite you tuber releasing a new episode that will only be on the internet forever so they MUST watch it now! (Yes, it’s a universal thing).

 

TV and Apple TV remotes are in the same basket as the AC remote. If you have an apple device you can screen share with the Apple TV, it’s on HDMI 1.

 

If you login to your account on the Apple TV make sure you log out when you leave.

 

This brings us to

Wi-FI.

The network SSID and the Pass is on the inside of the white cupboard door.

If you are working from here you might want to do wired connection, Connect to one of the ports on the white router located by the TV, we do not have cables for that, but you can buy one just up the street or bring one yourself.

 

The connection is usually about 150 down and 100 up but it varies alot, sometimes better sometimes a lot worse, but we have never had any problems doing online meetings, if something is not working, it’s YouTube messing things up again, take the phones from the kids… that too is universal.