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| On my way to the top ... of the cliff on the north side of Nazaré |
Let's explore.
Let's start with the inlet at the south end of Praia da Nazaré, the southern beach.
It's a beach town so there are beach things.
Like beachy bar/restaurant combos.
And fitness equipment. Just like Copacabana Beach in Rio!
Walking up Avenida Manuel Remigio. (That name still galls me. It's a street. Alongside a beach. At an ocean. The only names to choose from are: (1) Atlantic Avenue; (2) Ocean Boulevard; (3) Shore Drive; or (4) There is no fourth choice -- you have to choose from one of the above three period end of discussion.)
Finally, a block or so inland at the northern end of the southern beach is the funicular.
Let's ride, shall we?
The views from up top are amazing.
Even the gulls enjoy taking in the view:
Another angle, still looking down into Nazaré proper:
From the funicular station it's a half-mile walk to the old fort, Farol de Nazaré. Farol de Nazaré was an important fortification that was captured by the French, then recaptured by townsfolk in the early years of Napoleon in the early 19th Century. But that's not what Nazaré and its Farol de Nazaré are known for,
The largest surf-able waves in the known universe. That is what Nazaré is known for. And the Farol de Nazaré is known as the best viewpoint for seeing the world's largest surf-able waves. How large is world's largest? Up to 100 meters. That's a football field plus both endzones. In height.
Walking down to the fort I see this unholy monstrosity:
A man with the head of a deer. It's an homage to the two most important things about Nazaré. The deer head is because of the legend of a member of the Portuguese royal family who was hunting deer on horseback here when the deer leapt off a cliff (which, as seen from the above pictures would be quite fatal) and the king/prince/whatever was protected from falling off the same cliff by the Virgin Mary. So the cathedral in town was built on that site and if you have a cathedral you might as well have a town and, voila, Nazaré.
The human body is not just any ordinary human body, but a surfer dude body. See the surfboard in the man-deer right arm? (Your left.)
While you are pondering that, we arrive at the fort:
I don't know what the duck decoys are for, but we might as well just enjoy them.
It's so weird seeing people take real pictures nowadays, and not just selfies.
Like this guy. I've got a real "hey dude" look on my face, apropos given that I am in surfer nirvana.
Walking through the fort:
This is the lighthouse. There are a ton of pictures and youtube videos out there of the massive waves, which tower over this lighthouse, which itself is on a very high cliff. Fortunately, the biggest waves are in November so we weren't in danger of being washed off the roof of the fort.
This is the view of Praia de Norte, the surf beach.
One last look at the lighthouse and fort:
And it's off to Igreja Nossa Senhora de Nazaré:
Let's have a look inside:
Awesome.
We don't have all day, so it's off to the next, the town museum, the Museu Dr. Joaquim Manso. This is not him:
Nor is this:
You can tell that bust is of someone who chose the seafaring life.
The museum was very small, only four rooms. Nice old photograph of the old funicular.
Statue of A Mãe de Nazaré:
Something something to do with fishing:
Model boats that are replicas of famous fishing boats used in Nazaré:
Not a huge collection. Time to ride back down to the main part of town from Sitiu, the name of the neighborhood on the top of the cliff.
Nazaré has a real boardwalk.
And special ashtrays if you want to smoke on the beach and not pollute the deep sand.
This is back at the inlet:
Another sunset shot at the Hotel Miramar Sul:
And sunset means suppertime! Dinner tonight at the Maria Do Mar.
Dinner was the squid kebab. Hey, I needed a break from my steady diet of octopus.
Washed it down with a half-bottle of Vinho Verde, new white wine and it was a meal.
As you can see, quite an extensive wine collection for so small of a restaurant. It's Europe!
Let's start with the inlet at the south end of Praia da Nazaré, the southern beach.
It's a beach town so there are beach things.
Like beachy bar/restaurant combos.
And fitness equipment. Just like Copacabana Beach in Rio!
Walking up Avenida Manuel Remigio. (That name still galls me. It's a street. Alongside a beach. At an ocean. The only names to choose from are: (1) Atlantic Avenue; (2) Ocean Boulevard; (3) Shore Drive; or (4) There is no fourth choice -- you have to choose from one of the above three period end of discussion.)
Finally, a block or so inland at the northern end of the southern beach is the funicular.
Let's ride, shall we?
The views from up top are amazing.
Even the gulls enjoy taking in the view:
Another angle, still looking down into Nazaré proper:
From the funicular station it's a half-mile walk to the old fort, Farol de Nazaré. Farol de Nazaré was an important fortification that was captured by the French, then recaptured by townsfolk in the early years of Napoleon in the early 19th Century. But that's not what Nazaré and its Farol de Nazaré are known for,
The largest surf-able waves in the known universe. That is what Nazaré is known for. And the Farol de Nazaré is known as the best viewpoint for seeing the world's largest surf-able waves. How large is world's largest? Up to 100 meters. That's a football field plus both endzones. In height.
Walking down to the fort I see this unholy monstrosity:
A man with the head of a deer. It's an homage to the two most important things about Nazaré. The deer head is because of the legend of a member of the Portuguese royal family who was hunting deer on horseback here when the deer leapt off a cliff (which, as seen from the above pictures would be quite fatal) and the king/prince/whatever was protected from falling off the same cliff by the Virgin Mary. So the cathedral in town was built on that site and if you have a cathedral you might as well have a town and, voila, Nazaré.
The human body is not just any ordinary human body, but a surfer dude body. See the surfboard in the man-deer right arm? (Your left.)
While you are pondering that, we arrive at the fort:
I don't know what the duck decoys are for, but we might as well just enjoy them.
It's so weird seeing people take real pictures nowadays, and not just selfies.
Like this guy. I've got a real "hey dude" look on my face, apropos given that I am in surfer nirvana.
Walking through the fort:
This is the lighthouse. There are a ton of pictures and youtube videos out there of the massive waves, which tower over this lighthouse, which itself is on a very high cliff. Fortunately, the biggest waves are in November so we weren't in danger of being washed off the roof of the fort.
This is the view of Praia de Norte, the surf beach.
One last look at the lighthouse and fort:
And it's off to Igreja Nossa Senhora de Nazaré:
Let's have a look inside:
Awesome.
We don't have all day, so it's off to the next, the town museum, the Museu Dr. Joaquim Manso. This is not him:
Nor is this:
You can tell that bust is of someone who chose the seafaring life.
The museum was very small, only four rooms. Nice old photograph of the old funicular.
Statue of A Mãe de Nazaré:
Something something to do with fishing:
Model boats that are replicas of famous fishing boats used in Nazaré:
Not a huge collection. Time to ride back down to the main part of town from Sitiu, the name of the neighborhood on the top of the cliff.
Nazaré has a real boardwalk.
And special ashtrays if you want to smoke on the beach and not pollute the deep sand.
This is back at the inlet:
Another sunset shot at the Hotel Miramar Sul:
And sunset means suppertime! Dinner tonight at the Maria Do Mar.
Dinner was the squid kebab. Hey, I needed a break from my steady diet of octopus.
Washed it down with a half-bottle of Vinho Verde, new white wine and it was a meal.
As you can see, quite an extensive wine collection for so small of a restaurant. It's Europe!
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