Saturday – 4 August 2018

Today was going to be another culture day, but I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  The guide book said that the must visit place was Batalah (literally Battle Abbey). This was an hour’s bus ride away, and we discovered that there were few buses to get there and back.  We just made it onto the last bus at 10:15 and were told three of four times by the lady at the bus station that we must be on the last bus back, leaving at 14:00.

The bus took us through some glorious scenery, but as is the way of these things, it went though lots of small villages. Anyway we got to see a lot more of the country inland, and fortunately the bus was air conditioned.  There seems to have been a lot in the media about how hot it is here, and the temperature today was in the mid 40s where we were.

When we arrived, there was no doubt that we were in the right place.  The Abbey is a 15th century, gothic abbey, built by King D. João I of Portugal,  to celebrate the Portuguese victory at the Battle of Aljubarrota (August 14, 1385). It also served as the burial place for Portuguese royalty for a couple of hundred years. We visited a side chapel which held the remains of about 6 generations of the royal family, including most notably Henry the Navigator and Jaoa 1 and his wife, Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, this marriage made to cement the treaty between England and Portugal. These two, and at least one other couple were depicted rather touchingly holding hands in the carvings that top their graves.

The building is enormous, and is one of the finest examples of gothic architecture in Europe. It is a world heritage site.  We were able to walk around large parts of the Abbey itself and also parts of the monastery and its cloisters.  Hidden in one of these was Portugal’s tomb of the unknown soldier, constantly guarded by soldiers and with an external flame. There was also various information available about Portugal’s role in the First World War, and then some subsequent colonial conflicts.  I certainly had no understanding that Portugal was a combatant in the Great War, apparently entering the conflict on the Allied side in 1916.

When we arrived there were areas of the Abbey that we could not enter as there was a wedding taking place.  When this finished, and another wedding group turned up, and we could quite understand that this would be the place to married if you were from the local area.  We stood outside watching the one wedding party, interested in the local customs. Much seemed similar to weddings  at home, with everybody being photographed, including by use of a drone.

By the time we had taken this all in, it was time to head back to Nazare on the 14:00 bus. On our arrival we headed off to the other side of the town, where there was a funicular railway going up to the top of the cliff.  From here we walked first to the end of the headland, where there is a small castle which houses a surfing museum.  The is immediately inshore of where the largest and apparently most perfect and consistent surf wave in the world forms.  Apparently, combinations of the prevailing wind and wave angles, waves being reflected from the beach and others coming in through the underwater canyon result in the perfect wave.  The photos of the big waves were awe inspiring.  When the swell is 4 -5 metres in other parts of the bay, the waves here get to 30 metres.  This all happens during the winter, and the surf season is October to February, but I was very glad that we had come past on completely benign conditions. We stared to understand other things about the town from having visited here.  When we arrived we had noted on the chart that there was an area off the beach reserved for jet skis.  There were loads running around looking as if they were racing, and when we were in the hoarbour we had seen places hiring them and then the queue at the fuel pontoon at the end of the day.  Clearly Nazare has become a Centre of Excellence for jet skis, as in the winter these are used to tow the surfers out to where their surfing runs will start. You certainly could not just paddle or dive through the waves that we saw pictured.  In the town we also saw large areas set aside for camper vans, and I am sure that the surfing fraternity make very good use of them.

North Beach Nazare, the surfing mecca

Returning from this headland we entered the Shrine of Our Lady of Nazare, with its associated convent before heading back to the boat.  The rest of the town is a holiday resort and is more commercialised than other places we have been.  The Beach Football World Cup was held here in 2015 and the Womens version was held here earlier this year.

I think I have taken more photos today than any previous single day on our trips last year or this.  All in all very interesting.

Distance covered today		0 nautical miles
Trip distance covered	1011	nautical miles
Distance covered 2018	1731	nautical miles

Steve (and Tricia and Teresa)