Batalha, Nazaré and Obidos

Our wonderful adventure continued with a day trip from Fatima.  The plan, take in three small and very different villages.  Explore, wander and drink it all in.  Following another great breakfast at our hotel, and with sunny blue skies to accompany us (finally), off we headed.

First stop, Batalha, which means battle.  The huge surprise here was the Monastery of Batalha!

I probably should have tried to take a photo of the entire monastery but I couldn’t really get back far enough to capture it. This means you will see it in bits and pieces.

Gorgeous building. The monastery was built to thank the Virgin Mary for the Portuguese victory over the Castilians in 1385!!!

The stained glass thew amazing colours throughout the cavernous rooms

Rich vibrant colours.

The ceiling in one of the rooms.

Look at those happy faces and the dancing light on the walls.

I love the details

This caught my eye as we watched the changing of the guard at the memorial of the unknown soldiers.

Detail on a pillar

A fountain in one of the cloisters.

The swallows are starting to nest wherever they can squeeze themselves.

This is only one tiny part of the monastery taken through one of the windows.

No, he is not proposing. He is tying up his shoe!

This is one of the unfinished chapels.

We were in awe of this place, especially finding it tucked in this tiny town.  From here, off to Nazaré.  It was the least favourite of my trip but in fairness, the winds were up and the beach, as you can see, empty.  We did get to enjoy the huge indoor market which was a treat but…….we didn’t stay in the town very long.

This lovely bottle brush was in full bloom and the colour gorgeous against the blue sky.

On the beach.

My fella was quite happy to be beside the sea and hear the pounding surf.

Just to show you how empty the beach was.

Another beach shot.

I waited and waited for the waves to roll but I missed the enormity of it.

Vendors hoping for last minute sales in the market. We arrived there at the end of the day.

From here, our final destination, other than heading back to Fatima!!  Obidos.  We all three loved it and walked our respective asses off!!

I never tire of seeing the different styles of architecture here.

This is the upper area of the main gate going into the old village.

One of the many small churches in the village.

Another small church in the village.

I enjoyed this perspective.

This is a tiny place that makes hand made tiles.

Amazing olives…simply amazing.

I had this delicious seafood pasta dish

Marc had this pheasant salad. I forgot to take a photo of Laurie’s soup…….boring!!

As we ate we were joined by this gal……what a beggar.

Tell me they don’t look happy and content?

Doorway to the hand painted tile shop, which we visited after lunch.

Inside the tile shop.

Loved this newly painted and installed wall hanging.

Saw this down at the bottom of an interesting garden.

We hiked a small trail that followed the exterior wall of the village.

This is a part of a very old staircase

It was Palm Sunday and we lucked upon this lovely procession, filled with music and singing, it felt quite special.

This version of the Virgin was just beautiful and high in the peak of the church.

We certainly got our exercise during this visit.

Fabulous day……wonderful wanderings and memories created.  I would certainly recommend checking out all three of these places.    We headed back through the countryside towards Fatima……another winding route filled with farmland, vineyards and many tiny villages.  We had a long day ahead of us for Monday with the drive to home and so a great dinner…a good night sleep and my favourite shot of the day….