Monday, April 20, 2026

2026-04-16 Get on the bus, Gus




The fog rolled in on little cat feet this morning as we got ready to take the bus from Porto to Figueira da Foz. We got ourselves out of the house about 7am.  First, we take the metro to the Campanhã station which houses the Metro, Regional/National Trains as well as a bus station.  It's a few stops from our (Bolhão) station which is around 5 minutes or we could have walked it in about 25. It was cold, around 10C/50F and breezy.



The ride was uneventful, with a brief stop in Aveiro. It's mostly highway, so it skips right along pretty quickly. JR sketched while Stacey finished the newest Jonathon Maeberry book.

Figueira da Foz (Foz) is a on the Mondego River which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. There's a lovely street that takes you along the Mondego and their main street, and leads you to the Forte as well as the Atlantic, the praia, shops, etc.



The marina and the street both have opportunities to enjoy some public art.


These trees are super cool! They are Norfolk pines (Araucaria heterophylla)


While we waited for our friends from Alcobaca, recent ex-pats Heather and Katrina, we had a snackie and some coffee on the boardwalk near the clocktower.


This guy was over Stacey's shoulder on an A frame sign.  He stayed put long enough for JR to sketch him.


Soon after, Heather and Katrina arrived and we headed to the beach.  As you can see, it was super windy, but we walked almost 3 miles and it was glorious.


The ocean was very foamy.



After walking on the beach and then finding a spot for lunch, we of course had to stop and get gelato, because you can't let the penguins have all the fun.


Katrina interacting with the fish


Stacey loves lantana and this is the biggest lantana 'bush' we'd ever seen.  The blooms themselves were massive and very happy.





And of course, theres a ton of public/street art.  This was a beautiful mosaic.


All-in-all the day was lovely, we enjoyed our friends and we all headed back to our respective domiciles full of sun, gelato and good conversation.

 

6 comments:

Sandra Gerulat said...

Beautiful photos! If you love Lantana, Stacey, you should come visit us in AZ once you return to the states. We have multiple lantanas in various colors. They do very well in our hot, dry climate. Enjoying your posts.

Stacey said...

Thanks for the invite. We'll let you know when we get close.

Anonymous said...

What?! Lantana isn’t an annual? (It is in WI!) mind blown. What a lovely town. I imagine that beautiful beach gets many visitors year round.

Kim McKay said...

That prior post was mine.

Anonymous said...

It’s an Annual in CO as well. It’s ubiquitous in Texas where I first saw it.

Anne N said...

Fun!