Agueda to Figuera da Foz (48 miles; 483 total)

 Today's route was fairly flat with climbs at the beginning and near the end. We rode through many small villages, interspersed with pine & eucalyptus forests. The highlights were lunch and a small roadside diner and then an encounter with the owner and chef of a small pizza shop in Figuera da Foz. 

Departure from Agueda's Residencial Celeste. Excellent breakfast. This was the first hotel that kept the food behind glass and a server loaded plates individually, probably a holdover from covid measures.

4 Euros. 2 large Coffee's with milk, chocolate croissant, and chocolate frosted eclair with custard filling.

WC Signage. Most are just profiles, but this one was a bit classier.

Plate of the Day. Stopping for lunch is always somewhat of a gamble, never knowing what they might offer and the quality of the offering. The choice here was chicken or bacalao, with bread, olives, salad, rice in a tomato sauce, wine (white or red), and coffee. All for 8 euros. We ordered the bacalao, 2 large fritters each. The fritter comprised codfish, peppers, herbs, and perhaps some egg as a binder, battered, and fried like tempura. The fritter was served cold reminiscent of egg fu young. Tasty with the hot rice/tomato sauce poured over the fritter. Lunch included an entire bottle of wine, so fortunately, we were within 6 miles of our destination.

Our Diner.

Wary Dog of the Day.

Liked the Label

Gusto Pizza. The highlight of our Figuera da Foz stop was Gusto Pizza. The door was open, I looked in, the owner said they were closed, then invited us in. We must have stayed for 45 minutes, having a delightful conversation.

Gusto Pizza had just won a major pizza competition and has been invited to compete in Napoli with 20 pizza makers from around the world, a huge honor. Alex, shown below, was the winning chef for the contest pizza.


Alex, Master Pizza Maker, with their trophy and medal. 

Simon, Owner/Partner. Also a master pizza maker. Both are Italian, Simon from north of Rome and Alex from Sicily. 

The Dough is the Key. Some details: They use only 00 Italian flour, with 11 grams of protein per KG, about the same as 5 or 6 grams per pound, rarely found in US flour. They make the dough a the day prior, age it overnight, then form the boules for each pizza and let them rest for 6-8 hours before forming the pizza. Never rolling the dough, Alex forms by slapping on the counter; Simon tosses the dough. Alex tends to form thin crust pizza while Simon forms a thicker dough. 

A Master at Work. I got a free lesson. In the end, they offered us a beer and slice of pizza while we talked.

Forming by Slapping.

Boules Proofing. They were closed to prepare for a large festival in Coimbra, needing to prepare 4,000 pizzas the next weekend. 


Alex greets his daughter and wife, who dropped by the shop.

Alex slicing a margarita to share. Delicious!

Figuera da Foz is reputed to have the wides beach in Portugal, nearly a kilometer wide.

Large Waves, No Surfers, Several Fishermen.











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