Figuera da Foz to Marinha Grande (42 miles; 525 total)

Today was a pleasant day of riding south on Portugal's Atlantic Coast, often following Euro Velo Route 1 (EV1), mostly a separated, roadside bike path. Rain was forecast but the probabilities kept dropping as morning approached. We stopped to chat with 4 members of a bike touring group, all from Belgium on e-bikes. We encountered a larger group the prior day, all on high-end Trek bikes, but they did not show any interest is talking to us.

We encountered some mist but never rain. The prevailing 8-15 mph tail wind out to the northwest continued. The land was generally open, a mix of pine and eucalyptus forest, low shrubs, and large sand dunes along the coast.

Figuera da Foz Beach on an overcast morning.

Figuera da Foz is a busy container port.

Our route south was over this long bridge, fortunately, with a separate pedestrian/bike way. The approach on the road was via a narrow shoulder, which ended. I stopped, unhooked my panniers, lifted the bike and panniers over the guard rail, and rode across into a stiff cross wind.

After 10-15 miles of roads through villages and farms, the terrain transitioned to national forest, mostly pine and eucalyptus. In general, eucalyptus is replacing the native pine, although both species are planted.

Prior burn area.

Sand dunes with the Atlantic Ocean in the distance.

No flats today, just time to reapply a little chain oil.

Lunch. The first place we stopped at for lunch featured white linen table cloths, which seem a bit much for touring cyclists. We found another place a few blocks further. We asked for a "sandwich" or "mista". They asked if we wanted it hot or cold. We said "hot" and got this tasty grilled ham and cheese panini. One never quite knows what you might be served.

Wood, Glass, and Steel. Our Marinha Grande lodging. Reception and bike storage was here on the ground level, between two restaurants. Our room was 40 feet around the corner of the building, a large en suite twin room up one flight of stairs. While termed a "hostel", it was more like a guest house with no communal rooms, shared bathrooms, and bunk beds.

Marinha Grande was once a major glass products manufacturing center. Now mostly artisanal, they had a glass-making museum and numerous small antique shops selling glasswares. An exhibit of glass animals, hardly something one could pack on a bicycle.

Shown below.

Many buildings, old and new, feature colorful tile art displays.

Antique Shop featuring glassware. In the lane where the antique shops were clustered, there were two wheel barrows filled with crystal glassware of various sizes and shapes, marked "3 euros" and "1 euro."

Tile display honoring the Marinha Grande glass makers.

We noticed a load of wood being unloaded in the afternoon, which immediately suggested that we should eat here tonight. But, just down he street was a sports club bar, so we returned that evening while waiting for the pizza restaurant to open.

The soccer club sports bar featured a cuppa (glass) of wine, listed at .65 euros, so we had to try it. I'd call it a "big pour." John looks pretty happy before we started on the wine.

Pizza Rustica.  Great choice. Wood fired seafood pizza, shared, with clams, shrimp, mushrooms, and a 1/2 liter vino Tinto, 16 euros. Excellent pizza and decent red wine, better quality than the white at the sports club. Tough times in Portugal.