Tracy and Harri’s Visit – 16th June.

by Kerry · 22 June 2025

Harri and Tracy, Paul and I, having pre-dinner drinks outside at the Aurora i Ocaso restaurant.

Paul’s sister Tracy and her husband Harri came to visit us for 4 days. Their flight was not long, but the queues to get through customs took hours. It seems that a lot of flights landed at a similar time!

Five hours after landing they arrived, so we all went out to dinner at the Aurora i Ocaso, our favorite restaurant.

With a beautiful sunset behind us, and a 30 minute walk back to our place in Perola de Lagoa, we wound our way along the lagoon path, listening to the cicadas and witnessing the magical glow of fireflies.

Tuesday – after breakfast we walked along the beach to Praia del Rey. See the sand dunes separating the ocean from the Obidos lagoon.

The day started off hazy but soon evolved into a scorcher. We took our swimmers for a refreshing dip midway, but this coastline is not really made for swimming due to the big waves and strong undercurrents.

The cliffs along this stretch of the Silver Coastline are striated with sulphorous yellow, reds and hues of brown. There are regular cliff falls all the way along. Anyone for a swim?

We stopped for lunch at Praia del Rey golf resort before walking back. Of course we also had to have another swim to cool down half way.

In the evening we went to the Merkado for dinner. One of the things I absolutely love about being somewhere hot is being able to eat outside. This restaurant serves local delicacies like sardines, sea bream and sea bass, all cooked beautifully.

We were back in good time to celebrate the local wine made in Obidos – one white, one red naturally! They all laughed when I said that I tried to not drink wine regularly – but its really difficult because I really like it!!

I also made good use of the citronella candles we brought with us from home – not sure if they work but they add to the atmosphere 🙂

Wednesday – we went to Obidos Castle first thing. Again, a misleadingly hazy start as we were soon frying under the intense heat of this day!

The met office gave a high of 37 degrees, it certainly felt like it at times.

We were missing the sea breeze.

Great views from the Castle ramparts – vineyards as far as the eye can see, and a maze of orange roofs within.

Obidos Castle hosts an annual Medieval event end of July, with jousting, feasting, dressing up and entertainment. There were preparations for this underway when we visited.

Harri and Tracy trying out the thrones, and Paul testing some armour.

The Bougainvillea is really bursting into myriads of colours and is so abundundant everywhere now. I love the orange of the Trumpet vines too!

Getting away from the stifling heat of Obidos we went back to the coast to see Baleal Island, and the rock formations caused by tectonic plate shifts.

Continuing round the bay to Peniche we stopped to visit Papoa Islet…

which has interconnecting walkways and bridges..

taking you from one craggy outcrop to another – the sea beneath and all around.

Fabulous views..

and is absolutely covered in Alliums in June.

Driving further round the peninsular of Peniche we took Tracy and Harri to see the amazing cliff rock formations

This is the Varanda de Pilatos – which is a balcony created by nature. The wind has carved out the inside of this cliff that is reached by steel ladder.

Not for anyone scared of heights.

The coastline near the lighthouse has many caves.

This cave was reached by steps carved into the rock of the cliff face – used by the fishermen balanced at various levels.

After all that exploring we went to a fish restaurant in Peniche town for dinner, where Harri had a huge prawn and squid skewer.

We are on holiday so more wine followed in the evening’s celebrations!

Thursday – we headed to the Covao dos Musaranhos – round one end of the lagoon – about an hours walk. Literally meaning the cove of shrews, locals call it Lizard Cove.

The lagoon is beautiful but there seemed to be quite a lot of people around – fishing, camping, having barbeques and picnics. The herons were still there and I managed to take some photos.

The restaurant of the same name is only open during the day but is nearly always fully booked – this day was no exception – all the tables were reserved.

We sat on the smoker’s table under the trees, drinking cola and eating pastel de nata, which suited us fine as it was shaded. Our view over the lagoon.

We got back and jumped in the car to check out the wonderful wooden walkways at Foz d’Arelho.

This was when when we realised that it was a Portuguese holiday – Corpus Christi – a religous observance for Catholics. No wonder everywhere was absolutely rammed.