Aveiro to Sintra

Our Airbnb was great.  Clean and comfortable and perfectly located south of Porto.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't great this morning, we woke to low, misty cloud.  It was warm though and we spent some time exploring Aveiro.  There were interesting and colourful boats along the waterways, with large curved bow and stern.  The tour operators were very keen for us to go for a ride, but we politely declined.  It was really interesting to see the mixture of ancient buildings with modern, new ones alongside.  Some of the old houses are painted bright colours, while others are covered in beautiful ceramic tiles.
We travelled south to Coimbra and walked around the old, centre of the township.  The church of Santa Ana was spectacular, with the most amazing pipe organ we have ever seen.  The walls had blue and white ceramic tiles which depicted different biblical scenes.  The town had lots of interesting cafes and restaurants and shops selling the most beautiful linen.
Next stop was Nazare, made famous for its giant waves and surfing competitions.  The narrow lanes all led down the steep hills to the beach and many of the houses were painted pale colours with terracotta roofs.  It was very pretty, even thought it is the wrong time of year for the giant waves.   Can't imagine what it is like in summer as it was really busy, even on a dull day.  It was so nice to walk along the sand - it was definitely warmer than London.
Our Airbnb tonight is near Sintra, a world heritage site near Lisbon.  The apartment is in the middle of a village and we had to wind our way through incredibly narrow roads to get here.  It was made more complicated by the cars parked everywhere and people strolling along the middle of the roads.  Not as nice as last night, but definitely in a unique location.