Santarem to Porto (and rain.....)

The Hotel Santarem had fantastic views but, due to the low cloud and rain this morning, we really couldn't see much.  The restaurant where we ate our 'continental breakfast included in room rate' looked out over the pool, which was rapidly filling to overflowing due to the rain.  Before leaving, we did a quick tour of the old town and discovered the Mosteiro De S Francisco , with a beautiful white marble statue of St Francis of Assissi.
We had picked a couple of places to visit as we journey north to Porto and first stop was Tomar.  A very pretty town with the Nabao River flowing through it.  The historic centre is surrounded by the Castle and Convent of the Knights Templar, but sadly the rain and cold limited our sightseeing.
Next stop was Leiria where we picnicked in the car -it was still raining - and then walked up to the medieval castle on the hill.  the rest of the town looked pretty uninspiring, but the ruins of the castle were spectacular.  Clearly not on the typical tourist route as nobody spoke English, but well worth the visit.
Amazingly we managed to get fuel along the way, as most places had sold out and the places that did have fuel had queues for miles.  Near Averio, we went to a Decathlon store (Kathmandu on steroids). Best buy were silk sleeping bag liners for 32 euros!  Then the supermarket for amazing caramel popcorn, as you do in Portugal.
The weather from then on was absolutely dreadful.  Rain so heavy that it was a challenge to see the lights of the cars around you.  It felt like being on a 120km conveyor belt, with cars ducking and diving around us.  Thankfully we made it back to the airport to return our rental, which has served us well, over our 1000km drive.
We caught the metro into the city and walked to our Airbnb apartment.  It is amazing, right in the centre of Porto and exceptionally well done.  Originally a single dwelling, now made into nine very trendy apartments.  Best thing was the gelato shop just down the road.  Who doesn't eat gelato at 11.30 pm when in Portugal!