We have moved on to our next stop, the Hotel Fortaleza do Guincho, which as the name might imply is in a fortress originally ordered to be built in 1642 and reinforced about about 100 years later as part of a series of gun batteries that were supposed to protect the mouth of the Tagus River and Lisbon. Now it is a Relaix & Chateau hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant. Going to blow it once there, but so far dinners were very inexpensive in Lisbon. We are consciously splurging on this one. That said, we did just return from a trip to a local market where we spent the equivalent of $15 on two bottles of wine a large water. You can take us out of Trenton but you can’t take the Trenton out of us. I think we are likely among the few guests here bringing in their own cheap wine.

Now the area is popular with kite and wind surfers, which makes sense because I doubt there isn’t often an ocassion when the wind isn’t howling. The kite surfing looks like it could be a lot of fun for the able-bodied but it’s not in my league anymore (and given the fact I never did swim well, probably never was). But there are a number of people out there doing it, which we are  watching from a sitting area of our room. I wouldn’t recommend it for a swim in any event; very rough surf and cold water. We went for a walk on a nature trail instead, which involved a boardwalk built through the dunes roughly 1.5 miles in length. This is very much your typical resort area, with lots of bikers, hikers and people just taking in the sights. Tonight we are off to a local seafood spot, typical kind of shore thing, and tomorrow it’s off to the historic town of Sintra.

-xxx-