Nazare, Should We Move Here?

Nazare—my first impression was it was a busy little hub of activity. Second impression, a little boring. Third impression? A busy little hub. It’s interesting how much more a community develops after you get to know it. In Nazare, there’s a pretty famous cultural thing regarding the traditional fisherman’s wives. They dress in these unusual skirts that are similar to petticoats. They wear scarves around their heads and usually have knee-high thick socks. They station themselves at street corners with handmade signs offering their rooms for rent. If you’re interested, then they hop to their feet and beckon you to follow them.

Another function of these sweet-looking ladies is to rope you into buying something from their little booths of nuts and dried fruit. Trust me, this is a serious threat to your wallet. They are super cute little ninjas. I went to the outdoor beach gym and one of these ladies was working out in her petticoats. They train for this!

The older men won’t give you the time of day. Especially to me… a woman. Now wait, hold on before you jump to conclusions. Portuguese men do not strike up conversations with women. It’s not acceptable. Picking up on a girl is a seriously difficult job here.

Looming over Nazare is the upper town, sometimes referred to as Sitio. It is perched on the cliffs overlooking Nazare, but is connected to Nazare on its inland side. A funicular glides up and down the cliff-side to give you access. Usually. For some inexplicable reason, it’s not functioning right now. That means we have to go up the stairs—to the cliff. We went a couple of days ago. I was so tired that I got conned into buying five dollars worth of cashews from one of the petticoat ninjas. Then we went down to the fort at the point. This is where the largest recorded wave came in at one-hundred feet high (30.48 meters). It was rough weather, but no hundred-footers. We wandered around the town square and settled into an Italian restaurant run by a New Jersey woman. Delicious.

We returned today. This time we visited the church and found the hospital with its awesome ocean-view. On the road going to the fort is a series of fast food booths. We stopped and got one of the best burgers I’ve had in my life. This time when we came back home, we skirted the stairs and went through the neighborhoods. We eventually ended up at the place we always end up at—the Cubato Bar. Joe’s favorite for their draft stout beer and it has a fantastic sunset view.

Something I haven’t seen here in Nazare is roasted chestnuts. These mobile roasters are everywhere in Lisbon. I tried them for the first time on this trip and loved them. I see I forgot to tell you about my evening at Antonio and Martinho’s house before we left. They did have a special dinner for us (and invited their friend, Pascal) and gave me a gorgeous scarf and a bottle of port from Antonio’s hometown. I think it’s amazing port and was sooo happy to be given a bottle!

Another place we like is the Irish Pub. Not because it’s good, because it’s not. But they have a great vibe and often have a band. It can get packed in there regardless of the weather or the quality of their boxed-wine. As you know, I’m a people watcher. The other night a young couple was sitting in my line-of-sight. She was really moving to the music—more than seems possible while seated. This was all lost on her partner whose eyes were locked on the futbal game on TV behind her. It’s possible she thought he was watching her, but I could see his eyes. Hilarious.

So this brings me to the question… would we move here? IF we could move to Portugal, which is currently not feasible, Nazare would be a fun place to live. I know you all think we live adventurous lives, but normally our entertainment is working out and hanging out with friends. We’re not fans of concerts, events, or sports. If that is your style than you probably wouldn’t like to live here. We like the variety of tourists and locals, the expensive gourmet restaurants and the cheap cafes. 

The promenade along the beach is excellent. I like how flat the front part of town is and how it goes straight out to the sand. If we want to get some hill climbing in, we can cruise around the back streets or head up the cliff. The biggest drawback to living here is the grocery store. Star is very, very limited. Surprisingly they do have BBQ sauce, which we couldn’t find in Lisbon. The fish market is open everyday but Monday and therefore Star doesn’t carry any fish. If we want fish, we have to go to the market before it closes at noon.

Another factor to keep in mind when choosing where to live is accessibility to Lisbon for the airport and other Lisbon chores. It’s about an hour and half from here by bus. A large hospital is located about a twenty-minute drive in the city of Caldas da Rainha. They do have a small hospital here on the cliff with an amazing view of the ocean.

I’m not sure what the swimming pool situation is here. I didn’t bring my swim-gear this trip. One thing I like is the gym on the beach… typical free Portuguese open-air gym. I’ve worked out there three times and I’m so sore—in a good way.

Doing laundry is a challenge. This washer is in French. It appears to have three choices; 3H, 6H, 9H. Though we found it hard to believe that the H represented hours, it turns out to be the case. One load of laundry took 3 hours. It also happened to get cold and rainy again, so it took 24 hours to dry. We are now on the hunt for a close laundromat to dry the clothes for the next time. We did figure out how to wash the clothes for a 60-minute cycle for the next load. That felt like such an achievement.