It was an interesting morning. Our plan was to visit the monastery at Alcobaca, and then go to Nazare for lunch and be back for the 2 year old’s nap. Well, 10 person coordination is hard, as you might imagine as young person decided not to and one adult would have to stay home as well. So the negotiations began, slowing down everything. But all worked out and we were all on our way, about 45 minutes behind schedule.

The church at Alcobaca is quite large with an ornate Gothic front and is the final home of several Portuguese royals. Especially King Pedro and his would-be queen, the noble but not noble enough woman who Pedro loved, but who Pedro’s father condemned to death. Pedro vowed to provide a proper place for her after death and vowed to rest in the same place after his death. And so it was.

The church was built by the Cistercians in the 12th century (that’s 900 years ago). Adjoining it is a large monastery which closed in 1833, when apparently all monasteries in Portugal were closed by royal decree. Time and expense led us to skip the monastery tour for 10- we missed the form, the kitchen and so forth. Next time.

On to Nazare in our two cars. Every try to find two nearby parking places in Nazare? An impossibility. So we split – each car on its own. I went in Hannah’s car. We found a parking spot a block (short block) from the beach and the group decided to eat at (believe it or not) an Indian restaurant. Turns out there is a fair amount of Indian food in Portugal, much based on the cuisine of Goa, the former Portuguese Indian colony. The food was pretty good, I am happy to say. And next door is the Petite Parisienne, where I had the best coffee yet this week.

Nazare, very crowded and very pleasant, is much different from the small, remote fishing village that it was when I was here 51 years ago. For the better? Maybe, but less picturesque.

So at about 7 tonight, we got word that one of the missing bags have been located at Heathrow and was put on a plane arriving at 4 today. We have no confidence that they will find where we are staying so will keep our phones on a constant watch and see what happens. We don’t know which bag it is.

Now, I know many of you think that this hasn’t been a good vacation because everything has gone wrong, but we don’t view it that way. It is just different.

Speaking of that, we just got back from dinner at an upscale restaurant less than 10 minutes from the house. A restaurant that Google loves, with most reviews giving it 5 stars.

Well, where should I start? Edie’s meal never came at all. Izzy threw half of his meal in the floor with loud remarks heard throughout town, until he decided that it was pretty good after all. Joan had trouble spearing her buttered new potatoes and about 5 of them ended up on the floor. She also decided to keep Josh’s clam shells as a souvenir, wrapped them in her napkin and promptly spilled them all on the way away from the table. Someone else (who will not be named) put too much pressure on the arm of their plastic Eames-like chair which snapped and broke. The veggie burger and the swordfish and the cod were not very good. The tuna, the french fries, the vegetables and the corn bread was very good. And I am told the clams were, as well.

Now, back at the house. Sunset is over, port is being sipped, Izzy is in bed, Joan and Ian (8 and 11) are talking about what their social lives are like.

What will tomorrow bring? Tune in and find out.