Taking our lives in our hands, we loaded the car in front of the room, then off we drove to Batalha, home of the "Chapel of Sao Jorge". Believe me when I say the whole effect is quite impressive, with a huge statue of King Joao, on his horse, set in the square. Carole made a reservation at the Pousada in Amarante, east of Porto for Good Friday, from here.

  
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Made a side trip to the Mira de Aire caves on a roundabout way to Fatima. Between Batalha and the caves through, I have to mention the rocks; millions of rocks strewn about the bare hillsides for miles. Eerie effect. Merv figured that if you took a Portuguese from Sintra and turned him loose here, he'd have thought he died and went to heaven. All those damn rock fences he could build.

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The Mira de Aire caves are the deepest in Europe at 75 meters (250'). Worth touring at 250 escu.

    
    
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Next stop; Fatima. The square at Fatima was supposed to have held a million people on the Pope's last visit. Seeing it, I believe it! Beautiful church and grounds. Very religious and holy place. Carole and I lit candle for mom's speedy recovery. Hope it works.

    
    
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From Fatima to Leiria, for lunch in the square beside the river. Enormous castle overlooking the town, but I got outvoted for a tour; guess everyone was castled out.

  
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Decided to make time and deadhead to the Porto area. Hit good highway running north but ran into a snag just south of Coimbra. Traffic jam for miles! Finally at Condeixa, we got onto the autobahn and flew. 120 km + all the way to our turn at Porto. Covered more ground in one hour than we did in the last three days. Found a pension at Praia da Granja, then down to Espinho for an evening stroll. Nice sunset but extremely cold. Big hotels and even a casino. Back to our rooms for meal of buns, cheese and cocktail sausages. To bed at 10:30 p.m. Very tired.

  
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