Portugal - Caldas da Rainha and Óbidos

Today we drove about an hour south to a town called Caldas da Rainha, which means "Queen's Hot Springs". It's named after Queen Leonor who passed through the area in 1484 and tried the natural hot springs. It cured her of some ailment, so she sold some of her jewels and had a big hospital built on the site so that others could be cured. In return, the settlement named itself after her. Portuguese painter José Malhoa painted this portrait of her nearly 500 years later.

José Malhoa was born in Caldas da Rainha -- in the middle of a peaceful park in the center of town there is a good small museum dedicated to his work (and it showcases other Portuguese painters and sculptors, too).

The town of Caldas da Rainha is also famous throughout Portugal for being the home of the Pinheiro ceramics factory, founded by Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro in 1885. 

Pinhero led an interesting life -- he started out as an illustrator and cartoonist. One of his most popular creations was a cartoon character called Zé Povinho (roughly translated: "Joe Public"), kind of a Portuguese everyman. In the middle of town there is a bench with statues of both Pinheiro and his famous creation.

The city has an interesting Museu de Cerâmica, located inside a romantic-era mansion.

The original owner of the mansion was a wealthy Viscount who collected ceramics -- they covered the walls and were on display throughout the three-story home.

After checking out Caldas da Rainha, we drove to one of Portugal's most picturesque towns -- Óbidos. It's a walled medieval town that feels a bit like a setting for a Renaissance fair.

The castle keep is now a fancy hotel for tourists. The narrow cobbled lanes are packed with shops and restaurants. It's definitely a touristy town.

I can only imagine how packed this tiny town would be in summer. But on a rainy weekday in December, there were only a handful of other tourists wandering around. Once we detoured off of the main shopping street, we had the place nearly to ourselves.

Which was great, because the other reason we were here was to check out the Vila Natal (Christmas Village). The town sets up an ice skating rink, trampolines, a theater for shows, photo op with Santa Claus, and a mini-train for the kids. It's normally a very popular attraction and draws people from all over central Portugal.

When it's not raining, that is.  The skies got progressively darker throughout the afternoon and I think that kept the crowds away.  But we were glad to have a little holiday cheer, even if it did start raining pretty hard by the end of the day.

As we walked back to the car, the rest of the town was illuminated by lights and decorations.

Feliz Natal e Boas Festas!