Exploring Alcobaça
I decided to rent a car for my visit to Portugal. I had a great experience when I rented on in Poland so decided to give it another shot. It allows me freedom to go whenever I want. From the city of Lisbon, the city of Alcobaça isn’t that far. It is just that I have never been to this place that I would think that it is further than it actually was. The highways of Portugal were very good and they were a pleasure to drive on. They have an electronic toll collection system so that you don’t have to worry about finding spare change for the tolls. The car rental company would provide you with a device which is on the car. The device responds to the toll booths and you just get billed by passing through the booths. It was rather neat to see this in action since you would hear the beeps whenever it registers. The car rental company would then calculate how much you need to pay at the end of the rental.
Alcobaça Monastery
Convenient as it was to have electronic toll collection. It was rather alarming to keep hearing the device beep every few kilometers. It felt almost like a taxi meter ticking way too fast. Eventually, the beeps stopped because I was already entering the city of Alcobaça. The city had a provincial feel to it since there didn’t seem to be too many people here. As I was entering the main square, I saw the Alcobaça Monastery which is the main attraction in this city. There is a large open area where people sell stuff. It was hot and I was finally in shorts for a change. After a tiring morning of driving, it was finally time for me to do some wandering.
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