Without much planning in advance, we went to Setúbal because it is nearby and on the coast. Maybe we should have done some more planning.
After an uneventful hour-long journey by train we arrived in town. A short walk brought us to Igreja do Convento de Jesus (Church of the Convent of Jesus), which is a small museum of art and artifacts in a former convent and church dating to the late 1400’s. Sounds great.
The church was fine; the convent and museum were closed for a private event. Oh well.
Several blocks away is Setúbal’s main plaza, Praça do Bocage. We quickly walked over. Wow it is a really nice, but small, plaza. A lot of open space, several restaurants with outdoor seating, and a church. It would have been nice to see the church, but it was closed for a wedding.
Across the street is Mercado do Livramento, a market, just what we needed to get a drink and a quick bite to eat. Unless it’s closed, which it was. We arrived shortly after the 2:00 PM closing time.
Before walking over to Sé Catedral de Setúbal, the city’s main cathedral, we decided to see if it was open. With our luck, it would probably be closed. And it was.
Okay, next up is the waterfront. To the east of town is a port. To the west of town is a small beach. In town is a marina and concrete. Not a nice promenade. More like a concrete deck. Good for fisherman, but not so much for anything else.
It is a shame, really, because Setúbal’s small downtown area is really beautiful. Too bad the adjacent waterfront doesn’t match it.
Nice view of the numerous cargo ships and tankers in the bay, though.
Our final objective for the day was the fortress, Forte de São Filipe. From the waterfront we looked up at the fortress and decided it was probably closed. Actually it probably wasn’t, but given our luck today we decided that going to the fortress was not worth the effort.
After a quick stop at Pingo Doce to buy a few cokes, it was back to the train station to hop on the next train to Lisbon. We spent over two hours on the train to walk around Setúbal for an hour or so. At least the train tickets were included in our Navegante monthly metropolitan pass.
Garrett and Stephanie
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