Diary - April 2013

1^st April.  Our stay at the mine was a bit strange – stray dogs were barking at the slightest noise and as our TomTom had (as usual) brought us in up an unpaved lane in the pouring rain, we were not quite sure what our surroundings were like.  A break in the showers first thing today and we took a stroll around only to find that the museum was closed on Mondays – it all looked quite interesting though, so perhaps for another time.  We wanted to get to the Setùbal Peninsular so set off first for Grandola and then for Alcàcar do Sal which again, looked very interesting, but they were in the middle of a make-over of the main streets so we decided to revisit another year.  Thirty miles up the road and we were in Setùbal which was thronging with the Portuguese holidaying along the seafront.  The interior of this peninsular is extremely hilly so we hugged the coast and found a parking spot by early evening by the entrance to the harbour watching a few boats  – quite a busy day. 

 

2^nd and 3^rd April.   More rain predicted tonight so we travelled along the coast to the hilly town of Sesimbra and got tucked up in a Municipal campsite.  We had contemplated cycling the 1.5 miles into town but the steep hill into the campsite made us think again and as there was a bus stop at the bottom of the hill we opted for that. Nice town - and in some ways the area reminds us of Madeira, so very hilly but with the obligatory castle and fort of Portugal.  There are loads of fish restaurants to tempt us along the shore.  As we had already had lunch we took a glass of wine in a locals bar and purchased our fish (sea bream) at the little kiosk near the campsite instead.  Les was on fish cooking duties outside the van and with a bit of fennel tips thrown in for good luck we feasted well for 4€. After the thunderstorms the next morning I caught up with a bit of washing and Les washed the van ready for our continuation north of Lisbon.   The campsite was almost empty but an English couple who were cycling and camping for two weeks came over for a cup of tea and a chat.  Goodness knows how they are managing with these heavy rain showers and all those hills ……..  so glad we have the van in this very changeable weather!

  

On the walk down from Campsite

4^th April.  We have come around to Lagoa de Albufeira which as it’s name suggests has a lovely lagoon.  What we didn’t account for were the 30 or so folk paddling in the water at low tide harvesting the cockles!  From the obvious full time cocklers to families and older couples, everyone was out for a bit of free food.  The weather was glorious so after a bit of sussing out the strategy,  I set off with my plastic box to see what I could get and eventually came back to think about the cooking of the said cockles.  Luckily we were parked next to an elderly Portuguese couple who were returning with their catch so I asked the woman for her advice.  After lots of arm waving and gesticulating her husband, (after seeing the results of my efforts) gave us three big fistfuls from their buckets.  It seems I should have only picked up the closed cockles  not just anything I could get my hands on.  They then should be thoroughly washed in salt water and treated as mussels for the cooking.  A few glasses of white wine later and we were congratulating ourselves on our new found foraging knowledge.

Colourful Fishermen's huts

 

5^th April.  Today we travelled to Lisbon over a very long suspension bridge.  The weather has turned very windy and quite a bit colder than we have been used to so it’s back to the old trusty vest again!  We are parked at Belém district on the quayside about 6kms west from the city centre where most of the museums, towers and Vasco da Gama tributes are situated - the most impressive being this tribute to Prince Henry the Navigator on the 500^th anniversary of his death.   We have found the tram stop nearby and plan to go to the city centre tomorrow.  

6^th April.   With our day ticket for all modes of transport in hand we set off on the tram in sunny weather.  The tiny old electric tram took us on a circular route through winding narrow roads and up to one vantage point near the castle.  The funicular climbed up to another ‘miradore’ for more views of gardens and the river.  Then we noticed the 1902 elevator which was originally powered by stream.  Using this we found ourselves out onto streets at a higher level where an old church had been converted into the Archaeological museum.  Apart from a few large squares, the city is built on seven hills so makes for interesting walking (so long as it’s downhill of course).  

                              

Spot in Lisbon 

                            

7^th April.  Bad news today – our friend’s van was broken into at 7am while they were still in bed!  The cheeky blighter made away with their SLR camera so it’s made us all a bit wary and we doubt if we will stay another night.  It’s such a shame to have that memory of Lisbon.  Les and I spent the morning in the Maritime museum (free on Sundays) and the cultural centre (free Wifi) while Terry and Jan went to the police station in the city.  Later, as they were understandably a bit shaken by the days events, we all decided to head further north for the night.

8^th and 9^th April. We are hugging the west coast north of Lisbon finding suitable parking places on the cliffs for lunch and more a sheltered one for two nights at Paria de Säo Lourenço.  There is one other van here – owned by a ‘white Swiss raster surfing dude’ and his dog who we found out had been here for 10 weeks.  Les was invited over for the guided tour of his self conversion, complete with plywood and timber roughcut, slide-out bed, sink, gas hob and floor standing chest fridge.   I asked if there was a loo inside – answer – no!  I am hoping that is one of the reasons he disappears with his the van twice a day with the pretence of surfing. 

Lunchtime stop 

10^th April.  Travelling north towards Peniche staying just a few miles south at Consalaçao for the night.

11^th April.  After a morning of heavy rain we could see the sky clearing over at Peniche so decided to go over for lunch.  This town was once a busy fishing port which was only joined to the mainland in the 16^th century by a narrow isthmus.  When we visited the fort we had no idea that it had been put to various uses and in the 1960’s it was used as a jail for political prisoners under the Salazar regime until 25 April 1974 when a bloodless coup was carried out.  We could see the individual cells, the visitor’s room and various letters sent to relatives.  Quite chilling to realise this was happening so recently and a piece of history completely unknown to both Les and I.  We must remember to look it up and become more knowledgeable about the history of the country we are spending so much time in.   The museum also houses a collection of handmade bobbin lacework which was widely undertaken by the local women of Peniche and quite unusually, there is a marble statue of a woman lacemaker (heaven forbid) in the town square! 

The fort at Peniche

12^th April.  We made a circular trip around Peniche before leaving for Obidos - a small village which, in 1228 was given by ‘The Poet King’ - Dom Dinis to his wife as a wedding present, starting a royal custom which lasted until the 19^th century.  We were glad to be visiting in April as the small hilltop village was very quiet when we arrived just after lunch, busying up when the coach trippers arrived an hour later.  The village speciality is ‘Ginja D’Obidos’ a rather lovely cherry liqueur, best drunk from a chocolate cup – quiet delicious – we just had to buy some!  The tiled arch below is just by the main gate but the star Azulejos (hand painted tiles) are to be seen completely covering the inner walls of the church.  All together a very interesting visit.  Our overnight stop tonight is down at the lagoon at Foz do Arelho.   

Azulejos at the town gateway

           

Obidos quiet corner

          

       

13^TH  and 14^th April.  Both Saturday and Sunday mornings started misty at Foz but the sun soon came out around the lagoon.  As it was the weekend more motorhomes arrived and the Portuguese came out to play -  fishing, surfing, walking and cycling in the balmy weather.  We cycled in the morning and walked over to the sandy beach for a coffee in the afternoon spending a good hour watching the surfers doing their thing in the massive waves.  Shellfish is collected on the beaches here at low tide so we decided to buy some razor clams from the kiosk nearby …… mmm,  not sure if this was a good idea – we cooked them ok but all I could think of was ‘Celebrity get me out of here’  food (rather phallic I’m afraid) and I couldn’t manage many of them!  We treated ourselves to lunch in a local beach bar on Sunday with views of the lagoon and bay with even more Portuguese day trippers arriving in the afternoon.  Luckily, we saw another English couple holidaying with their caravan  and who now live in north Portugal, only just over the border with Spain.  They knew of lots of quiet places for us to stay as we travel on which we have marked on our map.

Our view from the van

Artistic shot!

Those Razor Clams!

Have we seen the future! 

15^th to 18^th April.  Both Les and I have taken it in turns with some kind of tummy bug this past few days and although we have still been travelling a little we are still feeling a bit sorry for ourselves and taking it easy.  We decided just to a blog entry this time and resume the diary when we feel better. No need to send flowers ….yet!

21^st April.  We have a little niggling problem with solar panel which has been playing up recently. Once on, it seems to work OK but the next day we are back to the same old problem and Les has to talk quite sternly to it before it springs to life.  Methinks a visit to a local electronic guy might be in the offing very soon – hopefully one that speaks English!   A lovely surprise awaited us at Costa Nova situated on a spit of land just to the east of Aveiro.  Most of the houses, which back onto the dunes and face out onto the Ria, have retained their traditional stripped colours drawing the weekend crowds for a friendly photo-shoot.  There is such a laid-back atmosphere here; the sun helping of course, so we joined the party and made the most of the cycle path around the headland with everyone else.  The restaurant next to the little sailing club caught our eye for our first lunch out for some time (gippee tummies), it was soon packed with locals which is always a good sign, so we think we made the right choice.

Church at Praia de Mira

          

Sailing club Restaurant 

22^nd April.  We are planning to visit Porto in a few days time so our next stop was Aveiro.  Canals and humpback bridges give the place a genteel Dutch feel which somehow seems at odds with the saucy paintings on the prows of the boats……..erm……why?   Some of the coffee shops offer a special cake in Aveiro called ‘Olvos  Moles’ which is a bright yellow egg and sugar mixture encased in a rice paper barrel - so what better way to spend a couple of hours waiting for our washing to be done…….mmmm!  

Uncensored

23rd April.
Travelling towards Porto -  See the Blog for Porto

A Little chapel on route

25^th April.  We had heard very loud fireworks around midnight and wondered whether they were part of the Independence Day celebrations and whether it was a holiday in Portugal.   Our suspicions were confirmed when we went down to the cycle path near the campsite and found it packed with walkers, cyclists, roller-blader’s and any other kind of keep-fitter’s you can think of.  Threading our way towards Vila Nova de Gaia we arrived first at the old-fashioned village of Afurada on the opposite side of the river to Porto.  We soon spotted an equally old-fashioned but packed restaurant with the meat and fish being cooked on a BBQ in the street.  With only one table left we quickly sat down and were joined by a charming Portuguese couple who helped us to order our marvellous fish meal.    We never did arrive at Vila Nova de Gaia but we had been there yesterday anyway!

26^th April. We had been toying with the idea of driving down the Douro river to see the vine terraces but after checking our map and information book it seemed the best views can only be seen from 100 kms way down river along tortuous narrow roads.  To save my jangling nerves we have given it a miss this time and headed instead, on the motorway, to picturesque Amarante which straddles the river Tâmega.  We did a quick tour of the town with the obligatory coffee and cake on a lovely balcony overlooking the river before continuing to Guimarâes which was the former capital of Portugal.  The only campsite is up the hill at Penha which can be reached by cable car from Guimarâes, but the campsite is still closed so we are parked with another van in a secluded parking area hoping to do some walking tomorrow.   

27^th April. We were on the first cable car down to the attractive town of Guimarâes at 10am not realising that we had been at 2500 feet at Penha so the temperature plummeted during the night.  The sun was now shining so the castle, built for the first true king of Portugal in 1100 and later palace looked quite stunning.  We enjoyed wandering around the old medieval district, coming across one or two ‘stations of the cross’, the gardens and nice individual shops on route. Altogether a lovely place. 

         

         

The area up at Penha with it’s massive boulders has developed at the turn of the 20^th century with walking paths which lead to fonts, grotto’s and viewpoints.  The local motorists club had assisted with the work and the fundraising and now hold rally’s along he twisting roads.  Luck would have it that there was such a rally taking place tomorrow so we stayed another night. (Les has taken photo’s and will be posting a blog later). Sorry, didn't manage to get a photo of the small secluded cave we stumbled upon populated by the local men's club who where busy swilling deep red wine from china bowls while waiting for their salt cod to be BBQ'd by one of the members of the group! 

28^th April.  We stayed on to see the rally at Penha hoping to stay at a campsite a just a few miles north – the campsite was closed!! (we are hoping this is not going to be repeated too often here in northern Portugal).   We decided we had enough time to make a visit to Citânia de Briteiros a large Celtic settlement discovered in 1875 and extensively inhabited from 2^nd century BC to 1^st century AD. All very impressive and wonderful views from it’s hilltop position. The whole area is 24 hectares of which only 7 hectares has been excavated so the city covered a very wide area – it certainly made us tired just walking around, unfortunately the photo’s don’t really do the place justice.   Luckily we found a municipal campsite open further on in Braga for the night.

29^th April.  Giving sprawling Braga a miss and slightly hesitant about visiting another religious site this afternoon we nonetheless made for the Victorian gravity driven funicular railway to take us to the top of the nearby Bom Jesus do Monte church which stands atop a forested hill overlooking Braga.  The baroque stairway in front of the church down is lined with various stations of the cross or fountains and are sometimes climbed by pilgrims on their knees – we didn’t see any thank goodness.  The gardens were a delight, as were the views, but we couldn’t help thinking the monument, which is one the Portugal’s most recognisable icon’s, really does need a good paint job or at the very least a good clean. 

         

            

  This northern part of Portugal is a great vine growing region but most of the vines are standing upright – some even look like espalier apples or pears! -  we suppose the idea is to catch the most of the sun at these high altitudes.