Ended up spending a fair amount of time around Porto. Partly we were a bit travel weary and fancied staying in one place for a little while but also we really enjoyed the place and kept finding new things to do.
We spent a day wandering the old town, getting our bearings and trying the local delicacy of Francisena (a sandwich with mystery meats and cheese swimming in a bowl of beer-y pepper juice). McDonalds have nothing on the menu nearing the calorific potency of this.
We took a trip to the modern art museum Serralves, nice building and gardens, no exhibits when we visited though. Should have done our research a bit better.
Had a shopping day to try and get each other some birthday presents. Needless to say Lucy had a lot more success than me.
Had a day with a cycle from the beach we were staying at into town. A nice cycle path along the coast then up the estuary. The other days we'd been using the buses, but to say they're terrifying is an understatement. Also did a boat trip up the river on this day.
Did a chores on the van day where we went to a campervan dealership to get a new battery and to get a valve replaced in the engine. Should say a massive thank you to Campinanda and Bosch Service Centre, Matasinhos for being so helpful.
Had a night out at the Casa de Musica where we saw a band called Norton. At first I thought they were from the uk, playing a couple of pretty good northern indie type tracks of their own. When the lead singer thanked the audience in fluent Portuguese I figured they probably weren't a British band after all. They did do a most terrific cover of Pump up the Jam (originally by Technotronic - took me back to being on the waltzer at Swanshurst Parks funfair as a 12 year old). See the illegally captured footage below:
That probably covers Porto, right up there as one of the best places we've been to yet. Bring on Lisbon!
From Porto we continued on south down the Atlantic coast to Aveiro for an overnight stop. It used to have a port and river but they silted up so they constructed some quite neat canals to get the boats around. We did the obligatory boat trip on the canals. Not quite Venice but nice nonetheless.
Then back to being beachside just south of Figueiro do Foz to spend the night at a nice beach called Praia da Cova. We didn't go into Figueiro, it looked like a pretty big city and we weren't in the mood. The beach car park was pretty interesting, it had speakers wired up to all the lamp posts tinnily blaring out a local radio station. We were a bit concerned it would continue all night to discourage free loading gypsy scum campervanners from staying overnight (a bit like shop car parks playing classical music to discourage youths loitering). Luckily it stopped just before the magicians act started with thumping house music and excitable commentary. I'm sure the 3 audience members enjoyed the show.
After our refreshing nights sleep we took a trip in land to visit Coimbra. On the way we stopped off at Montemor-O-Velho which is a small town with a huge imposing castle. Well worth the small detour.
Coimbra was a nice place. It used to be the capital city of Portugal and has loads of history to prove it. We climbed up Rua de Quebra Costas (translates to Back-breaker Street) to see the new museum which shows the roman origins of the city buried under the current buildings. Unfortunately the museum is still being built, but the small amount we could see was superb.
After a swim in the Olympic sized municipal swimming pool we stayed overnight next to the river before heading off in the morning to the roman ruins at Conimbriga. It's a very large and impressive site, as a bath lover I think I would have done well as a roman.
We headed back to the seaside seeking a cool Atlantic breeze to spend the night at Praia Velha. This was a top location, really quiet spot with a fantastic view. No waves unfortunately!
The next day was inland again, climbing into the mountains so see Pegados dos Dinossâurios and Grutas de Mira d'Aire. Pegados dos Dinossâurios is a quarry where dinosaur footprints were discovered. Grutas de Mira d'Aire is a gigantic cave complex. Was a nice diversion for the day.
For the night we stayed on the seafront at Sâo Martinho do Porto which is a beautiful bay. Such a lovely location we decided to stay an extra night. Lucy took in the beach and I went for an explore to the headland. Discovered a great walk by chance and didn't see another soul until I was back at the beach.
The next stop was Peniche which is an old fishing village stuck on a headland (was once an island apparently) with a gigantic old fort. The fort was the only really interesting thing to see and had a good bit of history relating the Portuguese revolution in the 70's. It was used as a political prison by Salazar and the subsequent release of the prisoners resulted in some brilliant press photography.
For the night we headed a short way down the coast to Areia Branca which is a popular surfing beach. I can see why as the waves whilst not huge were extremely powerful. Scared the crap out of me, I only lasted about 15 minutes before putting tail between legs and leaving it to the capable.
In the afternoon we made our way to Lisbon and a car park popular with campervanners next to the river at Belém. This became our base for the next 3 days while we did as many touristy things as possible. We used almost all available forms of public transport to see a huge variety of parts of the city. Elevadors, Metro, Buses, Trams, etc. Of particular note was the Berardo Collection Museum of modern art and having a night out in the Bairro Alto district where we watched the Olympics opening ceremony with a lump of pride in our throat.
We're now at Costa de Caparica just south of Lisbon making use of a campsites facilities for the night. Next we're on our way toward Lagos in the Algarve where we've got an apartment booked to celebrate our birthdays from. It has a bath! :-))))
Take care, love from Ralph.
More photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/101454232293966616010/albums/5861917451966567601?authkey=CKe7wOzRxYX4fA
We spent a day wandering the old town, getting our bearings and trying the local delicacy of Francisena (a sandwich with mystery meats and cheese swimming in a bowl of beer-y pepper juice). McDonalds have nothing on the menu nearing the calorific potency of this.
We took a trip to the modern art museum Serralves, nice building and gardens, no exhibits when we visited though. Should have done our research a bit better.
Had a shopping day to try and get each other some birthday presents. Needless to say Lucy had a lot more success than me.
Had a day with a cycle from the beach we were staying at into town. A nice cycle path along the coast then up the estuary. The other days we'd been using the buses, but to say they're terrifying is an understatement. Also did a boat trip up the river on this day.
Did a chores on the van day where we went to a campervan dealership to get a new battery and to get a valve replaced in the engine. Should say a massive thank you to Campinanda and Bosch Service Centre, Matasinhos for being so helpful.
Had a night out at the Casa de Musica where we saw a band called Norton. At first I thought they were from the uk, playing a couple of pretty good northern indie type tracks of their own. When the lead singer thanked the audience in fluent Portuguese I figured they probably weren't a British band after all. They did do a most terrific cover of Pump up the Jam (originally by Technotronic - took me back to being on the waltzer at Swanshurst Parks funfair as a 12 year old). See the illegally captured footage below:
That probably covers Porto, right up there as one of the best places we've been to yet. Bring on Lisbon!
From Porto we continued on south down the Atlantic coast to Aveiro for an overnight stop. It used to have a port and river but they silted up so they constructed some quite neat canals to get the boats around. We did the obligatory boat trip on the canals. Not quite Venice but nice nonetheless.
Then back to being beachside just south of Figueiro do Foz to spend the night at a nice beach called Praia da Cova. We didn't go into Figueiro, it looked like a pretty big city and we weren't in the mood. The beach car park was pretty interesting, it had speakers wired up to all the lamp posts tinnily blaring out a local radio station. We were a bit concerned it would continue all night to discourage free loading gypsy scum campervanners from staying overnight (a bit like shop car parks playing classical music to discourage youths loitering). Luckily it stopped just before the magicians act started with thumping house music and excitable commentary. I'm sure the 3 audience members enjoyed the show.
After our refreshing nights sleep we took a trip in land to visit Coimbra. On the way we stopped off at Montemor-O-Velho which is a small town with a huge imposing castle. Well worth the small detour.
Coimbra was a nice place. It used to be the capital city of Portugal and has loads of history to prove it. We climbed up Rua de Quebra Costas (translates to Back-breaker Street) to see the new museum which shows the roman origins of the city buried under the current buildings. Unfortunately the museum is still being built, but the small amount we could see was superb.
After a swim in the Olympic sized municipal swimming pool we stayed overnight next to the river before heading off in the morning to the roman ruins at Conimbriga. It's a very large and impressive site, as a bath lover I think I would have done well as a roman.
We headed back to the seaside seeking a cool Atlantic breeze to spend the night at Praia Velha. This was a top location, really quiet spot with a fantastic view. No waves unfortunately!
The next day was inland again, climbing into the mountains so see Pegados dos Dinossâurios and Grutas de Mira d'Aire. Pegados dos Dinossâurios is a quarry where dinosaur footprints were discovered. Grutas de Mira d'Aire is a gigantic cave complex. Was a nice diversion for the day.
 |
| Lucys foot adding perspective to dinosaur footprint |
For the night we stayed on the seafront at Sâo Martinho do Porto which is a beautiful bay. Such a lovely location we decided to stay an extra night. Lucy took in the beach and I went for an explore to the headland. Discovered a great walk by chance and didn't see another soul until I was back at the beach.
The next stop was Peniche which is an old fishing village stuck on a headland (was once an island apparently) with a gigantic old fort. The fort was the only really interesting thing to see and had a good bit of history relating the Portuguese revolution in the 70's. It was used as a political prison by Salazar and the subsequent release of the prisoners resulted in some brilliant press photography.
For the night we headed a short way down the coast to Areia Branca which is a popular surfing beach. I can see why as the waves whilst not huge were extremely powerful. Scared the crap out of me, I only lasted about 15 minutes before putting tail between legs and leaving it to the capable.
In the afternoon we made our way to Lisbon and a car park popular with campervanners next to the river at Belém. This became our base for the next 3 days while we did as many touristy things as possible. We used almost all available forms of public transport to see a huge variety of parts of the city. Elevadors, Metro, Buses, Trams, etc. Of particular note was the Berardo Collection Museum of modern art and having a night out in the Bairro Alto district where we watched the Olympics opening ceremony with a lump of pride in our throat.
We're now at Costa de Caparica just south of Lisbon making use of a campsites facilities for the night. Next we're on our way toward Lagos in the Algarve where we've got an apartment booked to celebrate our birthdays from. It has a bath! :-))))
Take care, love from Ralph.
More photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/101454232293966616010/albums/5861917451966567601?authkey=CKe7wOzRxYX4fA
