We headed out reasonably early to get a bit of a head start on our trip north to Porto. Our first stop was at supermarket in one of the local villages to pick up a few things including some food for breakfast. Having got that we setup our picnic table in a nearby park to have a bite to eat before carrying on on our journey. First time we've used the table and chairs - very nice to eat normal food for a change!
In my haste to get back on the road, I unfortunately didn't listen carefully enough to Mr Google Maps and took a wrong turn which meant I needed to double back a bit. Never mind the scenery was nice, even if the road was a tad bumpy!!
Our next stop was this seaside town of Costa Nova, about an hour south of Porto. Costa Nova is known for a couple of reason. It's most notable for the way which the locals have decorated their homes. It's as if they have some sort of competition to see how elaborate they can decorate the outside of their homes.
Every colour of the rainbow and more features in their homes. Whether they're tiled or painted, they seem to compete for the most noticeable house. Blue/white, red/white, yellow/white, blue/red/yellow, brown, black, orange, ......... stripes, squares, tiles, circles........ everything is on display. It's remarkable the lengths they have gone to to decorate their homes. I haven't researched it at all, but I do wonder if the local government provides some form of incentive for everyone?
We got an extra surprise in our rambling around Costa Nova. There, in all their splendour, were Pohutukawa trees in full bloom. It was such a welcome surprise and gave us a lovely reminder of what's awaiting us at home in a few months time!
After a couple of hours of walking amongst these amazing houses, we hit the road with our next stop being the town of Aveiro, the little Venice of Portugal. It gets its nickname because of the narrow waterways on which the town is built on. The locals take advantage of this, taking tourists around the canals on mortised gondolas. We decided against the gondola trip, instead opting for stretching our legs and wandering around town and the canals.
Our experience of the people of Portugal so far has been great. We have found them to be incredibly helpful, polite and they genuinely want to help to make our stay in Portugal to be as pleasant as possible. And it's not just those that are working in the tourism business - everyone is really nice.
Simple things like I had purchased a SIM card in Lisbon to use while we were in Portugal. Whilst the data was working fine, I was having problems with the text and phone calls. I stopped at the local Vodafone office in Aveiro and asked for help. Even though the young lady who served me couldn't speak English, she went out of her way to help. Using google translate we had a great conversation and she clarified what the issue was, to the point that she added things to my plan to make sure there would be no other problems. Normally this would cost more, but no, she just did it to make our stay easier and more pleasant. She's not even part of the tourism industry, but she clearly understood the value of customer service and how important it was for visitors to have a positive experience.
Another great experience we had while we were in Aveiro, was when we purchased some sandals for Cindy. We got talking with the salesman and without any hesitation he was helping us with ideas on places to go, things to see, providing addresses etc, he was brilliant. Again, not looking for anything in return - he just wanted us to have a good time in Portugal.
We had heard the Portuguese were very friendly people and they are certainly living up to that reputation!!
From the very beautiful town of Aveiro, we then headed to our stop for the night in Porto at the campground Praque de campismo Madelana - about 45 min bus ride from Porto city centre.
It was pretty late when we arrived, but we were determined to go in to town to hear what all the fuss was about - Porto we've been told is THE place to go to in Portugal. It's supposed to be very old and stunning.
Excited about going to THE place in Portugal, we set up the campervam on blocks (to make it sit evenly) then headed for the bus stop. It was just after 6:00pm when we got to the bus stop and we had just missed the bus. No problem, the next one was due at 6:30 - waiting, waiting, waiting..........
The bus finally arrived just after 7:00pm!!!!!! Arghhhhh was so grumpy at this stage and really wasn't in any mood to head into this town - it BETTER be good!!!!!!!!
Just before 8:00pm and our bus finally rolled into town. Ok it was good - actually VERY good. Grumpy mood aside, this city is pretty bloody amazing.
Porto is old! It's the second largest city in Portugal and sits on one side of the river Douro. It's breathtakingly beautiful. The houses and buildings are built from the river upwards - seemingly on top of each other to the top of the hill and then beyond. The city stretches around the coastline and boasts some incredible house designs. Like so many cities, there's massive gaps in the distribution of wealth - there's the opulence of some outer suburbs through to the run down poorer inner city areas.
But it's down on the river that everything happens.
Our bus stop dropped us of about 15 min walk from the river. This was all good as it gave is the time to get to grips with the city layout and figure out where everything was. We meandered our way through the city streets which were full of people, locals and tourists out enjoying the warm evenings and having a bite to eat at the hundreds of restaurants that are scattered throughout the city and on the rivers edge.
We ended up down on the river for dinner at one of the many restaurants that adorn it. It's so busy down there. It was now around 9:00pm and the place was absolutely buzzing. It was wall to wall people, young and old, including babies and toddlers. It seems that no one really cares about staying out late at night!
We relaxed into dinner at an outside table so we could watch all the activities going on - one man bands, clowns, singers....
After dinner we headed to the other side of the river which is the officially the town of Gaia, to wait for our bus. As the bus wouldn't be there for some time, there was just enough time for a night cap of wine (Cindy) and beer and port (Simon). And of course more people watching...
It was then back on the bus and back to the campground, getting there just before midnight.
All in all a very good day- lovin' Portugal so far!!!
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