Viano do Castelo

So here we are are now in Portugal, and a new language to learn. What do those road signs mean? We have only just worked out the Spanish ones. But first we must sort out the basics, please, thank you, goodbye, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and the most important, we are English!

We didn't travel far today, just a few miles down the coast, stopping at a Lidl for a top of supplies. We had read on the internet, that once we move south of this area we are unlikely to come across any more of these supermarkets. So now we are fully stocked. And the result of the day, the wine Angela was buying in Spain, at 0.99 euro per litre, is now 0.85 euro per litre. Fuel however appears to be a little more expensive. Shame we can't run Marge on red wine, as she drinks much more than Angela!

Our aire tonight is near the docks and beach at Viano do Castelo. When we arrived at lunchtime, two cars were parked in one of the campervan spaces, which unfortunately is not unusual. Luckily the owners of the vehicles soon appeared, were very apologetic, and moved their cars. Then invited us to join them for lunch on the beach if we wished, and also to borrow some wetsuits and take to the water with them. It turned out they were running a watersport course. We had heard some of the Portuguese were very laid back, but were taken aback by their hospitality. We thanked them, pleased that there was still some decent people in the world.

After lunch, we changed into our cycling shorts. John was just at the underpant stage when the police pulled in, so hastily ran into the bathroom. It was only this morning Angela said, we've hardly seen any policemen since we arrived, unlike Spain. Well the word was obviously out. The Hamptons were in town!

We rode across to the town, passing by some goats tethered on the sands alongside the estuary. Then we joined the heavy traffic on the road bridge which crossed to the other side.

We rode down to look at the old hospital ship Gil Eannes, built at a local shipyard in 1955, (the year John was born), and saved from the scrapyard and refurbished in 1998.

Then we visited some of the other sights, buildings of Renaissance and Gothic architecture. Up on the hilltop right opposite us, and visible from all over the town is the wonderful structure of Santuario de Santa Luzia, which this evening is lit by a soft orange glow.

It reminds us a little of the chapel at Castellane in France, which stood on the mountain above the aire, and was lit at night the same way, albeit on a smaller scale, but just as stunning.

A couple of days ago after a message from home, John mentioned that he did not consider this trip to be a holiday. To him, a holiday is packing your suitcase and heading off to a destination for a week or so, staying at the same place, restaurants etc. For us this trip is life. You must live the moment, and not forget how precious the present is!