Cabedelo, Portugal

What a crazy day yesterday was. Being near to the railway line we knew the trains weren't running. So this morning Angela checked to see if it would be feasible for us to go into Porto. She had already begun to think it was unlikely. And it was. Today there would be no trains as the result of a planned train strike. Oh well, we had another place we wanted to visit and that was Braga. The fuel station at the supermarket once again operational, we packed up quickly and joined the line. With Margery's tank full, we both felt much happier. We didn't want to set off without filling up for fear of not being able to obtain fuel further on our journey. Keen to make tracks we were on the road by ten. It was already 23c, and we knew we'd be in for another warm day.

Braga was great. Full of history and culture sitting comfortably alongside the modern day. We visited the cathedral, where the vast organ was in the process of being tuned.

The notes rising into the vaulted ceiling above. This cathedral is the first to have been built in Portugal, it's so old it was actually built before Portugal as a country actually existed. With too many days driving and now approaching the border with Spain we decided to drive a short way on to Cabedelo. Looking at our blog from our last visit the town had been our first overnight stop when we crossed from Spain.

The area is busy. Nearly all the vans are French. Since our stay in Seville, we have not seen a UK registered vehicle, which might explain why Margery has caught so many people's attention. Today however we have seen two UK vans. One at Braga, and one on the aire with us tonight. All is calm this evening. The weather is a little cooler, and the events of yesterday seem like a dream.

We are glad we bought an extra five liters of drinking water yesterday. The people who bought 60 liters, yes really, and twelve liters of milk, numerous tins of fish, and multiple bags of BBQ charcoal probably didn't need to shop too much this weekend. We live in uncertain times. Worryingly times. The events of showed yesterday we mustn't become complacent

Valongo, near Porto

After a long day yesterday we made a plan for today. Wanting to visit Porto we read that vans could park overnight in the Intermarche supermarket overnight, and during the day. From nearby you could catch a train which took ten minutes into Porto center. It all sounded perfect.

Before leaving we took a walk out along the boardwalk above the beach and back along passed the seafront shops. We called in at one that appeared to sell everything, and were pleased to see you could purchase refilled camping Gaz 907 bottles at a bargain price. As we needed one, it was perfect. Late morning, our pants that had adorned Margery's wing mirrors now dry, we readied to leave. Just one problem. The automatic barrier on the aire wouldn't rise. John thinking on his feet noticed a couple of the bollards next to us unscrewed, and we were able to maneuver slim Margery through, leaving the larger vans stuck inside.

As we drove towards Porto the traffic was heavy, much heavy than we'd expected. Wanting to stop for lunch, we couldn't find anywhere suitable. Unlike France and Spain, where there are lots of lay-by's and picnic areas, here there are none. Then a familiar beacon of light. The red, yellow and blue of a Lidl supermarket sign. That'll do. We've lunched in many a supermarket car park in the past, it doesn't bother us. Actually it was really quite convenient as we needed shopping. Inside the store we suddenly realized why the roads were so busy. The power outage we'd heard about this morning was obviously more widespread than we thought. As in COVID times, shopping trolleys were piled high with food and bottled water. Shelves were empty. People were panic buying. Suddenly we were a little concerned. Buying only what we needed, plus a little more bottled water than we would normally, we left driving straight into a sea of ​​slow moving traffic. Emergency vehicles with piercing sirens were all around. All businesses were now closed, including fuel stations. Suddenly there seemed something to worry about, we only had just over half a tank of diesel. We also had no mobile phone connection. Fortunately, our route map was still showing on our screen. It was now obvious just how serious the situation was. Arriving at the supermarket, many vans were already there, with no way of gaining information we sat it out. After a while a Polish couple in their fifties, retired and living in their motorhome pulled in next to us. That had no idea there was a problem, they'd just driven down from the mountains. They were however able to still connect to the internet for a while. Obviously, the situation being so surreal, accusations of how and why the incident had occurred circulated.

As darkness fell, the surrounding houses all in darkness, the only light showing, once again outside a nearby Lidl, obviously with German efficiency all Lidl stores have emergency generators. Our mobile phones showed emergency calls only, a short while later we had a very limited internet connection. Being in a foreign country,with a language we could neither speak or understand and no contact with the outside world had been a little unnerving.

Praia da Vagueire

Up early this morning, John spotted a Redstart sat on a nest complete with babies  in an abandoned utility meter box on a derelict house.

Some places are special to wake up to, and So Juliao was one of them. Just after seven, local people arrived armed with buckets and tickling sticks. We thought perhaps they were after shellfish or octopus. Across from us two young men stripped off. Here we go again. How many buttocks are too many buttocks? They all start to look the same after a while. As we headed off along the coast road passing the surfing villages. We suddenly encountered an aggressive policeman on a motorbike stopping the traffic. Don't shout at Margery please. Of course we didn't have a clue what he was saying, but his hand gestures suggested it might be 'get out of the bloody way'. All the commotion was caused by a cycle race. We parked at the side of the road, with others whose ears had been abused by the irate policeman and watched peleton after peleton pass by.

There were well over a thousand cyclists. The racers long gone by, of course the police didn't bother to tell us if we could now move on, so tentatively we slowly followed the vehicles in front. The wind from the last twenty four hours had covered Margery evenly, and keen to clean her we were very glad to happen upon a car wash.

Less than two euros, for a six minute wash with soap and water and she was gleaming. Our chosen lunch stop was Nazare. Famed for it's huge rolling waves. Today the sea was calm, the town however not so. After a walk around and a stop at a seafront cafe for drinks we returned to the van, ate lunch and left. The area not to our taste. Much to commercialize. We were en-route to Figveira da Goz where we planned to stop overnight, but arriving at the town it soon became apparent that we probably weren't. Unlike a thousand cyclists this morning, here there were tens of thousands of motorcyclists. The noise of their revving engines abusive to our ears. By now we were both hot and tired. We'd really wanted to stay in this town as tomorrow we'd plan to drive a little inland to Coimbra. Looking at our blog from our 1999 visit we found we'd stayed further up the coast then at a beach side aire, so we began driving. Before arriving weary from a long day of traveling, we drove along a long straight road through a barren landscape. It had to be one of the most boring drives we'd ever done. At the end of it we found ourselves in a town where local people were outside the front of their homes selling produce from their gardens.

All of them selling potatoes. How could you choose who to buy from? Although it was late when we arrived at the aire, we sorted out Margery, ate a quick meal, and walked out to watch the sun set, and a maniac pilot flew up and down the beach.

We think it was our best sunset this trip. As the orange glow burst across the sky we sat and watched from the beach bar where we decided we'd earned a glass of wine and a beer. What a day it had been. Tomorrow we were hoping for a more relaxed drive.