Leaving Porto bound for Vigo

---

Well, all good things come to an end and sadly so does life at the villa. It has been a wonderful week of pure relaxation, short trips of exploration and adventure seeing beautiful sights,, meeting smiling friendly people who laugh with us as we struggle with different languages, and sharing good times and culinary wonders with our travelling companions.

Friday morning we left the villa for a last day and overnight in Porto before continuing on our different paths. Today two will leave Porto in the afternoon and fly off to Amsterdam for a brief three day visit before returning to Edmonton. On Saturday Lynn and one other person will be on the to catch a flights to Heathrow in London for an overnight stay before continuing on to Vancouver and Edmonton. From Edmonton Lynn will still have about a four hour drive North to High Prairie.

We got to Porto about noon and checked into the Santa Catarina Hotel again. It truly was a wonderful find. In researching our trip before leaving someone found a review of the hotel that may have been somewhat negative in that it described “some of the furnishings are somewhat dated”. Well, as that great American Homer Simpson once said, “Duh !” , the building has a 200 year plus history and it’s a treat and a privilege to be among use such wonders. Actually the furnishings are comfortable, the rooms are modern, and the price is more than just “right”. More like a bargain for practically downtown Porto !

After checking in Larry and Cindy were off on their own for a brief time as they had to return one of the rental vehicles and check in at the airport for their late afternoon flight to Amsterdam. The rest of us, Beth, Al, Lynn, Heather, and myself were off to the nearby metro where Lynn and her friend took one line to Sao Bento, and the others took another line to Campanha rail station where we had to get our rail pass valdidated.

I had been designated as responsible for the rail passes so with the others gathered about me I approached the International ticket desk where I explained what I needed and the agent, who fortunately spoke English, asked for all our passports. The passports were handed over and he scrutinized each one as he noted the details on the rail pass. He was pretty efficient and as he was taking much longer processing the last passport I was beginning to wonder if he had noticed some sort of irregularity.

As he turned the passport towards me, asking “Who is this person ?” I didn’t see the photo but the name jumped out at me like a flashing neon sign with two foot high letters. An instant of panic as I realized a couple of passports had somehow become mixed up and one of our travellers, either at or en route to the airport, was likely to be in the same state of panic, or more so. What to do ? A quick conference and Beth and Heather were off to the airport on Porto’s highly efficient metro and it was likely they might arrive before Cindy and Larry as there were still a couple hours before they had to check in. It turned out they did arrive first and with twisted senses of humour decided to hold off on returning the passports. Instead they waited until the other couple was checking in and watched the looks of horror and panic at the check-in counter before stepping out and exchanging passports.

Mission accomplished Beth and Heather met the rest of us at our rendezvous point at one of the sidewalk cafes near Sao Bento, then we were off to the waterfront to scout of promising places for our supper later in the evening and to check out the shops. Porto’s topography is somewhat similar to San Francisco and the walk to the waterfront was OK, but the return trip is all uphill. Fortunately there is a cable-car Funicular from the waterfront to the top of the hill, just above Sao Bento station. And our metro passes were valid for this too. Then back to the Santa Catarina to ‘freshen up’ and drop of back packs before returning for dinner.

Naturally when we got back to the waterfront about 8:00PM it was jammed with people and it seemed all the restaurants were full. After walking ‘the strip’ and finding nothing we sent Heather and her friend on a scouting trip. Heather soon returned and led us through back lanes and up stairways to a second level restaurant overlooking the Douro river with its’ passing lighted boats, and the waterfront promenade. Fate had stepped in again and led us to a wonderful establishment and less than twenty minutes later there were no more seats available. Our last dinner in Porto, served by what seemed to be a Mother and son partnership, was another great taste experience accompanied by live accordion music drifting up from the promenade. But one must constantly remember the portion sizes in Portugal are most generous ! We did better this time and there was little excess left.

Saturday morning would be an early start for us as we had a train to Vigo to catch leaving at 7:55AM, the rental car to return, and the challenge of finding our way from the hotel to Campanha rail station. Saturday morning, Maggie Mahem was in good humour and guided us directly to the station in about ten minutes. Would she have been so kind if we had been later in the morning and there was more traffic ?

Our early start did not give us an opportunity for that first cup of coffee we all need and the strong expresso that could be had just couldn’t be handled so early. So we suffered. The four car train left precisely on time with a full load but by the time we got to Valenca there were less than a dozen persons on board continuing on to Vigo in Spain. The four hour trip was smooth and very scenic. Another gorgeous blue sky day with the palm trees adding and wonderful touch to the scenery of waterways, wineries and vineyards. I continue to be impressed with the infrastructure of Portugal and the apparent on-going improvements and upgrading. It’s like THEY are getting ready to host 2010 Olympics and the world. Everything is SO clean, no litter anywhere and everyone friendly and willing to take the time to help you.

We arrived in Vigo, Spain on time and supposedly had only about 20 minutes to pick up our reserved car before the rental agency closed for the two hour lunch break. We had decided on the train that we would upgrade the rental car to a larger model to be more comfortable and handle our luggage. The nice agent seemed surprised when I said we had a reservation but she found it and to my dismay I had made an error in the dates and the reservation was for August, not September but she was able to accommodate us with a larger vehicle and for only about €20 more which was not too bad. We were soon off to our hotel in Vigo, reserved with private terraces providing an ocean view. Maggie took us on a couple side trips when we upset her by not properly following her directions and at one point we pulled into a parking spot to consider things ‘cause we figured we must be very close to the hotel as Maggie had been driving in circles. All we had to do was look left and there was the hotel. And it turned out to be everything and more as advertised on the Internet. Fate, or the Gods have been with us on this trip.

We had very little time in Vigo, just a brief overnight. We did stumbled upon as small place that only had about two other patrons for lunch just about 1:00PM. No one spoke a common language but between the friendly, though soon to be harried server, we managed to get an order for food placed. The food turned out to be particularly good. Simple but full of flavor and obviously a very popular place with the locals. In about 10 minutes there were more than 40 persons, and only the one server. But though looking somewhat harried at times, she looked after everyone with good humour and a smile and laughs. It was a great find ! One that wouldn’t make the tour books, only locals would know about, and lost tourists who stumbled upon it.

We left Vigo about 10:30 AM headed to San Sabastian, Spain and started with a lane tour to the freeway compliments of Maggie. The country side was very hilly as we left and from the freeway we had a panoramic view of Vigo, the bay, and the harbour. It was magnificent but the freeway offered no opportunity to take any photos. Too bad.

We had decided to drive to Gijon, stay overnight, and continue on to San Sabastian on Monday the 29th. The highway was part of Spains’ great freeway systems. This road was like driving the Coquhalla. Many steep grades and very mountainous terrain. Where in B.C. we go up and down over the mountains, here in Spain they just go right through many of the hills that may be in the way of the freeway route. We passed through many tunnels, the longest being just over 4.1 km and it seemed everytime we came out of a tunnel we were in another geography. We went from lush green pine forests, to barren rocky mountains, to an area that looked almost exactly like driving into Kamloops from the Coquihalla. Like Portugal, Spain too is very much into alternative energy forms and there were many windmills along mountain ridges. Near Benavente, which was about halfway along our days journey there was a large field of solar panels soaking up the sun.

From Leon it seemed we were going downhill constantly. It was almost like being in a plane descending for a landing and we cruised into Gijon about 5:00PM. It turned out that Gijon was larger than we expected and although it had a beautiful beach area there did not seem to be much in the way of beachfront hotels. After searching for a hotel and finding nothing meeting expectations we decided to continue onwards and check out some of the smaller communities along the coast.

We came to the small village of Lastres and again Fate, and/or the Gods were looking after us. As we came around the corner overlooking the bay there was a small hotel. A smiling little old lady who greeted us got the message across. “Yes, we have two rooms, I’m sorry the restaurant is closed. We sent the staff home.” She insisted on showing us the rooms and there was no question this was the place. Each room had its own private terrace overlooking the bay and the small port. The price for this small hotel, which would be described as a Boutique Hotel was less than at least half of what you might expect to pay. Have you ever checked out the price of one of Vancouver’s boutique hotels such as The Sylvia ?

After a true Continental breakfast in the award winning dining room the next morning we were off on our final leg to San Sabastian. It was a relatively short drive so it was not until about 11:00AM that we left after lingering over coffee on the terrace and soaking up the gorgeous Atlantic view. As we left the sky was giving us a bit of a gray sky day and as we travelled the skies cleared but these clouds seemed to linger on the horizon. The drive to San Sabastian was uneventful other than the constantly changing Spanish countryside. We got to San Sabastian about 3:00PM and easily found our hotel which is about 2 blocks from a gorgeous golden sand beach. I had a quick look, (without my camera), and a beer and back to the hotel to write this. As I have been doing this the others, with cameras, are out exploring.

So this is all for now. I need a break and because we have an early train to France tomorrow morning at 6:30AM I want to take a quick look around before the sun sets.

---

Photos

Going down to the river
Down the steep hills to the waterfront area

Hanging Out
Our guest (?) hanging off a balcony on the way to the river

Near the waterfront
A really popular area

Sidewalk Cafes
Take your pick. One will have the right tables, chairs, and / or tablecloth to suit you

One of Portos Many Bridges
The newest metro crosses on the oldes bridge

Last night in Porto
All good things come to an end but new adventure lies ahead

Porto Funicular
It sure beats walking back up those hills

Our Vigo Hotel Terrace
Private, with beautiful views

Terrace View
Just one of the views from our terrace

Terrace Views
Just another view from the terrace

Muino Do Vento Bar
A gem stumbled upon that is not in any tour guide

Comments

[Deb T]

you guys rock
can't believe how wonderful everything looks. I can almost taste the wine from here. (Or beer ....) love the travel blog. Must look into that next vacation although I don't think I could be anywhere close to as poetic as Kane have a great time! Deb