Blogs from Portugal, Europe - page 153

Yesterday we were in the Azores after almost a week at sea. We've had some pretty rough seas almost every day, with Force 7 - 9 winds, so the ship has been bouncing around quite a bit. Of course, this is to be expected since it is the North Atlantic and March. Ponta Delgada, Azores, was beautiful. From the moment we looked out the cabin window in the morning, it was obvious we were in a Portugese port. Every building was black and white. We had a tour in the morning which took us to the west end of the island where we saw the two lakes in the volcanic cauldron at Sete Cidades. Although it was a cloudy day, we were lucky that it was clear enough while we were there that we could admire ... read more

Aveiro, what a city. After our boat tour we walked around the back street. I had been here years before, but this time I was seeing Aveiro throw Kevin's eye's so every thing was new. We walked down a small street and found I would say a fancy restaurant. They had a tourist menu which includes soup,entree that comes with rice potatoes,salad and what ever meat you want. Kevin had grilled steak with fried egg (portuguese eat eggs with almost every thing) rice, home made fries (no pre- frozen here) and salad plus wine, coffee and a dessert for 12 euros not bad right. And we got to enjoy this under on a very sunny afternoon. After lunch we went to the fish market which was constructed by non-other then Eiffel, yes the same one as ... read more

From Porto, we zip down the line and land in Mogofores station. It's time to spend some time with our friends the Verdades. The Familia Verdade live in a town called Avelas de Cima. No one could tell me how old the place was, but it's easy to see that the place is pretty darn old. After the bustle of Porto, Avelas de Cima was positively tranquil. People are old fashioned and extremely friendly. It could be the community ammenities, like the communal laundry pool (in use even in frigid March) and fountains (three, to be exact) that present excellent quality spring water to any who wish to take it. Sleepy cafes with sunny seats, orange and lemon trees left wild (producing abundantly even now) and a profusion of huge, naturalized canna lilies frame the rest ... read more

My feeling toward the people of Europe is one of appreciation and affection. Everyone is kind and helpful. Were it not for the kind intervention of some unknown Samaritan in Brussels, we would have never FOUND our plane let alone catch it. Landing in Porto, the good feelings continued as we were accepted into the warm current of life in this vibrant and truly entertaining city. Again, strangers came forth to offer assistance (Maria hobbling about with her cane may have been some help in this regard...), unbidden but certainly appreciated. This is a real blue collar town. Folks here yell and gesture, they argue and kiss and generally strut around like a bunch of hormone-crazed teenagers. Workmen seem to be everywhere, knocking stuff flat and putting things up and patching things together.Buildings are ornate, but ... read more

Conil and the Algarve We are now enjoying the sun and rest of Monte Naturista do Barao where we have stopped a couple of years ago. This is the first real sunny and windless days we have had for a long time and it is lovely. We have arrived in time to join the weekly joint meal with everyone else on the site. It is very busy this time with three other Brit couples and lots of Dutch. Since Morocco, we have spent time in Conil de la Frontera from where we managed another cycle ride. We hope to cycle from here as well. After a few nights there where we had wifi in the van we moved along the Algarve to mixed weather and some changes to the possiblilities of wild camping in one or ... read more