More of Spain and into Portugal

Sat:  19^th April.  We didn’t leave Valdovino till after 11a.m., finally finding a person in the camp office and paying for last night’s stay.  Today was a day of travel with a stop at Ferrol to look in the shops for a barbecue to replace Mike M’s, which he once again has loaned us and which unfortunately has a rusted out burner.  We managed to use it once, but sadly, it’s no longer a going thing…Mike is extremely sad about that as he absolutely LOVES that barbecue…we’re still looking, hoping to find a camping shop somewhere…they seem to be in short supply but I guess that once we find one, we’ll probably find twenty!  Our overnight stop was at an ‘environmentally aware’ rural campsite near Ribeira and what seemed to be a quiet spot when we arrived, turned out to be a popular place with a lot of people staying there, though it was not a full camp.

Sun:  20^th April.  It rained this morning for a couple of hours and once it cleared, we drove to Cabo Corrubedo to see the lighthouse and wander around on the rocks,

then to Aquino port via a hill tower which provided wonderful views of the coast,

after which we drove through Ribeira which was chokkers so we didn’t stop but hit the road again to Catoira where we stopped at a restaurant just out of town and treated ourselves to lunch.  We chose a mixed grill for 2 which was accompanied by a mound of chips, a salad, beer and wine…the meal would have fed at least 3, possibly 4 and we were unable to eat it all…our lovely waitress parcelled up the leftover meat which we took with us to provide another meal tomorrow.  On then to Sanxenxo, to a chosen stopover but on arriving there and driving through the camp, decided that it wasn’t up to scratch so headed off to the next choice, 40 kms away…but…just down the road, we spotted a motorhome camperstop sign, followed it and found a family run site, next to the beach, with services…i.e. power, water etc….for 8 euros so that’s where we are stopping tonight.  A walk on the beach before the tide comes in and a quiet night are on the cards.

Mon:  21^st April.  It seems there is a pattern with the weather, fog, heavy mist or rain early on and clearing by late morning/early afternoon, followed by a fine afternoon and evening.  This was so this morning, beginning with soft rain along the coast, when we stopped for a photo at Mirador da Granxa,

and becoming heavy once we’d passed Pontevedra, where we took a wrong turn and were unable to turn around, travelling through what we could just make out through the rain was gorgeous scenery.  Eventually we got back on track and by the time we reached Redondela, the rain had eased somewhat so we stopped, donned raincoats and boots and headed off to the huge markets in the centre of town. 

Our total purchase consisted of 12 churros (sticks of dough fried in oil, eaten with sugar or thick chocolate) for which we paid the princely sum of 2,60 euros!  They were delicious, better than any we’d had at home and we scoffed the lot while they were still hot and fresh!  (A healthy lunch!)  We continued on in sunshine, crossing the border into Portugal

at about 2.30pm and shortly after arrived at the caravan park at the mouth of the River Minho,

checked in, took the bikes off the rack and cycled 3kms along the river into the town.

A walk through the streets and people watching on a bench in the square in this friendly, happy town

before cycling back to the beach next to the caravan park and beers in the café there, and a quiet night to end a pleasant day.

Tues:  22^nd April.  Early rain then sunny for most of the day.  We headed to Geres National Park with a stop at Praia de Paco to inspect the beach and old Fort there, then bypassing Viano do Castelo and on to the motorway for the first half of the journey, then ‘Kenny’, our GPS, for some unknown reason, directed us along a narrow, (barely wide enough for one vehicle) winding, steep, steep road, with cobblestones for a good part of the way, through a couple of small villages where we could reach out and touch the walls of the houses…about 35kms in total which took about 1-1/2 hours!  If we’d been able to, we’d have turned around early on but there simply was nowhere to turn.  However, we are so glad that we went that way as the views were absolutely stunning. The photos we took just don’t do justice to the scenery.

At the top of our climb, the road widened and we stopped for our lunch break before heading down the mountain, on a 2 lane road this time, to Geres, by a lake and the River Cavado and our free camp for the night. We went to the restaurant nearby and for 2,50 euros, enjoyed a coffee each and cake before going for an exploratory drive along the lake.  All in all, a brilliant day.

Wed:  23^rd April.  There was a slight change in the weather pattern!  It rained through the night and was heavy at times, then was fine for the rest of the day.  We left Geres early and headed to Braga, about 45kms away, taking another detour on the way, up another skinny, winding, cobblestoned road to a lookout at Santuario S. Mamede, more stunning views though with some clouds about,

then on to the carpark at Bom Jesus do Monte, taking the nearby funicular to the top to the magnificent church, gardens, statues, fountains, small chapels depicting the crucifixion and events before and after, and many, many steps, I’d guess about 200 or more, which we walked down after our visit.  We had wonderful views over Braga while sipping our coffee at the café. 

We decided not to go into Braga itself and continued on to Guimaraes where we visited the castle and the Ducal Palace next door, restored in the 1930s and is very impressive.

On then to the little of Queimedala where we booked into a small campsite for the night.  We went for a walk around the lake, following the signs to begin with and when there were no more signs, continued along a barely visible track alongside the lake, climbing over rocks and bramble until we came to a waterfall,

but there was no way across to the other side so we had to backtrack across the rocks and brambles, back to the camp, tired and sore.  A long, hot shower helped to ease the aching muscles and a good night’s sleep will be a bonus.