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JUNE 10-13, 2018
June 10
Caminha is only an hour from Porto but we took the coastal route, turning toward the coast at every turn. We stopped shortly before getting to Caminha for some groceries and headed to our checkin point.
It took a while to locate the pastry shop where we announced we were there to pick up keys. Apparently booking.com hadn’t notified our host of the visit. Not a good start. We finally in touch with our host and his contact appeared with keys. We followed her in the car to the flat, only to be severely worried as we were shown the flat, 4 flights up with a broken lift…… this was not going well and Thom ended up talking to the owner. We cancelled and with some polite emails to the host and to booking were able to cancel and get our fee returned. In the mean time we had to find something else!!
We were very lucky – though we paid more for the flat, we found the perfect spot overlooking the river and close to the central square. Easy walk to everything!!! We decided it was too nice, and we booked in for the entire 5 nights. Time to relax!!! Time to enjoy watching the tide come in and the ferry run, when it wasn’t low tide…. A place to rest before flying to the Azores on the 15th.
June 11
Today was a short drive around and we ended up finding a nice looking restaurant out near the camp ground and the beach. We walked in the woods which was a nice change!! And we napped….
June 12
The sun finally came out today! We visited this restaurant yesterday and loved the menu. Turns out the owner saw the break in the weather and went fishing. Caught 29 sea bass in 2 hrs. We picked the 1+kg one to have grilled. It was caught a couple of hours ago; couldn’t be fresher. Comes with salad and grilled potatoes. And of course have to start with dry white port. Tomorrow to Spain with a return on the little ferry that doesn’t run when the tide is out! Portugal is a very special place. It’s moved to the best we’ve been to on this trip.
June 13
The weather was finally improving as the sun came out for the first time in days!!! We took the small ferry from Caminha that crosses over to Spain where we drove around and up the coasts, almost to Viga. We quickly noticed that gas is 0.20euros/liter cheaper in Spain, therefor must fill up before leaving.
It was a pretty day and we found a small town with a busy marina and a restaurant up in a fort overlooking the islands off of Viga. We noticed in the far distance a sailboat race with many boats, all appearing to be one design. With a little help from google we learned it was the J70 European champions and this was the 2nd day of racing!!! There were 69 boats competing!!!
We took a slow road to explore some more as we headed back to the ferry. Spain is just as hilly here as Portugal is around Caminha. Lots of hairpin turns.
We went back and had dinner at the restaurant near the beach for a second night. Turns out the visa machine wasn’t working and we didn’t have enough cash to pay for dinner Tuesday night!!! We had to return to pay for dinner and it was too good not to have another meal!!!
JUNE 14, 2018
We noticed on our drive up the coast on Sunday there was an incredible building or church up on the mountainside overlooking the town Viana do Castelo. On Thursday we decided to go visit it.
Turns out it’s a long winding road up to the top where there are incredible views and there’s a very majestic church, Santuário de Santa Luzia. We walked around and found a hotel even higher up than the church. It’s been redone but Pousada de Viana do Castelo, first opened in 1921, has unbelievable views. It was ranked by National Geographic long ago has having the 3rd best view in the world after Rio and some other place!!!!
Caminha and this part of Portugal is a real treat – a place that would be wonderful to return to.
It’s our last day on mainland Portugal as Friday we drive the car back to the Porto airport and fly to the Azores. I’ve wanted to go to the Azores for nearly ten years!!!!