Back to Spain

 The next day we properly crossed the boarder into Spain and headed north to Santiago de Compostela which is the end of the very long Camino de Santiago, a 500 mile walk across Spain,  which is a route a lot of pilgrims take (and hikers these days).  Before we got there we decided to head to the supermarket for a few basics and I have to say this is always more difficult travelling then when at home. Firstly we always end up walking most of the store to find everything as vegan stuff is distributed everywhere and all the supermarkets do it slightly differently (plus we like to see what they all have on offer for us!). Anyway this particular visit was a bit more stressful as the route round was fairly tight and therefore one way and once we made the turn into the car park we saw the high restriction which was lower than the van. We got down the one way hill and while there was a outdoor section we hoped there would be an exit we could use without going under the hight restricted area (there was also another van in the car park so we figured there must be a way out. Anyway we went to do our shopping and then headed back to the van, to find the other van had left, and we drove around the car park unable to find a way out which only left us one option, I had to run up the one way hill, stop traffic and get rich to drive Jeff up an continue on the one way the right way. Luckily it wasn’t too busy but I did have to stop an annoyed old Spaniard from driving down the hill. Once Rich made it up the hill we drove as quick as we could out of the little town (finding a better car park for the supermarket on the way!).

 

Once in Santiago de Compostela we walked around the town in the drizzling rain to see the Cathedral, which was impressive and the many squares and fountains. We even managed to hear some of the local pipers which the area is famous for.  While we were in the main square, Praza do Obradoiro we did see a number of weary hikers getting to the end of the walk and it helped me decide it was not something I wanted to do, although Rich was interested when I said you get a certificate at the end of it. After exploring the town for awhile we were getting sick of the drizzle so we thought we would head further into Spain and drove to the town of Lugo, well a stop just West of it where we could spend the night before traveling in tomorrow. We were glad we left when we did as we managed to get all set up for the night before the heavens opened and it poured down. We have checked the weather and its due to rain for the next few days off and on so we are having to think about our plans a little more as we don’t want to be cycling or hiking miles in the rain.

As it was again time for a morning run, we mapped out a run and headed out in the morning run, it wasn’t really raining so we thought it was a good time. As usual Rich ran off ahead and I followed at my slow pace until I saw him come back which was confusing but he then explained there was a bridge coming up that was deadly slippery and to be careful… so he turned around and carried on back towards the bridge. I followed him and watched him as he slowly and carefully walked the bridge then grabbed on for dear life as he nearly slipped over. Once I got the bridge I carefully took the first few steps and while slippery it was okay, until it wasn’t…I too nearly slipped over and had to grab on to stop myself hitting the floor. Once off the bridge I looked back and saw the nice steps next to it which would have been much easier. We continued the run and close to the end we came to a second bridge which we had to cross (I checked for steps and no such luck this time) so again it was a slow walk across it and then we made it back to Jeff in one piece. Once showered and sorted we headed to Lugo where we parked up and walked to the old city walls where you are able to walk along the top of the walls for 2.2km around the town which gave us good views of the old and new town before exploring the old town a little and finding the ruins of an old roman temple. After a late lunch we headed back to the van and towards the east to Baralla where we plan to stop for the night. Its raining again so we are trying to hide from the rain with the hope it clears up a little tomorrow. 

We decided that sod the rain we will get outside and get wet if needed. So today we planned to head to the mountain town of O Cebreiro which is a high climb for those pilgrims on the Camino and contains old houses where people used to live with their life stock. The town is also supposed to have some great views but we wouldn’t know this as the clouds blocked all the views but we did get to walk around the town and went into one of the old circular houses. After a bit of a walk we headed back to the van, while witnessing an old man, who may have had a fall or something, be carried into one of the restaurants on a chair by several people and then an ambulance coming past to help so hopefully he will be fine

After this we headed on to Las Medulas where there is an old gold mine and a nice hike which we wanted to do. We set off and managed to walk most of it in the dry but the rain did come every now and again but we managed to get up to the mirador where there were great views over the area and the mines before continuing back through the forests to the town. After the walk we headed onto the camperstop for the evening but we did get stopped on the way as there had been an accident on the road, it seems to be the day for us to see all the rescuers as we have now seen ambulances, Police and Firemen 

Today we drove to Agosta where there is a palace designed by Gaudi that we wanted to see so we parked up and walked there before walking around the castle and then buying some chocolate, which the town is famous for, and found several murals around the town before heading back to the van and onto our next town of Leon where there was another Gaudi designed house and old pharmacy (which was closed due to siesta time) along with some other old buildings before heading to a vegan place for lunch (a 5 cheese pizza for me and faux meat ball for Rich) before heading back to Jeff and driving north towards a national park where we want to spend the weekend (as we know Spain closes on a Sunday). We are a little sad we have now left the route of the Camino de Santiago and cant continue to play stop the pilgrim/hiker game any more but it has helped us decide its not something we want to do as the majority of them did not look like they were having a fab time. 

Welcome to Spain

Santiago Cathedral

The inside of the cathedral - ps Rich says no more cathedrals! 

another view back over Santiago as we walk to the car

The roman wall walk in Lugo 

A mural seen from the wall walk in Lugo

A little door in the round house in O Cebreiro

The bedroom in the round house

The outside of the round house

A tree on the walk in Las Medulas, many have a disease which is killing them and it appears to be spreading but the remaining trucks are stunning 

The hills of Las Medulas

One of the passage ways in Las Medulas

More trees on the forest walk

The view from the Mirador we walked to

Murals in Agosta 

More murals in Agosta

Gaudi designed palace

Gaudi designed house, I was a little disappointed as it was very similar to the palace

North Portugal

 The next day we wanted a low key day given the cycle the day before so we headed to a town in the West of Portugal called Aveiro which is described at the Venice of Portugal. We found some parking and walked into the town for breakfast (can you guess what Rich had!) and then walked around the town, which true to its descriptions had a range of canals with boats giving people tours. Some of the differences were the boats, which used to be seaweed collecting boats were all electric and the canals looked a little cleaner than Venice. After a good walk around the town we headed out to the salt plains as apparently you can do a mud bath treatment there. However once we got there it looked completely abandoned and no longer in use so onwards we continued around the town and then to the local supermarket before heading onto the beach side of the town. This part of the town has really pretty beach hut like houses, think candy colour stripes on the two and three story houses. After a walk on the beach and a stroll looking at all the nice houses we parked the van at the beach and spent the night there

The next morning we went for a run around this side of town and down past the large lakes, enjoying the bird spotting as we went before heading onto Porto, well the camper stop just outside the town. The camperstop we chose is a biological park with animals, including deer who were very close and just the other side of the fence. There was a really strange noise and it took us a few minutes to work out it was the bucks call and that they were really chatty. Next we had to make the decision, get on the bikes and cycle the 10km into the city or get an Uber (10euros). It was a hard decision to make as there were a lot of factors, one was we really didn’t fancy getting back on the bikes yet but also it was 11am already and we wanted to get going but we didn’t know if Porto would be like Lisbon where we used the bikes to get from one area to another and meaning we could explore it all in one afternoon/evening. We decided to get on the bikes and head in but within 5 min (all uphill climb) we realised this was the wrong choice but we were committed. Not long and we got to the view point opposite the town and went to take some nice pictures (only to realise that Rich had taken the battery out of the camera to charge and not put it back!). We took some pictures on the phone and carried on over the bridge into the city. We ended up at a church where it seemed that there was either a wedding or christening happening and the attendees would not have looked out of place on  the channel four show my big fat gypsy wedding. We then continued on up hill towards the famous bookshop here, Livraria Lello which is considered the most beautiful bookshop in the world and is reputed to be a source of inspiration for J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter books as she taught in Porto for a couple of years. There was a large queue to get in and as we had the bikes we decided to carry on with them then come back. We found a bike rack (as rare in Porto as in Lisbon) and quickly booked timed tickets for the bookshop and went back and managed to avoid most of the queue. We then had a little bit of time before we the next place we were due to visit so we went and grabbed some vegan pancakes from a popular pancake place called O Diplomate before heading to a tower called Clerigos Torre.

 As we got there a little early we walked around the church which was at the base and then went to the tower which had museums to visit as you ascended the tower. The first showed lots of different versions of Jesus on the cross with the next one which included a display where children were asked what colour they thought cancer was. It was very interesting and then we continued up the tower, via the shrinking spiral staircase which by the top was a little claustrophobic, especially when there were people both coming up and going down and trying to squeeze past each other. The views from the top were good, although in comparison to other towers we have seen in other cities this was really small (only 75 meters which is smaller than Big Ben – 96 meters). We then went to visit the train station Sao Bento, which is supposed to be very pretty and it had the azulejos frescos which were very nice but then, after being offered something we believe to be drugs at the exit, we hastily made our way away from the train station and around the city in the hunt for the many murals around the town created by Portugal’s version of Banksy We managed to find quite a few on the walk around the town and ended up down by the river front before walking up the hill, with the help of some outdoor escalators (Porto like Lisbon is a hilly town!) and then popping in to the Portuguese centre of photography (which was underwhelming) before deciding it was beer o’clock so we headed for a cozy pub for some beer and cocktails before finding a vegan buffet restaurant for dinner. Now we had the cycle back and luckily it wasn’t raining so we headed back over the bridge and up the hills to the camper stop where the deer continued to chat to us and we settled in for the evening.

The next day we got up and headed for a walk around the park, as this was included in the cost of the stay for the evening. Was the park a zoo or nature reserve I’m not sure but it does state that the animals were all rescued and if they can be released they would be. After the walk around the park we headed north towards Braga and stopped at the Bom Jesus Do Monte which is a Portuguese sanctuary/pilgrim site at the top of a hill which is climbed via an ornate staircase or elevator/funicular (if you are feeling lazy – which we were not). We climbed the 577 stairs to the top and had a walk around the gardens and took in the views of Braga. It then appears there is a weather front coming in so we quickly (as quickly as you can down 577 stairs) retreated to Jeff and drove on to our stop for the night to wait out the rain.

The next day we headed into Braga and we walked around the old town looking at the old buildings including the cathedral, the theatre and the Arco da Porta Nova before Rich got too cold (he was wearing shorts and flip flops and it appears that autumn is drawing in on us so it was probably their last outing for this trip) and we headed back to Jeff to drive north to the boarder with Spain in Valenca.  It was on the walk back to Jeff that we noticed that this was the town of small people and even I was tall against people here (all 5foot 3inc of me) and once we noticed this, you couldn’t un-notice it. Everywhere we looked there were short people and not just older short people, even the younger crowd looked short for their age, so if you ever want to feel tall (and are over 4foot), then come to Braga!

In Valenca we parked up under the city walls and walked over the bridge into Spain and back again (without our passports – whoops) and watched a kids boat race where Rich totally bet on the wrong kid (she ended up in the river!) to win. Sadly once back at the van we decided we had to book the ferry back to the UK as we have decided to come straight from Spain rather than drive to France and given that it’s a 31 hour crossing we didn’t want to miss out on a cabin as the alternative option is a reclining chair and we have decided we are both too old for that!

Aveiro Canal with the boats 

An Aveiro boat but as its electric they dont need to paddle it like they do in the real Venice

one of the lovely little coloured houses just outside Aveiro 

The bridge into Porto

Porto from the view point

The loveliest bookshop in the world - Livraria Lello

The staircase in the bookshop

one of the books which are all beautiful

The little Clerigos Torre

The view from Clerigos Torre

The azulejos in Sao Benton train station

these are some of the murals we found walking around the town, there were so many

The noisy deer at the biological park

There was also some chatty goats

the 577 steps at Bom Jesus

On the stairs up were these shrines with different scenes in them

The view from the Bom Jesus

A cave at Bom Jesus

A mural in Braga

Braga cathedral

A happy dude in the cathedral

Braga theatre