Monday 23rd March
A shorter update today after yesterday’s marathon!
The cockerel must have been having a lie in yesterday as it was 3am again today. I feel so sorry for the site owners as, I guess, there isn’t much they can do about it.
A second load of washing and we were ready to set sail. Someone had told Richard that there was a new Intermarche up the road with a big car park. We found the supermarket but the parking was underground, so no good for us. So it was back to Plan A and go to the Pingo Doce, I just love that name.
We headed to the Douro valley. Last year we took the fast road but this time we did the scenic route. Most of the road was above river level and the views were stunning. We were surprised that, although it was very rural, there were lots of houses. Our first stop was the Barragem do Carrapatelo (Carrapatelo Dam), but mainly to see its lock which, for a long time, was the deepest Europe. The lock is 115 feet deep - the deepest in the UK is 20 feet! 115 feet is roughly the height of a 12-story building. The dam was the first built on the Portuguese section of the Douro (inaugurated in 1972) and remains the most impressive of the river's five locks. The dam is 190 feet high and 1,312 feet long. While newer locks in Europe, in places like the Volga-Don Canal or some French waterways have challenged its title, it is still frequently cited as the deepest lock in Europe due to its single-chamber design. We couldn’t believe our luck as one of the river cruise boats was just about to enter the bottom of the lock. The boat was obviously built to fit the lock, or was the lock built to fit the boat, as it was a perfect fit. The boat looked so small in the bottom of the lock. We crossed the road to see how the water went in, but we couldn’t see though the boat rose quite fast. One minute there was a small boat in the bottom of the lock, then there was this huge thing just below us. The passengers were obviously not allowed on deck while they were in the lock and all the navigation lights and even the ship’s bell had been lowered. How lucky were we to see that.
One interesting fact about the Douro River is that it rises 410 feet in total from the coast to the Spanish border. The Barragem do Carrapatelo alone accounts for nearly 30% of that total height.
We continued on just loving the views. As we approached Peso da Regua (our stop for the night) the valley became terraced for vines which would then be made into Port. There were, we reckoned, hundreds of almond trees all covered with their white blossom. It was certainly a beautiful drive for me, but hard work for Richard, as it was very wiggly and the road surface was shocking. The UK’s roads are excellent compared with these ones!
Last year, when we stopped at Regua there were only a couple of motorhomes parked up by the river, but this year it was very busy. We were right by the river - it certainly was a lovely spot.
Tuesday 24th March
Today was Rio’s second birthday, and we had a fun packed day for him 😂🤣
A beautiful morning to wake up to the equally beautiful River Douro.
A trip on the “bumpy” train was the order of the day. We had met an English man who had assured us that that is what it is called locally!
I walked a short way from Kiwi where I took some photos. You can see the damage that was done during the storms earlier this year. There was debris in the trees, and a lamp post had even been knocked over.
As we were leaving for the station the lady from the French van in front of us got out. I brightly said bonjour as did Richard. She must have thought that we could speak fluent French as she started a spiel in French. She was pointing at the underneath of her van, the front of Kiwi and the river. We had absolutely no idea what she was on about. The only thing that Richard could think is that the grey water tap had been very slightly open and a few drops had been coming out. He closed it last night. I guess we will never know for sure!
The train was waiting at the station. It should start at Porto but there are track works, so it is starting in Regua at present. The journey up to Pochino was absolutely stunning. The train runs right alongside the river and in places it seems to be only inches away. There isn’t much I can say but I hope you can see from the photos just how wonderful the view is. (The train window wasn’t that clean so there are some marks on the photos).
The train terminated in Pochino, but we stayed on and went back towards Regua though we got off in Pinhao where I had organised a boat trip, which was super stunning. There were only a few of us on the boat, an American couple out at the front with us and a family inside. The next boat was quite full, so we were lucky.
Back in Pinhao we looked for somewhere to get something to eat and finally found a snack bar with a lovely view over a tributary into the Douro.
It was then back to the train and our final leg back to Regua. We were shattered when we got back to Kiwi, though we hadn’t walked that far (2.8 miles) so just collapsed.
We hope that Rio had enjoyed his birthday, though he did look very bored at times!
Wednesday 25th March
We were awake early, for us, and were away by 9.45am
Regua has its own dam and lock, so we headed there first. The dam is 135 feet high and a length of 1,150 feet. The lock is approximately 295 feet long and 40 feet wide, with a drop of 93 feet. Construction of the dam began in 1965 and was completed in 1973.
We stopped a bit further on to take photos of where we had been staying.
Then a 90 mile drive to Aveiro, the Venice of Portugal. I asked Jem to tell me something about Aveiro and this is what he said. “Often dubbed the "Venice of Portugal," though I’d say it’s more like Venice’s laid-back, colourful Atlantic cousin who prefers salt and sweets over grand marble palazzos!”
There is a motorhome stop just outside the city, so we had a short walk along one of the canals. The city around the canals surprised us, as Jem said, there was a lot of marble.
It was lunchtime and we found a café overlooking the canal which served excellent burgers.
We decided to take a boat trip. There were quite a few different companies, so we just chose the nearest! The boats that are used are called Moliceiros, brightly painted, crescent-shaped boats that were originally used to harvest seaweed (moliço) for fertilizer. There were only seven passengers on board, two Spaniard, three Brazilians and us. Our guide spoke four languages, but he did seem to spend most of his time chatting to the Brazilians! We went under the "Bridge of Ties" (Ponte de Laços), where couples leave colourful ribbons as tokens of friendship and love. We also went under the Ponte Pedonal Circular, also known as the Circular Pedestrian Bridge or the "Loop Bridge."
Beside the canal is the historic landmark, the Capitania de Aveiro (Old Port Authority building), also known as the Casa dos Arcos. It now has one of Aveiro's most charming and whimsical art installations pouring out of one of the first floor windows. It is called the “Cardume” or “School of Fish" which is part of the Galeria de Arte Urbana (Urban Art Gallery) initiative in the city, which pays homage to Aveiro's deep-rooted connection to the sea, the lagoon (Ria), and its history as a fishing hub.
Also, beside the canal is the Museu de Arte Nova (Art Nouveau Museum), also known as the Major Pessoa House, is widely considered one of the most beautiful examples of Art Nouveau in all of Portugal. Built between 1907 and 1909, it was originally a private residence for Mário Belmonte Pessoa. The eagle perched at the very top is its most iconic feature.
We had a quick wander along a street lined with restaurants and saw the Sé de Aveiro (Aveiro Cathedral), also known as the Igreja de São Domingos which was originally founded in 1423 as a Dominican convent.
We passed an ice cream parlour so had to try one. They were really lovely, I had caramel and pastel de nata (Portugal’s famous egg custard tart pastry – let me tell you that the ones in Lidl are very poor fakes!)
We had a short drive to an Intermarche for a quick top of the fresh food and to use their service area for the grey and black water and fresh water.
One of the wild camping places I really wanted to go back to this year was the beach at Costa Nova, which was only a few miles from the Intermarche. We moored up and took Rio on the beach which he loved especially as we had taken the ball thrower.
We settled down for the evening – no need to cook tonight!
