Estoril Vigo

... our beloved Vinho Verde (Euro 1.39 a bottle) Mmmmm.... It was off to bed, to awake to another wet day. Discussions over breakfast (boiled eggs perfectly done if you please) (Lymºs writing this by the way....Iºm just typing...) led to us both deciding it was time to break camp and head to the Algarve with all haste, we were beginning to believe that the sun was an urban myth...

... other than from the coach that took us on our tour. As we left Vigo heading north along a motorway, I realized how green everywhere was compared to when we went to Rojales and the South East of Spain last year. It reminded us both of the Lake District in Cumbria.

Today I´m headed for Vigo on the Northwest coast. Madrid has been good although tiring. It rained yesterday so I spent the afternoon at the Prado Museum. After that I walked forever, took a few pictures and ate some ice cream. If you´re ever in Madrid I recomend the Museo del Jamon, ham and cheese sandwich + beer = 2euros.

... you arrive at the city center. The only thing going for it is the view of the city, especially at night.

In the afternoon we went to the top of the Castillo de El Castro that has excellent views of the city by and harbor below. For lunch we bought oysters from a street vendor and then took them to a bar nearby where we ate the oysters with Lemon and drinks. Vigo, although larger than many of the neighboring towns is a much laid back ...

... We also had lunch at a very nice fishing village. It is not a surprise that seafood is popular… some of the local favorites are mussels and octopus. …and of course they make a lot of wine, and we sampled some that was delicious. The end of our day was spent exploring Vigo’s old gothic quarter.

... Mateus, the home of that rose wine which was the height of sophistication in the sixties and which single-handedly destroyed the reputation of this fine region for a generation! The following day we took the bus into Porto and wandered along the Ribeira, the old promenade along the north bank of the Douro, where elegant but somewhat dilapidated terraced houses rise in tiers above the waterfront bars and restaurants. It ...

... at first we had made a huge mistake crossing the border from France. The weather had been awful that day and when which didn't help as the driving vibe changed instantly. The Spanish seem to have a far more 'I'm going for it' attitude to driving than the French, they seem a lot more impatient and it was hard to adjust at first. The first place listed in our free camping guide seemed nice in the book, a quite car park virtually on the beech, but it wasn't that ...

... is where people from Spain travel to buy towels (not sure why but they did have lots of towels for sale) and Em & Eric did get a set just to follow the tradition.  Tui was a much nicer place and the cathedral was lovely. On the way home we stopped in Baiona an old port city with a cool old fort.  We took the walk along the top of the walls (a 3 km walk).

Notre marche de Tuy par O Porino, Redondella et Ponte Vedra Top 5 de la vie de pelerin 1- payer 3 euros pour coucher 2- manger du spagat parce qu on peut se faire a souper 3- Avoir de cordes a linge deja installees (pas piege a con!) 4- Spirit du pellerin...ca chante, ca souffre...tout le monde ensemble 5- Se rendre compte que meme si on a passe 30 ans, on est encore les meilleurs (hi!hi!)

... collection of over 1,000, who lives with and watches over the grandparents. After we settled in (it was already nearing midnight), Anton's grandma had already prepared us a Spanish tortilla with some fish and mussels, that we consumed immediately with relish (and I don't mean pickles). This morning we hiked up the street behind los abuelos' house, to the Parque de la Guía, where there is a nice little church at the top and a great view of the "ría", which is the ...