Tuesday 27 October 2015

Two great things for a three year old in Portugal and Coimbra in the rain isn't one of them


Coimbra- view from the happy bus
We drove to Coimbra and parked up in another car park.   It was raining really had but the NFs dragged me out again in the rain.  We walked across a long long bridge and into the town.
Even the boats had their lights on
I had to walk up hill in my welly bob bobs.
The old town
I have seen so many old towns now and cathedrals and cobbles that they all look the same so Coimbra washed over me like the rain.  B ut the next day we went to the zoo at Miranda do Corvo.  It was supposed to be a do good zoo but it was still animals in cages.   But I still loved it. 
Big fat pig
They were all supposed to be animals native to Portugal.  There were lots of pigs and they smelt awful.  mam said it wan't the pigs so much as the food that they were feeding them that smelt.  She had to go for a lie down.  But there were goats and I liked them and they liked me.
And scarecrows
 And lots of birds.  My favourite was the little owl but he was so little that Mamma couldn't get a good picture so here is the eagle owl instead.
There were also lots of wells and presses and old farm machinery and this great windmill on wheels.
Daddy with windmill legs.
I wore my amazed face for much of the day.
My amazed face
Lynx
I became very interested in a stone in the road.
A stone
But I kept my eye out for bears.  Mama had cooked a chicken curry and I was worried about it going missing.
Bears in the woods
And then I saw them and I didn't like them as they were really really enormous.
Do bears do things in the woods?
I prefered this.
Nice bear
And this..
Gentle bear
 We spent the night in yet another carpark in Miranda do Corvo.  Mama woke up in the morning and said that she had just found out that there was an aire with free electric and water and toilets just round the corner but it was bit late then.  We headed on to the 7th wonder of Portugal.  (Mama isn't too sure what the other 6 are).  The caves at Mira de Aire were great.
Great Rocks
The only problem was the dripping on my head.  I tried to put an umbrella up but Mama said it wasn't form.
Dripping rocks

 They said that the water from here was used to feed Lisbon.  I said wow.
Wow
Oh and daddy drove all the way down a motorway without paying the toll and so now we are waiting to be arrested.

Saturday 24 October 2015

Gorgeous Guimares. Funny Furadouro. Amazing Aveiro.

Bloody travelling
This had to be the worst day of my life. We left the beautiful mountains to go to Braga. It rained so heavily that I couldn't get out of the van.  I was tired and fed up.  Mama was grumpy.  Daddy was grumpy.  Daddy couldn't find a parking space in Braga so we kept driving.  It kept raining.  We finally arrived in Guimares and we couldn't find anywhere to park there either.  Eventually we found a parking but the slope to get up it was so steep that Daddy scraped Nona's bottom.  I wanted to go back to Nana's.  They eventually persuaded me to get out of the van.  I hated it.  But then we found a castle......

The castle
and we climbed to the top
Guimares
and the sun came out.

Centre
Guimares was a wonderful town.  It was the centre of Portugal and we went to look at the King's palace.
King's Palace
En velo
and I rode round the whole town on my bicycle.
Cake
and daddy started smiling. Almost.
We left there and headed for the sea.  To Furadouro.  It was hot and beautiful.  But the Atlantic was quite scary.  Mama went for a bit of a paddle but not me.


Big Sea
Furadouro was a funny town.  I don't think the people there had much money.  The shops didn't have anything in.  They had a couple of wrinkly green peppers.  There were ladies dressed in black with long woolly socks selling fish.

View from the van
In the morning there was a fish auction of about 10 people.  Mama went and joined in as she likes an auction.  Daddy was scared she was going to come back with 20 kg of sardines but she didn't.
Fishing
We watched the tractor collect the fish from the nets and the beach was full of seagulls.
Birds
We cycled to the nearest town which was Ovar.  That was a funny place too.  It is famous for its 'glazered tiles' as everyone kept telling us.  I found some great graffiti which I preferred.
Where's his slipper gone?

Great graffiti
Mama made us go and eat sardines.  We ate them in someones front room.  It was full of maroon nylon.  Mama liked the vinho verde I noticed.
lunch
I liked the olives.
Olives. Bring me olives.
But the best thing was that we all went out cycling together.  All three of us.
The best bit
Then we went to Aveiro.  That was great.  It was full of boats and canals and more 'glazered tiles'.
Aveiro
Mama and daddy kept mumbling Venice of Portugal under her breath. 
Venice of Portugal

Daddy bought a hat from a man who thought I was hilarious..
Where am I?
And I set off around the town.  With a purpose.
Man about town
Praia da Barra
We are now back at the beach near Aveiro at Praia da Barra.
Where is everyone?
It's a bit bleak but beautiful.  We are on a campsite on this bit of land that sticks out between a salt water lake and the sea.
Hop little bunny
Nanny thinks we are going to get washed into the sea with a high tide.  Hop little bunny.



Thursday 15 October 2015

From Palencia to Portugal

Come on daddy.  Lets go on Motorbike
We parked right in the centre of Palencia and I liked it.  I chased Daddy around town.
Shadowing Daddy
We stopped for tapas in the centre and Mama ordered a load of things.  When Daddy asked her what they were she said how was she supposed to know.  They were all really tasty except for one which tasted so terrible that even Mama left it.  She said she suspected it was a part of a pig that she didn't want to eat.
Disguised pig parts.  Eat nuts.
 Palencia was a fine city.
City Centre
We had a lovely walk along the river in the morning.  
Bridge
I spent some time on the playground next to the van and we saw a heron and Mama went for a coffee in the morning.
Playing
 Nobody else wanted anything.  Daddy felt a bit funny after the pig parts.  We drove on to Puebla Sanabria.  It was so high up and the weather changed. 
All wrapped up
It was such a shame because it was very very beautiful.  Daddy said it reminded him of Haworth.  
Puebla Haworth
There were some great restaurants there.  It was so cold and miserable that we stopped for a big cup of very thick chocolate and a huge plate of biscuits.  We soon warmed up.
Warming up.
The next day we arrived in Portugal.  What a difference.  We went round a roundabout and we were there.  The roads were a lot smaller and it started to sunshine.  We saw palm trees.  We stopped in Chaves in a car park in the town centre.  Mama liked it so much we decided to stay the night.
Chaves

They had a castle and views and everything

Freedom

Look at those mountains

Castle
They also had hot springs so we went and sat with the old people and had a glass of hot water which smelt of eggs.  I closed my eyes and pretended to be ill.
Hot springs
 We slept in another car park and in the morning we went off exploring.
Streets

Looking
 The thermal waters were draining into the river and it was like smoke.
Smoke on water
 Mama went crazy taking lots of pictures.  She said Uncle Lollo would have loved it.
Autumn

Reflections
 I found a big heart so I stood next to it so that Mama could take a photo for Nana.
I put on my best smile
 Mama went on taking pictures,
Another bridge

Old crossing
 We went for a great big slap up lunch with rice and potatoes and then drove onto Peneda Geres.  It took us 3 hours to drive 103 km.  We all felt sick by the time we got there.
Rio Caldo
But it was beautiful.  Very very beautiful.  We passed deep deep canyons and mountains and rivers and forests and no one else.  We tried to get to 2 campsites but the roads were too small for Nona.  Just when Mama was about to throw herself into a gorge we found Cerdeira at Campo de Geres.
Spring is Sprung
 We have our own little wood and there are crocus on the ground.  It is freezing cold at night and in the morning but hot hot hot in the day.
Mountains
We are surrounded by magnificent mountains and tiny villages with old grain stores.
Grain store
Mama says it reminds her of Tana Toraja in Sumatra.  I had some more rice and potatoes.
Lunch