What have the Romans ever done for us?

After a visit to the nearby river, we headed off to Ponte de Lima (so named because of the mediaeval bridge across the Rio Lima):

• Initially we visited the local river and tried to find a footpath that was sandal friendly but to no avail - next time we'll bring boots
• The route to Ponte de Lima took us over the hils and down the side of the very attractive valley (marred a little by the multitude of stone masons)
• A very attractive town greeted us with a range of restaurants and appealing architecture
• And a lunch consisting of ridiculously large portions and the ubiquitous chips and rice but no wine on this occasion
• Followed by a walk across the bridge (originally built by the Romans but rebuilt in the 14th Century) to the delightful municipal gardens on the far side
• It was very hot by this point so we returned to our hideaway in the hills and stash of chilled (not Tiger this time) Super Book - half price at 7 Euros for 20 x 33cl bottles
• Oh, and Rach had a snooze which left me with no option other that to kickstart this blog - so, you can blame her 

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Yesterday, we took a trip to the coast, which is a 30 minute drive away:

• Via Caminha on the Rio Minho estaury which marks the border with Spain
• Joined the coast at Moledo which is rugged and is the same heading north in to Spain
• We then went south to Vila Praia de Ancora which is the point at which the coast changes to sandy beaches and this remains the case until The Algarve in the south
• Lovely resort (largely Portuguese) with a wide sandy beach (but very non Algarve in terms of people - numbers and nationalities) and with good surfing conditions (I'm told!)
• It also has at least one good restaurant (the one we visited) which offered the menu completo for 8.5 Euros each (main course, half a bottle of wine each and coffee)
• After that we retired to the beach for a paddle followed by a snooze!

Any port in a storm...

...was my preferred blog title but it turns out not so original hence the title.

It's northern Portugal this year, starting in the north west corner close to Spain (The Minho), followed by a week along the Douro Valley and finishing with 3 nights in Porto.

Less waffle this time and more bullet points, as follows:

• Flewfrom Manchester Airport after a visit to Quarry Bank (NT) Mill on Saturday, which is well worth a visit
• Overnight at Premier Inn (recommended)
• Up at 4 on Sunday morning for a 7.20 flight with EasyJet
• Spent 90 minutes sitting on the tarmac due to an air traffic strike in Belgium!
• Pilot turned out to be Neil Brown (the parent of former Crossdale Primary pupils who Rach taught) so we popped into the cockpit to say hello (no, we really did)
• Then flight to Porto only took 2 hours and Portugal is in the same time zone so very easy
• No sign of the Brava Cars (car hire) shuttle bus or reply to phone call so got a taxi to the offices, which were closed
• Called emergency number, which was answered by a very rude guy who said he was at the airport
• Long story short: got the car and we'd been ripped off by the taxi driver (classic con - he took the very long route)
• Drove north on near deserted autoroute and arrived after an hour
• Two different types of toll road: pay on exit or (newer) pay after two days and then within five working days at a post office (t'is the truth)
• Lovely rustic idyll set on valley side, in a surprisingly green and lush location (some pics below)
• Walked to the local restaurant for a huge rump steak with chips and rice (both, which seems to be the thing round here - just like when were living in Oldham when a night out was finished off with chips, rice and gravy)
• Washed down with a carafe of red fruit juice masquerading as red wine - delicioso