Diary for the period 18 to 29 June

18 June - Cudinella

This morning we set off for Avila to find an internet café. It really was a funny old place, just a few desks with PCs, and that was it - no café in the real sense.

Four and a half hours later we'd done what we came to do and just left money on the desk as there was no-one there to pay or even tell us what we owed!

When we left we were both starving and found a bar where unfortunately they didn't serve food. We had a few beers and the waitress behind the bar was very sweet and brought us bowls of crisps and pickles.

After leaving Avila we'd hoped to find a supermarket on the way home but didn't. We missed the turnoff to the campsite and stumbled upon the town of Cudinella which we'd thought that we'd found the other day. It looked like quite a nice town so we decided to return for dinner later.

Later we did return to look for a restaurant. We walked up from the harbour and eventually picked a restaurant with blue and white table cloths. After sitting down we spent fifteen minutes 'decoding' the menu with our Spanish phrase book and ended up ordering paella anyway!

John made a mistake by ordering Vino Tinto which resulted in the worst house wine that we've ever tasted - a mixture between bubble gum and malt vinegar.

After some time a mountain of food arrived. I screamed, there were claws everywhere and other unidentifiable sea creatures. We were given an unexpected implement with our dish, a nut cracker, or in this instance a claw cracker. We proceeded to munch and crack our way through langoustines, prawns, crabs, a lobster and a lonely mussel.

Parts of the crab were quite scary as we weren't sure which parts to eat. The crabs with the large claws were delicious. After eating as much as we could we still felt that we hadn't had a proper glass of wine and so ordered a bottle of Rioja. We drank this while watching the other diners and then ended the evening we coffee - an excellent evening.

19 June - Cudinella

We decided that we wanted to go for a walk today and so headed off into town to see if the tourist office had details of anything local. (None of the info that we'd previously obtained was very close).

What we found at the tourist office was what seemed to be the local police man's resting spot rather than a tourist office. We sat down for a coffee to decide where to go based on the information that we had.

After making a decision we stopped at the supermarket for supplies and then headed for Villneuva - the start of our walk.

It was an unusual path cut out of the side of a ravine including some tunnels. It lead, after a steep field, to a village with an old church. Here we had lunch of bread an salami and then headed back down again. We stopped for a beer at the bottom before heading home.

Back at camp we had a braai. The charcoal was finished so John spoke to the owner to see where he could buy some. The owner gave him a big metal bucket full of what looked to be charcoal remnants as well as stones and other rubbish.

Somehow he managed to get the fire going and we had our braai.

20 June - Santiago de Compostela

We set off this morning amidst gloomy skies. We had enjoyed Cudillero a lot but it was now time to move on again.

We got here fairly easily and found the campsite surprisingly quickly. The only hitch was when we stopped at the campsite to book in. We left the car running (as normal) but as we arrived at reception the engine died. We tried the usual banging thing but it didn't seem to work this time so John had to try and bump-start it (after unloading the bike and unhitching the trailer). He eventually got it going and parked successfully at our spot.

After setting up camp we changed into swimming gear and headed for the pool. Yeah! Sun and blue skies! After a swim and a lie in the sun we went to the cafeteria, and there sat in the sun, drank beer and played backgammon. Things are so great when the sun shines!

21 June - Santiago de Compostela

Today we decided to have breakfast in town, so it was wonderful coffee and a croissant to share. After that we made our way to the cathedral and spent some time there sat observing the mass. The church was extremely ornate with gold statues and an enormous silver incense burner that when lit requires eight servers to swing.

We then took a long bike ride along the Galician coast stopping at Carnota for lunch. We passed some of the most beautiful beaches that I have ever seen. The ride took us to Fisterra the western most part of Europe (or so it claims, Portugal seems to have a similar claim). We spent some time there on the rocks next to the lighthouse and enjoyed the sun.

22 June - Santiago de Compostela

The weather was cold and cloudy this morning but we set off to find a beach in the hope that it would improve. We first tried Isla de Arousa where we read that there were beautiful beaches. We got there and it was still cold, cloudy and windy. So we stopped for a cup of coffee and moved on. We headed for Pontevera with the idea of buying John a warm jacket.

On the way there however John decided that the beaches looked good so we decided to go and sit on one for a while. We were freezing when we stopped but it wasn't long before we stripped off into beach gear and were soon hot enough to attempt a swim. We ended up staying for quite a while and when we left the sand was almost too hot to walk on. Imagine then how we felt to have to put on jeans and fleece.

Once home we quickly changed into shorts and went to the cafeteria for beer and more backgammon.

23 June - Viano do Castelo

Yay - we're in Portugal!

The campsite we found was fairly hilly so we had trouble finding a level spot. Later we had a beer and realised that the van was a lot less level than we had thought. John went off on his bike to find a building site where he could pick up a few bricks. He was gone for a while and eventually returned with some large stones and a tale of how he got stuck in beach sand.

He then tried to jack up the van so that we could put the stones underneath the tyres but this was unsuccessful as the jack just sunk into the ground and even pushed stones into it too.

Over a bowl of nuts and a beer we pondered over this problem. John eventually came up with a ´nutty´ idea - dig holes in front of the two tyres higher up the hill and push the van forward into them. We then pulled out the spirit level for the ultimate test. As it turns out, perfection, the van has never been so level.

I've no idea how we're going to get out but it works for now so well done John.

24 June - Viano do Castelo

The Templo do Santa Luzia was our first stop of the day. We left the centre of town on a steep winding road to get there. Unfortunately the church was surrounded by cloud so what would have been great views of the city was just a blanket of cloud.

Back in town we wandered through pretty cobbled streets and eventually had an awesome lunch at a little side street café. Our waiter seemed very pleased about John's compliments about the food, in Portuguese.

Feeling full and lazy we traveled all the way across Portugal from west to east through the national park. It was very hazy inland so the views were obscured.

25 June - Viano do Castelo

Off to Porto for a walk though the old streets. We started at the Sé Cathedral and then our route took us through oldest and most impoverished area of Porto. The streets were all cobbled and extremely steep but very colourful. We eventually reached the river there we picked out a beautiful looking restaurant under an arch-way. To our horror the menu seemed only to contain seafood. We picked some items not knowing what to expect.

When the food arrived we were pleasantly surprised. I had a plate full of small grilled soles and John had a very tasty dish of fish, prawns, tomatoes, potatoes and onions in a sauce and served in a copper wok-like dish.

After our meal we got chatting to a lovely Dutch couple who had done a lot of cycling in Spain and Portugal. They told us of some interesting places to visit.

We took a boat ride on the river after lunch that took us under the four bridges and gave some excellent views of the town.

Back on land we rode to the other-side of the river where we stopped at the Sandeman port-wine lodge for a tour and a tasting. It was very interesting and we got to learn about our regular nightcap. The guide was dressed in the distinctive hat and cape of the Sandeman Don. Needless to say we bought a couple of bottles.

26 June - Viano do Castelo

We had a wonderful Saturday morning sitting drinking coffee at a café while watching a group of traditional Portuguese dancers. We sat there for ages watching and reading a newspaper before moving on to beer.

We had a lazy afternoon writing postcards and doing the crossword. Later we went for a walk along the beach to the lighthouse.

27 June - Aveiro

Today was the day to deal with the holes. Firstly the car wouldn't start - the solenoid is completely knackered now. It was also raining to John had to lie on the wet sand and bang the solenoid to try and get to working. After a few false starts the engine was started. Then of course we couldn't get out of the holes. We tried extending the holes but this didn't help. I said to John that maybe we needed a push. The moment that he replied that it would need to be a ´#$%&* huge push´ our four German hulking neighbours came down the hill to rescue us. With a large amount of smoke and dust the car eventually came free and we were able to move on.

The journey was a bit stressful as we don't trust this poor van anymore but we made it to our destination perfectly in the end.

After setting up camp we went for a walk on the beach. The sun was shining again and so we started building a sandcastle. Without a proper plan we started trying to create a boat but ended up with a F1 racing car (sort of).

28 June - Aveiro

Today we decided that it was time to sort out the solenoid. We drove through town trying to find a Volkswagen garage. The tourist office didn't know of any but while driving we saw a van with VW logos on it and decided to follow it. After a while it felt like we were just being silly so we decided to carry on for another km and then turn back.

Luckily during the last km we found ourselves in a remote part of town where there we loads of garages for almost every make of car - bingo.

After much organising, including John taking the starter motor off and back to the garage we have finally ordered the part. It's being sent from Germany and so means that we'll be staying here for another week. If it solves our problem it will be well worth it.

During the day we managed to buy some wooden bats and a ball and so spent the remainder of the afternoon on the beach playing 'beach tennis'. It was great fun but we're both still a bit stiff from it!

29 June - Aveiro

Yeah! Blue skies! Today we headed for Coimbra, a big university town. We wandered around the various university buildings and then made our way towards the river for lunch - a much craved for pizza!

After a fairly long lunch we went to see the university library. It was amazing, the ceilings were beautifully painted and the decor was very ornate. The shelves were filled with antique books that you just wanted to get your hands all over.

We left the library and then headed home on a very obscure route. Somewhere we must have taken a wrong turn because we found ourselves at a dead end, but oh boy, what a dead end it was. From there we got to see some of the most amazing views I have ever seen - a coastline stretching for miles and miles, it was like we could see the whole of Portugal from that point - it was breathtaking!