Porto and beyond

After a three hour drive down the North-Western coast of Spain we have arrived in Portugal. The weather seemed to turn as we crossed the border, Portugal greeted us with clear blue skies and warm sunshine. As the SatNav led us higher and higher into the mountains we began to wonder if we should stop telling it to avoid toll-roads. Doing so has already led us into several very stressful tight-spots with the caravan! We hope also that the Portuguese are getting on better with their road systems than the Spanish. Highways that seem suddenly just to end in sections not yet built really confuse the SatNav and leave us wondering if we will ever get to our destination. It’s incredible that the moment you get a SatNav you just stop being able to read a map and find an address in the good old fashioned way. We find ourselves blindly following ‘Peter’s’ instructions as he leads us off in directions our common-sense is screaming at us not to go.
Despite the circuitous route we arrived at tonight’s campsite late afternoon in good time to pitch up before dusk. Once again we are right next to the sea in a small town/large village on the outskirts of Porto. The campsite is an interesting one, mainly inhabited by Portuguese campers who have pitched their caravans here on a permanent basis. We have not had a chance to look around the area properly but imagine by the number of Portuguese choosing to holiday here it must be desirable for some reason or another.
We have found so far that people speak relatively little English and feel pleased to be getting by with the little Spanish we have learnt, quite a lot of French and now our phrasebook Portuguese. Krista is travelling well and slept most of the way in the car. When awake she is becoming more and more playful and chatty by the day. She is grabbing at her toys and just yesterday learnt to make a growling sound. Today she has enjoyed alternating that with some dribbly raspberries. Exhausted by our adventures and a meal out at a local fish restaurant tonight (we are out of gas for the moment) she is now asleep in the ‘bedroom’ while Graham and I are reading in the ‘lounge’!
Tomorrow we will explore Porto then perhaps go for a run and do the washing. Monday we will search out some gas before heading south towards Lisbon.

13th December
We liked Porto, it has an appealingly fraying ornate quality. It is clear that a few years have now past since a grand heyday there is no longer the money or the inclination to maintain. As Graham noted there are many interesting juxtapositions of the very cheap and very expensive everywhere in the architecture and general life of the city. Walking around, we found the Ribiero District down on the waterfront the most attractive. Lined with old waterfront residences, the area is coloured with the typical Portuguese tiled frontages and lots of unashamedly billowing washing. No regulations about hanging that out of windows and on balconies here. To the contrary, due to the character it adds, the tourist board probably insists upon it.
We crossed the bridge to another town Gaia and while waiting for a tour of the Sandeman Porto cave had some lunch. We’ve had mixed experiences with food so far and prefer to cook what we know we know we enjoy in the caravan. Due to lack of gas however we have been eating out more than usual. Last night was a pretty disastrous experience with some ‘grilled’ cod served swimming the oil it had clearly been deep-fried in. Today we thought we’d be pretty safe with what was described on the English translation of the menu as ‘Soup-bread’. All I can say is that it was lucky that I was in the toilet when it arrived. Soup-bread turned out to be what in all its constituent parts I would have to name as my worst idea of a dish. Bread soaked soggy in soup with a very yolky fried egg laid on top. The waiter brings the concoction to the table with the egg sitting like a prize on top. He then mixes it in front of you before serving a generous portion of the sloppy mix onto your plate. The sight of it even made Graham feel sick. As I say I only saw it on my plate so was just able to force myself to taste it. I admit that it was actually quite tasty and, as hungry, I managed to eat a good portion. However my stomach is still turning at the idea so we won’t be ordering that again.
Delivered in French, the port tour was informative and the generous samples we got at the end did a good job at helping us to digest our eggy lunch.

14th December
Most of today was spent on the road as we travelled down to Lisbon. Our search for a propane gas bottle and the correct connection took us on an interesting detour into deepest Portugal and added several hours to the journey. To add to dodgy GPS sagas, the coordinates given on the caravan dealer’s advert were completely out and led us right to the centre of another very narrow roaded village. Once again French got us out of our tight spot when we found a car mechanic with perfect French to send us back the 20km in the correct direction. Still without joy when we arrived for the second time where we thought the shop ‘should’ be, I ventured boldly into a local bar filled with a large group of who at first seemed ‘intimidating’ Portuguese farmers. However as soon as I had made myself understood by showing the advert for the shop they fell over themselves to help. One jumped on his bike to fetch his car then, with an enthusiastic friend along for the ride, led us to a place we would have still been looking for now without their assistance!
Once we had waited an half hour for the shop to open, with all the stress, I didn’t dare ask Graham if he had found what we needed when he returned from inside. All I will say is that we are now once again cooking on gas!!!! Oh the simple joys.