After 45 days of only walking for transport, we jumped on a bus, caught two different high-speed trains, and finally an uber to a quiet coastal town in northern Portugal. The three hour bus ride hugged the the windy coastline with all of it's twists and turns. Surprisingly, only one of us did not fare well on the bus trip (but she handled it like a champ).
Instead of breaking up our longer legs of travel over a couple of days, we prefer to tackle it all in one stretch if possible. It made for a long day, over 12 hours of travel. It was dark when we arrived at our apartment, but it was worth it to have nine full days to recover and relax.
It was time to decompress, and you guessed it...not walk. But it wasn't the walking we wanted a break from, we loved the walking. It was a break from packing and unpacking our bags every day that we were looking forward to. And we were also looking forward to sleeping in!
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Parker suggested Viana do Castelo because it was not touristy like Porto or Lisbon. Viana do Castelo seemed quiet and inviting, we were in. He found a great apartment by the beach with room for us to unpack and stretch out. The seaside neighborhood of Praia do Cabedelo was separate from the main part of town, we had to take a ferry to get there. So perfect.
As as we got to our apartment and explored the beach area, we all decided we wanted to spend our whole time in Portugal in this little seaside town. Yes, I wanted to see Porto and Lisbon, but we all needed to rest and sometimes exploring one place is the best way to go.
Our little neighborhood had everything we needed: a white sandy beach, a couple of small restaurants, a delicious corner bakery, and a small grocery store. Not having to cook has been a luxury that I, in particular, have relished. However, vegetables were often hard to come by when eating out in Spain and we were all craving greens. Not to mention the decision fatigue with every meal had become exhausting. Parker and I were excited to have a full kitchen and cook our first meals in months.
*****
Praia do Cabedelo is a half-moon shaped bay with a one kilometer stretch of sandy white beach. It is a haven for water lovers. We were minutes away and during our stay, we experienced various weather conditions for every water sport: surfing, kite surfing, kayaking, swimming, stand-up paddle boarding, etc.here There was one day with zero wind and the beach was packed of sunbathers.
There was something very interesting we observed about the beaches we visited in Europe (France Spain and Portugal) vs the beaches that we have visited in the US. Even though the beaches in Europe were full of people it was calm and quiet.
First of all, the Europeans bring next to nothing to the beach: just a towel, maybe a book, and a bucket/shovel for the kids. Unlike some beaches in the states where trucks/SUVs back up on the beach and unload tents, chairs, coolers full of drinks and food, and containers of toys, etc. Even if we can't drive on the beach, we still bring a ridiculous amount of things. And don't forget the competing music on loud speakers. There were hundreds of people on this beach but you could barely hear anyone's conversation. There was no music. Everyone kept to themselves, read, or just soaked in the sun and sea.
Recovering was our main goal but we also came to Portugal to surf. Portugal is known for it's great surf and the kids were excited to learn. Although Parker and I have surfed in Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia, (which sounds way cooler than our actual abilities), we still consider ourselves beginners.
Nineteen years ago, we took surf lessons on our honeymoon in Maui, Hawaii. We recieved one of those cute tourist certificates for our efforts. Ever since, we look for surf on our travels, and we were excited to share this with the kids. Of course they loved it and were hooked.
The water was freezing cold (14C/57F). It went against my good senses to get in a wetsuit and join the rest of my family. I am a Pacific Islander through and through, I love warm water and hot weather. After a couple of hours, my feet were frozen and I could barely stand on the board. But we all had a blast.
The beach breaks were fun and consistent. Parker pushed the kids onto the surf and taught them how to catch their own waves. They picked up surfing quickly and did not mind the freezing cold water. For the rest of out stay, we scheduled our time around the surf forecast calendar. One day the breaks were overhead and the surf was so good that all the locals also came out to surf. Surfing in Portugal was great practice for the warmer waters of the tropics in a few weeks.
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A couple of times we made it out of our little neighborhood and took the ferry to explore Viana do Castelo. Viana do Castelo is on the route of the Portuguese Camino and it was fun spotting the Camino arrows around town. Once you've followed them, you can't un-see them. It's fun being a tourist without carrying everything you need on your back. Our first order of business was to find Kaia new shoes. We went to the mall and wandered aimlessly.
In our wandering, we discovered the famous pastry of Viana do Castello, the bolas natario. It's a small donut filled with sweet custard topped with cinnamon and sugar: perfection. We loved the change of food in Portugal. It was a welcomed change from eating so much ham and baguettes in Spain. The seafood In Portugal was fresh and delicious.
Post Camino, it was nice to unpack, spread out our things, lounge, read, write, watch shows, play games, take naps, and sleep in. The only set date we have this year was in October, in the Philippines, to meet my mom and visit my family. We were slowly making our way to the Pacific Islands. But first, we had a very special birthday to celebrate in Egypt.
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Portugal was in a severe drought and the country was battling wildfires. Unfortunately, at the end of our stay, the wildfires in Portugal worsened. While we were there, there were 160 active fires. One was 25 minutes away from us. Some roads were closed off until some of the fires were under control. The last couple days on our visit were very smoky and it greatly affected the air quality. It really affected Cruz and we kept our outside time to a minimum. Rain was forecasted the weekend we left and we read that they got some relief from the break in weather. We hope for the best for this wonderful little country.