Day 37 - Sunday 28th May 2023

Today would be the first full day of our bus tour of Portugal and Spain with Back Roads Touring.

The bus was due to depart at 9am and we had to have our bags outside our room for collection by 8:30. We went down for breakfast in the hotel restaurant at 7:30 trying to remember the names of the people we met last night.

Justin, our tour guide, and the driver, Paco, struggled to load all the luggage into the back of the bus. So much so that they were unable at first to shut the luggage door. We got away a little late at 9:10.

It was a cloudy morning with a temperature of 17C. It was hard to know what to take to be ready for the weather and so I took a light jumper and my spray jacket. In the end I didn't really need either of them.

After leaving Porto, we got onto motorways for most of the journey. Justin gave us an excellent informative commentary along the way. He is a natural story teller. He spoke off the cuff without notes and has the ability to make it interesting, relevant and keep your attention.

He started by telling us his personal history and how he was brought up - all of which helped to explain why he ended up as a tour guide. He tells the story about his hippy parents deciding on a whim to leave Melbourne to live in Turkey and to continue to travel from one country to the next.

Next he gave us a history of Portugal from the Roman days until now including a detailed explanation of Portuguese explorers - where they went, when and why. This explains why Portugal was so rich and had so much influence over the centuries in various parts of the world.

Suzy and I were in the front seats behind the driver which gave us a good view of where we were going. However, Suzy decided she didn't want to sit there in future. The bus is small. Although the individual seats are comfortable, there is not much space. It's cramped and the front seats have no pocket to put things in.

At about 10:30, we arrived at a church at the top of a hill,  Templo do Sagrado Curacao de Jesus (Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus), which is near the town of Viana do Castilo. Apparently this is a fairly new building compared with most churches around Europe.

One of the reasons for taking us there was to see the view from the mountain top - particularly looking down at the town. Unfortunately it was very cloudy and so we got almost no view at all.

Nevertheless, it proved to be an ideal time to visit - not just because it was a Sunday and there was a church service about to begin - but it was a very special service. It was an international event of some sort.

There were people dressed in flowing coloured robes - some black, some green and some crimson. They were filing into the church at the top of the impressive granite staircase. (Everything is granite around here).

There was another doorway labelled entrada (entrance) so I thought what the heck I'll go in there and see what happened. This wasn't a problem because they seemed quite welcoming. Also I was nervous about taking photos until I noticed that most of the people in coloured robes were taking photos too.

It was quite an occasion. There was a choir singing in one corner at the rear of the room. People were entering like a procession. It was a very positive atmosphere. However I couldn't stay because I needed to get back on the bus.

The bus took us back down the narrow winding hill and stopped in the town, Viana do Castilo. In most of these towns, there is a designated place where tourist buses are allowed to stop and park to drop off or pick up their passengers. This one was near the river and close to where a large ship was moored as a museum for one of the explorers.

Justin showed us where we could find the historic centre and where to go shopping - including pastry shops. So Suzy and I set off to the see the historic centre. It was very quiet but it looked as though they were set up for an open-air concert.

One of the cobblestone alleys was decorated with coloured umbrellas hanging above the walkway. Later we saw a statue of a cow outside a shop and it had an umbrella over its head. I'm not sure what the significance was, if any, for the umbrellas.

The main street lines up with the church we'd visited at the top of the hill but it was hard to see the church because of the clouds. This town had lots of character. Like most people, Suzy couldn't resist buying something from one of the pastry shops.

We were back on the bus at 11:45 and we arrived in the town of Ponte de Lima at about 12:15. This town dates back to Roman times because the Romans built a bridge here. The name of the town simply means bridge over the Lima River.

The bus drop-off point was at the top of the town and Justin guided us down the hill to the river. This gave us a great view of the bridge. After pointing out some of the features of the town he left us to explore the town and to have lunch provided we were back on the bus by 2:30.

We followed his advice and looked for a place to have lunch first before the cafes and restaurants got too busy. There are many such places on the riverfront and we eventually settled on one of them - partly because another couple from our tour group had already found a table there.

Ordering food wasn't easy because the staff didn't understand English. Suzy opted for vegetable soup (which is a traditional meal here in Portugal) whereas what I ordered ended up looking a lot like fish and chips.

Earlier we'd noticed people in traditional dress cooking a barbecue and so we went back to have a closer look. By this time, there were four young people dancing on the footpath to musical accompaniment.

Although the bridge is about 2000 years old, only a small part of it was the original bridge built by the Romans. The remainder has been restored in recent centuries. We walked across the bridge and back again.

There are various statues along the waterfront as well as attractive buildings of various ages.

As usual, there are cobblestone streets and plazas.

Further on, there was a market under large trees near the river. Suzy explored the various stalls while I sat on a bench with one of the other husbands from our tour group.

Although there were still some clouds around, it was now quite warm.

This town was amazing. It was certainly the highlight of the day. It's a beautiful town in a picturesque location. There were so many photo opportunities.

It occurred to me that Porto should be renamed as "Photo" and Portugal should be renamed "Photogal". This town is also photogenic.

This was the last town we'd be visiting in Portugal before crossing the border into Spain. At about 3pm, it started sprinkling and soon afterwards we crossed the border. Justin then gave us an explanation of the history of Spain.

By crossing into Spain, we lost an hour because of the time difference between the two countries. So instead of 3pm, it was now suddenly 4pm.

One of the many things he talked about was the siesta. He pointed out that they don't go home to sleep. Instead they go home to have a large lunch. Therefore most places in this part of Spain close between about 2pm and 5pm. He said the siesta is becoming less common in large cities such as Madrid.

At about 5pm, it started to rain and it soon became very heavy. Luckily the bus was able to park under cover when we arrived at the entrance to our hotel, Gran Hotel Los Abetos, at about 5:20. After we started settling into our room, the storm got worse at about 5:45. There was thunder, lightning, torrential rail and hail.

This was classy hotel. Our room was quite large but, strangely, had two double beds. Weird. It had a safe we were unable to open. There is no work desk. Instead there was a round table with two low lounge chairs - too low. The wifi speed was about 5 down and 5.5 up. It had air conditioning.

There was a large bathroom with a shower in the bath. It also had a bidet.

It had plenty of cupboard space and hanging space. The window looked out over the pool to the countryside and the town. It was a nice view when it wasn't pouring with rain.

At about 7:15, we went to the hotel bar for a predinner drink (red wine) and were joined one of the other men from our group.

While we were sitting there, Suzy noticed a woman walk into the bar. She recognised her as someone famous but was initially unsure who she was. Eventually she worked out that it was an American actress called Linda Gray who was in the TV show called Dallas.

This meant nothing to me because I'd never watched Dallas and I'd never heard of Linda Gray. Of course, Suzy googled her to check her photo and concluded she must be 82 years old.

When we arrived at the hotel this afternoon, we'd booked a table at the hotel restaurant for 8:30 which was when the restaurant opened for dinner. Apparently this is normal for this part of the world.

They'd given us a table for two at the window overlooking the valley. It was probably the best table in the restaurant.

Suzy noticed a woman from our group at another table. She was travelling by herself and so was sitting at a table by herself. Suzy invited her to join us. It turned out that she comes from Chicago and was on her way to France for a few weeks.

Each of us ordered the three course special for the evening - soup followed by main course of hake or chicken and finally dessert. A glass or red wine was included in the deal.

It was after 10:30 (local time) by the time we got to bed.