I could hear the hostess preparing the dining room for breakfast and by 830 am breakfast was served and ready for us. There was only one other room set but they must have been still in their room so there was only Alex and me in the room. We had a pretty tasty meal with a lot of food - so much so that the remaining we packed up and brought along with us, thinking we could stop somewhere today and have a snack on the road.
Breakfast was set out for us for 830 am - yogourt, orange juice, cheese, meats, bread, and croissants. Any leftovers we packed for the road. -- Aveiro, Portugal
Breakfast was set out for us for 830 am - yogourt, orange juice, cheese, meats, bread, and croissants. Any leftovers we packed for the road. -- Aveiro, Portugal
We packed our gear then in a few trips brought down the bags and both bikes. In the meantime we met the second owner (wife of owner we met yesterday) - she was as gracious and kind as he was. When I had brought the second bike down along came the husband who greeted us with a big smile, asking how we liked our stay, if everything was ok and if we neeed anything. So kind.
I loade dup my bike and we slowly made our way to the canals to see if we could catch some Artsy Photos (AP) of the gondolas. The tourists were just starting to trickle in so though the boats seemed ready to go, none were yet plying the waters. As we looked around and took photos the streets started to get busier with traffic, so we walked our bikes in the direction we had to go, eventually mounting then and pedaling away.
Since we did not have far to go we dawdled around the centre of town by the gondolas. Most were preparing for the day and the throngs of tourists had not yet arrived so it was fairly quiet. -- Aveiro, Portugal
Since we did not have far to go we dawdled around the centre of town by the gondolas. Most were preparing for the day and the throngs of tourists had not yet arrived so it was fairly quiet. -- Aveiro, Portugal
Since we did not have far to go we dawdled around the centre of town by the gondolas. Most were preparing for the day and the throngs of tourists had not yet arrived so it was fairly quiet. -- Aveiro, Portugal
Since we did not have far to go we dawdled around the centre of town by the gondolas. Most were preparing for the day and the throngs of tourists had not yet arrived so it was fairly quiet. -- Aveiro, Portugal
It was confusing to leave the city and return to the coast since the roads went every which way because of the canals and other waterways. At one point while I was trying to figure out what my GPS was telling me, two other cyclists came along so I asked them the way and they confirmed my route and we were away again, this time on a totally designated cycle route.
We were cycling along mud flats since the tide was out and there alongside us in the shallows were many white flamingos foraging in the mud for breakfast. Using the bike path we climbed a big bridge over the river and on the other side were now in small towns riding sometimes on quiet streets and sometimes on cyclepaths. It was good we had the GPS since the route meandered so much then we appraoched the sand islands on which we would be staying the night. This mean crossing another high and long bridge again on a designated cyclepath.
A bit hard to see in this photo but in the mudflats was a flock of white flamingos foraging in the mud for whatever they like to snack on (algae, small seeds, tiny crustaceans, fly larvae, and other plants and animals that live in shallow waters). -- Aveiro, Portugal
A bit hard to see in this photo but in the mudflats was a flock of white flamingos foraging in the mud for whatever they like to snack on (algae, small seeds, tiny crustaceans, fly larvae, and other plants and animals that live in shallow waters). -- Aveiro, Portugal
To this point we had not gone very far, so instead of turning left to and heading directly to Costa Nova, we turned right and headed to Barra. Roberto had suggested it was nice to see the lighthouse and to ride out along the spit that extends way out into the sea where the Aveiro River meets the Ocean.
Since we had such a short day today, once we had crossed the bridges as we left Aveiro, we headed over to Barra to see the 'foral de aveiro' and ride out onto the spit. -- Barra, Portugal
Since we had such a short day today, once we had crossed the bridges as we left Aveiro, we headed over to Barra to see the 'foral de aveiro' and ride out onto the spit. -- Barra, Portugal
Roberto was right. Again the joy of knowing someone from the area. We rode out to the tip of the spit from where we could look back to the vast beaches and dunes of Barra. Enjoying the views we sat on the rocks and enjoyed out packed lunch - the leftovers from this morning's breakfast. All this time it was very windy but the wind was either from the N or the NW so it usually pushed us along.
Since we had such a short day today, once we had crossed the bridges as we left Aveiro, we headed over to Barra to see the 'foral de aveiro' and ride out onto the spit. -- Barra, Portugal
Since we had such a short day today, once we had crossed the bridges as we left Aveiro, we headed over to Barra to see the 'foral de aveiro' and ride out onto the spit. -- Barra, Portugal
Since we had such a short day today, once we had crossed the bridges as we left Aveiro, we headed over to Barra to see the 'foral de aveiro' and ride out onto the spit. We ate our packed lunche on the rocks right behind where Alex is standing. -- Barra, Portugal
Since we had such a short day today, once we had crossed the bridges as we left Aveiro, we headed over to Barra to see the 'foral de aveiro' and ride out onto the spit. -- Barra, Portugal
After cycling back to the beach and Barra's streets, we made our way south and back to the intersection where this time we veered to the left and headed to Costa Nova, all along a cyclepath. As we arrived into Costa Nova, we started to see the 'palheiros' facing the lagoon. The palheiros were bright colours - yellow, red, blue, purple, orange, green. against bright intense white, and all vertical stripes. Sometimes the coloured stripes were thicker stripes of stucco on the walls, but sometimes they were stripes of vertical tiles. They were incredibly picturesque.
"The striped colorful houses in Costa Nova are known as palheiros which in Portuguese means haystack. They were used by the fishermen to store their fishing nets. Because, you got it, Costa Nova has always been a typical fishermen village." -- Costa Nova, Portugal
We paused along the water to admire the beautiful buildings in town. We had not reached our accommodations yet, but I knew we were close. -- Costa Nova, Portugal
"The striped colorful houses in Costa Nova are known as palheiros which in Portuguese means haystack. They were used by the fishermen to store their fishing nets. Because, you got it, Costa Nova has always been a typical fishermen village." -- Costa Nova, Portugal
"The striped colorful houses in Costa Nova are known as palheiros which in Portuguese means haystack. They were used by the fishermen to store their fishing nets. Because, you got it, Costa Nova has always been a typical fishermen village." -- Costa Nova, Portugal
"The striped colorful houses in Costa Nova are known as palheiros which in Portuguese means haystack. They were used by the fishermen to store their fishing nets. Because, you got it, Costa Nova has always been a typical fishermen village." -- Costa Nova, Portugal
"The striped colorful houses in Costa Nova are known as palheiros which in Portuguese means haystack. They were used by the fishermen to store their fishing nets. Because, you got it, Costa Nova has always been a typical fishermen village." -- Costa Nova, Portugal
"The striped colorful houses in Costa Nova are known as palheiros which in Portuguese means haystack. They were used by the fishermen to store their fishing nets. Because, you got it, Costa Nova has always been a typical fishermen village." -- Costa Nova, Portugal
We took a few pictures of this pretty town then went to our hostel (more like hostal) which was on this same street facing the lagoon. I stepped inside to a fairly attractive lobby where the man behind the desk just stared at me without a smile. After an awkward moment I said I had a reservation - to which he replied with a question - "Oh, you have a reservation?" I gave him my name and our passports then he pointed somewhere down the hall to where I could put the bikes. He shuddered when one seat touched a wall, shaking his head and pointing somewhere down the hall. He was not behaving rudely, but rather very mechanically. Cold and not very welcoming. Really nice place but no 'warm fuzzy' here.
We finally figured he meant for us to put the bikes into the fenced-in courtyard so that's what we did and we heard nothing more about it. We got into our small (but nice) room and after cleaning up, just relaxed for a couple of hours.
Starting to get hungry (what's new, eh?) we headed out around 4 pm to take a walk over to the beach to watch the wave action - and oh, what beauty. The wind had shifted a bit so was driving the waves quite a way up the beach to the point that my sunglasses were misting up with salty water. We walked way up the beach enjoying the waves. The conundrum - do we walk in the soft dry but keep sinking and keep filling our shoes with sand or do we walk near the firm sand by the water's edge but risk being surprised by a rogue wave. We struck a balance and walked a fine line between the two and kept our feet dry, though still fairly gritty.
After resting for a while in the rooom we headed out for a walk down the beach where the wind had shift from N to NW so the waves were crashing up the beach and sending fine salty mist over us. -- Costa Nova, Portugal
After resting for a while in the rooom we headed out for a walk down the beach where the wind had shift from N to NW so the waves were crashing up the beach and sending fine salty mist over us. -- Costa Nova, Portugal
After resting for a while in the rooom we headed out for a walk down the beach where the wind had shift from N to NW so the waves were crashing up the beach and sending fine salty mist over us. -- Costa Nova, Portugal
After resting for a while in the rooom we headed out for a walk down the beach where the wind had shift from N to NW so the waves were crashing up the beach and sending fine salty mist over us. -- Costa Nova, Portugal
I had found what sounded like a small family restaurant down the street, their rating was excellent and they served porc alentejana (one of my faves) but when we got there - it was closed until tomorrow. Let me guess - holidays?
Right around the corner was a fish market so we went in to see and saw many fresh fish, squid, octopus, eels and then over to the side - prepared food for sale. That was it for us - we ended up with sandwiches with Portuguese bread - one tuna and one pork. Right across the aisle from that was a fruit and veggie stall with the biggest mangoes I have ever seen. I got a mango and about 200 g of blue grapes. All this we carted back to our accommodations to eat in the kitchen area. Everything was fantastic!
As we left the beach we noticed this shrub with its fruit then saw one man go over and pick a handful - figs, he told us - so we returned after supper to pick a number of them to add to whatever we choose for breakfast in the morning. -- Costa Nova, Portugal
After finding the resataurant we had chosen is closed until tomorrow, we went to the market next door where the goods on display caught our attention. We ended up leaving with a pork sandwich loaded with veggies, and a tuna sandwich, both on fresh Portuguese chewy bread. Along with the sandwiches we bought a huge mango (the photo does not show it, but each mango was the size of three delicious apples) and about 200 g of grapes (I had learned my lesson). These were our supper. -- Costa Nova, Portugal
After our cleanup we decided we'd zip back up to the beach to where we had seen a man picking figs from a huge tree on the beach. The figs were mild and sweet so we picked a bag of about a dozen for at least a starter of a breakfast since it is not available in this place. Then we can stop on the road at a cafe once we get off the island and away from the super-touristy area. Hopefully we'll still be able to find some small traditional cafes somewhere.
Today's ride: 19 km (12 miles) Total: 145 km (90 miles)
