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In Which I Love Sweden All Over Again
October 5, 2007 by Mike
Costa Nova
Route: Vila Do Conde - Porto - Ovar - San Jacinto - Estarreja - Aveiro - Costa Nova
There's a National Road quite close to the coast. I'd like to be closer, of course; I want to be on *the * coast road. Unfortunately, at least in this part of the country, that means rough and bumpy: brick-sized paving, closer to cobbles than to anything as smooth as I'm used to. And I know I know I know that I'm supposed to prefer this.. as an 'adventure biker'.. but the truth is I'm much happier on sweetly smooth surfaces. Not just for me, you understand, but for the bike and some of the equipment on it. I don't like picturing what's happening to the laptop and the cameras with every juddering vibration as I careen down one of these roads.
As for the drivers - T E R R I B L E. Keith, back in Spain, got this right at least. They tailgate, they hog the road, they don't look where they're going and certainly not where *I* happen to be going. Above all, they speed -- and if that means overtaking me on a blind corner, then so be it. It happens several times a day, even on the terrible roads. And then it occurred to me -- if the roads were in better nick, these idiots would be driving even faster. Portugal's drivers have the roads they deserve.
--
It's Republic Day today in Portugal, the 97th anniversary of the revolution that saw off the last King. No great parades that I can see, just a day's holiday. And you know what that means: when I spot the telltale blue-and-yellow signs and make a beeline for the Porto branch of Ikea, in search of Swedish meatballs, I come face-to-face with about a third of the Portuguese population, all queuing patiently to buy their Spank wardrobes and Plonker pine. Worth it though -- the meatballs were delicious and what's more I asked for and got extra gravy. Yes!
--
The first name on Vitor's list of Places To See On The Portuguese Coast -- Espinho -- passed in a flash. It's a town, that's all. The south end of town is the poorest barrio I've seen yet.. proof that you don't have to live in a World Heritage Site like central Porto to be poor in Portugal.
It's not the most memorable section of coast, south of Porto. I enjoyed San Jacinto, a sand-dune spit at the mouth of the Aveiro estuary. OK so it's not the Curonian Spit but it was a damn sight warmer and I'm not complaining. There's a ferry across the estuary but nothing due for a couple of hours, and on a sunny afternoon I preferred to ride than sit by the waterfront sipping a coffee.. am I mad?
Plus, I got a certain guilty pleasure by taking an inland detour on the way round the lagoon. In fact, though it took the best part of an hour to get from San Jacinto to here, I'm probably about five miles south as the crow flies.
Aveiro -- also on Vitor's list -- looked dark and industrial viewed from San Jacinto, cranes and smokin', belchin' factory chimneys. I wasn't tempted to ride in and see it up close. Bypassing the city and heading instead for the beaches, Costa Nova is on a smaller spit of land between river and sea.
The campsite is on the seaward side of the road a mile beyond the village, and from the tent I suspect I'll be kept awake by the breaking Atlantic surf: lovely. 200 metres east of me, the wide river is placid, shallow and still. Anglers patrol its banks.
The campsite is almost completely empty: one other tent and a handful of motorhomes.
I walk back into the village, buy the ingredients for a picnic and eat on the beach. After dark I retreat to Costa Nova again. It's picture book pretty. Many of the houses are painted in gay stripes; others have been architected to within an inch of their lives. And the public fountain in the middle of the main street is choreographed -- I kid you not -- but you'll have to come and see for yrself because my camera is back at the campsite being charged up.
I find myself in a bar where nobody speaks to anyone.. not just that nobody speaks to me.. before calling it quits when I realise I'm the only person here who isn't drinking coffee. Rock and roll.
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By Rachel | October 10, 2007 12:16 AM
Hi Mike
You sound a little flat. You will no doubt be having experiences of value, een if there's nothing in you at the moment to make your travel diary brim with thrill and verve and adroit irony. Good luck with tent life. I agree about the Portuguese drivers. Madness. I have a story to tell about being in a Lisbon supermarket aged 5 in 1975 the night after the next revolution ....