Viana do Castelo & Photos
Gaudeo
John and Prue Quayle / John Quayle
Fri 24 Aug 2007 16:39
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21-23 August: Decide to stay on in this charming
town especially as the forecast gave strong wind and
swell of 3m - harbour entrances along this coast are mostly rather shallow
and can be dangerous in a swell. Nice to be back to convenient hours for eating
and more varied offerings at restaurants compared to Spain. Waiter service is
quite a ceremony; indeed manners generally are distinctly more gentle - an
elderly man gave up his seat on a bus for the youthful Prudence. The
albarino grape, a favourite of ours whilst in Galicia, is grown also
along the Portuguese side of the river Minho so with the addition
of liberal amounts of port to follow our food, things just get
better as we proceed south.
A climb, well by funicular, to the the Miradouro de
Santa Luzia Church offered not only spectacular views over the town and harbour
but also an ideal place for postprandial siesta - certainly getting closer to
heaven on this trip; pity about the Latin though, but much more bearable
than the music from a dockside cafe which vibrated through the hull of Gaudeo
until 5 o`clock in the morning on our first night.
A party was beginning on our pontoon
berth when we returned, given by the crews of four Dutch and one
Belgian boats to celebrate the birthday of one of the
co-skippers who happens also to be 20 weeks pregnant
(twins) - the pregnancy being unplanned and only discovered after she
and her partner had made arrangements for their two year
circumnavigation. Their yacht which fortunately does have ample
accommodation for the additional crew had been "decorated" by
the other yacht crews with an inflatable dinghy, wine bottles, balloons
and other paraphernalia hanging in the rigging awaiting the
birthday girl`s return from a shopping trip - see photo.
An even more momentous event occurred when your
blogger entered a internet cafe for the first time and secured a WiFi
connection. Although he is developing an all-over tan, wears sandals,
and frequently carries a rutsack, he remains in the early throes of
gap year transformation.
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