Portugal

ALICE'S ADVENTURES
ANDREW AND CELIA SHARPE
Mon 6 Sep 2010 09:30
We spent a very pleasant weekend anchored in Ria de Vigo.  We anchored outside Cangas as Vigo Marina read in the book as being a bit congested.  Went over there in the dinghy instead and were just about to tie up when Andrew realized he had forgotten his shoes! So we went back to the boat without seeing Vigo! Found a wonderful anchorage called Ensenada de Barra where it would seem all the locals go but is not in our pilot books.  However the closest beach was a Spanish version of Shell Bay!!!!  It was actually hot enough that I went for my first swim of the trip.
 
This morning we came south again.  We had the most fantastic display of dolphins who played in our bow wave for about 25 minutes
My first swim of the summer
dolphins
more dolphins
yet more dolphins
The view over Viana do Castelo
the church a the top
view from the top
this is where I went!
We got to our first stop in Portugal - Viana do Castelo.  A very pretty old town.  We caught the longest (650 meters) and steepest funicular in Portugal The Elevator de Santa Luzia.  This took us to the Temple of Sacred Heart of Jesus in Santa Luzia.  The view was panoramic.  We then went up in the lift to the top of the dome- at least I went to the top of the dome - Andrew saw the tiny spiral staircase that you had to climb to get to the very top and decided to stay put!  The view was even more spectacular.
 
 
On Tuesday we carried on down the coast to Povoa de Varzim.  The marina there is definitely the cheapest one anywhere we have been.  The downsides were that the swell was huge - we had so many ropes on Alice but still a rope broke and one of our big fenders burst.  It was also foggy some of the time we were there.  A very loud siren went off when there was even a hint of moisture in the air which kept everyone awake.