Our first
port of call in Portugal was Povoa de Varzim and as
soon as we had moored up, we were invited to a BBQ, which is held every Thursday
by the ex-pat community living there for part of the year. It also gave us an opportunity to meet
other people from a number of other yachts who turned up at the same time. Povoa de Varzim is not a particularly
pretty place, although it appears to be a holiday resort for the
Portuguese. It has a very long
‘Blackpool type’ beach front, with music piped
from street speakers. However, behind the seafront the town with its little
streets and alley ways had a sort of rough and ready charm about them. It was also festival time (not sure
which one as there appears to be so many in Portugal!) and
the streets were literally covered in pictures made of flower petals and conifer
branches. We were told later that
it was to celebrate the safety of the fisherman and the centre of attraction was
the church and this was visited throughout the day and lit up like ‘Blackpool
Tower’ at night….strange but interesting.
Arriving Povoa de Varzim or is it
Blackpool??
Not so bad.......overlooking the harbour
Streets of flowers................
and there were even mini bridges to cross over the
floweres
With Povoa de Varzim at the end of Metro du
Porto system, we took the opportunity to take the 1 hour journey to Oporto and explore it’s
delights (only 8.80 euros return for 2).
We had an excellent day and after wondering around the streets and the
fabulous waterfront which is sited on the River Douro, we decided that we
couldn’t come to Oporto without visiting some of the Port wine
houses of which there are countless.
We visited both the Croft and Taylors wine houses and on each were given a
guided tour of the cellars, where the large drums of port were maturing. Oporto is 100 miles down river from
where the grapes are harvested and the fortified wine made, but it is necessary
to move it to the cool lodges at Oporto where is begins its gradual
transformation into fine port. Naturally it goes without saying that we also did
some tasting and also couldn’t resist purchasing a couple or three bottles. We also managed to find Eduardo
(recommended by David on Zipadedoda) who runs the restaurant at the yacht club
and I must say we were looked after very well; excellent starter (tuna, fresh
prawns, olives and bread). After
paying our 3 nights marina fees, we also understood why the ex-pats were
living here… less than half the price of other marinas down the coast. All in all an enjoyable time here, apart
from the sirens going off all night to either welcome the fishermen on their
return to harbour or to signal fog (neither seemed to be happening, but Eduardo
did advise us that there was a technical fault with them). Next stop
Nazare, a 107 miles further south.
Sights of Oporto and the River Douro
Port cellars... and advertising around Oporto
View of sunset and entrance to Povoa de Varzim from the yacht club
restaurant