On the 17th March we crossed the border into Portugal. I hadn’t realised before that the border goes along the centre of the Rio Guadiana. So over the river bridge and our clocks went back one hour and that means back to UK time. There was soon a sign by the road that said all foreigners were to go into the toll payment area. We had to present our card and it registered our car number plate to our card to pay for tolls along the motorway. There were regular tolls along the way of small monetary amounts. They used lots of cameras for number plate recognition.

It wasn’t a long journey and we were soon at Camping Armação de Pêra. We walked around the site to find a spot to pitch our caravan. There were no marked out pitches, you could just find a spot to stay on. We found a nice sunny spot and settled in with a lovely cold beer!

We took a walk around the site as it’s always good to see other set ups. We are also having a bit of a debate on caravans versus motorhomes at the moment so we have been looking at all the various designs available.

A spot of lunch and a glass of white wine before lazing in the sun reading my book. Andy always ends up having a little snooze at times like this. This is the life!!
We have been so lucky with the weather on this trip and it continues to be good.

The next morning after a lovely late breakfast in the sun we went to explore on our bikes. First we headed down to the seafront and the small beach huts where the fishermen were busy mending nets, cleaning boats and generally preparing for their next haul. We cycled along the promenade admiring the gorgeous beach and stopping for lunch with a view, and a beer of course.

Having seen some wonderful coastal photos on postcards Andy was in search of that perfect shot! So we made our way out of town and along the coast to find it!
It was hard to get close to the cliff edge for the best views so after a couple of hours searching we headed back into town and called in at the Tourist information centre to ask for advice.

We showed the lady a postcard and asked where it was, only to be told it could be many places along the coast as there are so many caves and archways. She did tell us where we could walk along the coast to get good photographs.
We decided to take the car along the coast the following day and park up near this coastal footpath. This proved to be a good idea. With wonderful views, beautiful weather and lots of photo shots. A lovely pizza and cold beer for lunch by the sea. What more could you ask for?

On the 21st March we made our way to Lisbon and the campsite Lisboa Camping and Bungalows. Lisbon is one of our favourite cities and we have visited a few times previously. This time we are here to visit our friends Vitor & Catarina. As it happens Vitor is away on a field exercise but Catarina and their 2 little boys Pedro and André were at home. We had a lovely evening visit with lots of giggles and smiles from André. Even though Pedro was shy to begin with he was showing us how he could count in English before we left. Catarina gave us some homemade chicken soup to take away and it was delicious. 

The following day we decided to cycle into the city centre. Lisbon is known as the city of 7 hills and I am sure we went over every single one! We visited Amoreiras 360 view and it was amazing. This was above a very modern shopping centre where we had a lovely lunch.  

The next morning we drove to Viseu for another visit to friends, André, Raquel and their little boy Manuel. We were staying with them in their home and there was plenty of space for the caravan to be parked outside. Well it’s true there was plenty of space and a turning circle at the end so Andy decided we would turn and park up directly outside their place. I suddenly felt juddering and the neighbour was pointing to the caravan. Out we got and the caravan tyre was flat with a huge hole in the side wall!!
It had caught on the corner of the kerb. André, Raquel and little Manuel were all out to meet us. Raquel and I left the men in charge and went inside to chat and play with Manuel. Luckily for us their neighbour knew someone with a garage and they went off to get a trolley jack so they could change the wheel. Once done the caravan was parked up and our visit began.

Their home was a duplex apartment, very modern and lots of space. We had the second floor to ourselves. Manuel is a little darling with a mass of dark hair and beautiful dark eyes. We had a lovely dinner of cod fish, and I now know how to prepare the salted cod fish thanks to Raquel.

On Sunday morning we went to visit the Scout group where André is a leader and once again experienced the Scouting in Portugal and how great it is. We chatted to each patrol and they were so enthusiastic. Following Scouts everyone went to mass, their meetings take place in the rooms around the church building. The wall paintings in the Cub lair were so good!

Once we had finished there we went to Andrés parents home for Sunday lunch.
They welcomed us into their home, plied us with amazing food, gorgeous wine and wonderful hospitality. We all then went out for a walk in the park stopping for coffee along the way. Manuel loved the peacocks and being outside.

We watched 2 football matches at the same time, Portugal played Serbia and England played Montenegro in the European Championship qualifiers.
On Monday we went into the centre of Viseu and had a stroll around the city as André had to pop into work for a while. We then met for lunch in a restaurant he and work friends visit regularly. We had a 3 course meal and a drink for €7.50. It was gorgeous too. We picked Manuel up from his grandmothers and headed home. An evening stroll around the park is the usual thing for families and Manuel loved it, being out, walking around himself and just loving outdoor life.

The next morning we were starting our journey towards Bilbao for our ferry to the UK.
We drove to Salamanca and stayed at Camping Ruta de la Plata, a small site with all we needed for an overnight stopover. We definitely need to return to the area and explore as the place looked amazing. Before we left in the morning we noticed a British couple who were cycling had a problem, they had run out of gas and it was quite a few miles to Decathlon. Andy volunteered to take the gentleman in the car, it didn’t take long and it turned out they had left home in the UK and were cycling to Almendralejo in Southern Spain, raising money and awareness for Parkinson’s disease. Nicky and Steve Parry on Facebook as “Ride for AFENPAL” so take a look and support them if you can. Our good deed done we were on our way to Burgos and stayed at Camping Fuentes Blancas. Once again the city looked a good place to visit longer in the future.

Then it was on to Bilbao for our overnight ferry crossing to Plymouth. Our cabin was all we needed. The ship was busy with lots of people that had been in Spain for the winter returning to the UK. We booked into the restaurant for our evening meal and the food was amazing. It was like being in a top class French restaurant.

We later settled in our cabin and watched “The Darkest Hour” a film about Winston Churchill.
The following morning after a lovely breakfast in the restaurant we were soon off the ship and on our way to stay overnight near Chepstow at David and Bernadettes pub. Bernadette is Andy’s cousin and although they haven’t seen each other for years, the beauty of Facebook has kept them in touch.

Our adventure was over after three months away from home. It has truly flown by and been amazing in many ways. It has been a wonderful journey through Portugal, seeing our friends once more and their lovely little boys too.

This journey was measured in friends rather than miles!

Take care, Carol & Andy