May 2015, Spain

To finishing up my foot healing we deviated a bit from the route and ended up in "Os Banios" which is a natural spring so hot that it is almost impossible to get in! After a few hours in and out of the natural swimming pool we were so tired and hungry!! we slept so well after that!! A great way to say hello again to Spain

Pontevedra Spain

Combarro was such a surprise little town. The houses had barns at their side looking at the ocean.... that looked like coffins!!! Drove to Praia Montalvo as the warm weather was asking us to go the beach! continuing  the day looking at the sunset in Ermida da Nosa señora Da Lanzada and finished the day at marina O Grove  to sleep. A full on day!

The next day we had a huge bike ride and in our way to Santiago de Compostela we took time in Cambados.

What I love about this bit of our trip, the 'Europe off season'  is the opportunity to just drive to yet another spectacular little old fisherman village and say: let's have lunch here!  parking our home looking at the ocean and cooking something fresh.....and time stands still!

Church made all with shells

Santiago de Compostela

It is this spiritual place that it ought to be. The cathedral is imposing and the amount of people of all ages and cultures that are meeting her is impressive. There is so much buzz and excitement around here but mostly there is an atmosphere of triumph as thousands of walkers climb the stairs of the cathedral for the "peregrino mass".
Inside we got the chance to see the cauldron being lifted and swung as a pendulum by 8 priests; such the heaviness of it and the height that it reached!
The smoke and the smell of incense very quickly fill the place. It was mesmerising. I can only image how it must felt for the people who did the big walk and for the truly believers.

May 8 to 15, Portugal

Sitting across the river the city looks spectacular. I do like Porto very much. It is probably one of the cutest cities we have been. With the tram, the super narrow houses with ceramics at their front, the river, all the bridges, the cycle way all around the river Douro that finishes in the ocean, the historical city.....they told us that Porto has become the 3rd most visited city in Europe and is easy to see why.

Porto's favorite: grilled sardines

The people are really nice and the whole atmosphere is very laid back. Still, there are plenty of houses in disarray, in extreme need of TLC. I do hope that these new wave of big tourism brings lots of money to this country so they can start doing all the restoration that is much needed. Still this city goes into my "3 months to live" list!

Back on the road and back to nature, which for us is always ocean....we arrived at Praia da Memoria and Hecti cooked a glorious BBQ to celebrate mother's day!! The next day we did a great walk at Praia de Angeiras Sul that ended in a bad note when something bite me so bad that ended the day after in hospital with fever, a huge swollen foot that was impossible to walk and an itchiness that killed me for 3 days!!

So at Guimaraes and parked on the castle's ground, Hecti spent a few hours visiting the village while I was in bed wrapped around  ice in my foot. From there we drive to Arcos de Valdevez, parked across the river and spent a few hours laughing while filming a video for Daiana's hens night (that we had to upload from our computer to send it to Marni which resulted in 4 hours at Mcdonalds!!!!).

Nature and recovered, just enough to do 2 great walks on the Peneda Geres national park. One of the walks, part of the Santiago de Compostela trail, is crossing through old stone houses, in the middle of the vineyards, up and down hills, and the goats with their bells....I feel so inspired by this view and this great sense of calmness that I declare that my next goal will be to do the peregrination in a few years time, for Hecti's 60!!!   So, cheers for our next adventure!!!

And with that note we say goodbye to Portugal, which has been so good to us!. So excited about going back to Spain and do our last week before flying to Fiji.