Pereira Family European Vacation: Matozinhos

We slept in this morning - bliss!

We decided to head to the suburbs surrounding Porto - Matozinhos. We wanted to have a picnic with Ed's auntie but Teresa cannot get her by phone. We decide to try to have coffee with her after lunch.

The park is the largest in Porto and it is called City Park. We wander around some ponds and along various paths before deciding on a spot for our picnic. There is lots of bird life - geese, ducks, pigeons, sea gulls and lovely swans. We see some babies and their mothers. The biggest goose headed for Ed and Joaquim. Joaquim spoke to him in portugese this seemed to satisfy the goose and there was no drama. I thought he may attack them but there was a mutual respect between man and goose.

We enjoyed some cod fish cakes Teresa had made, some freshly made sandwiches, olives, chips and some lovely plums.

We decide to have a walk along the beach. It was quite misty but warm. There was lots of activity on the sand: a volley ball competition; surfing lessons; people playing on park-like equipment; and of course sun baking. The kids and I enjoyed the flying fox and some gym equipment.

I enjoyed looking at two large scale sculptures. One was in the middle of a round about and resembled a fishing net and the other was recognising a tragic fishing accident from the 1940's where 152 sailers lost there lives at sea due to bad weather. The sculpture depicts grieving women and young children who suffered as a result of losing their sons, husbands or fathers.

We made contact with Arminda and organise to have coffee with her. Lots of chatting, eating and drinking occurs. The kids play cards with Gonzalo and Ana-Rita and later look at games they each have on their iPods. We look at old family photos and hear some stories from the past. We could talk all night but had to shop on the way home so we part trying to make plans for the next get together.