Viano do Castelo

We have left Torreira and have headed up north to Viano do Castelo. It was once a major port but most boats go to Oporto now, so it is a sleepy sea side town.

We arrived at our hotel at 10.30am and were able to use our rooms straight away. The hotel makes me think that O am in an Austin Powers movie - shagalicious baby! 

It is right out of the 1960's with lots of timber and orange and brown furniture. It is very clean and comfortable yet old fashioned. It has taken me back to my childhood. 

On dumping our bags we headed for the centre of town. There are delightful laneways with typical Portugese architecture - lots of tiles, ceramic roof tiles, and interesting stonework. The shops are traditional stores selling handicrafts, clothing and food stuff. 

We wandered into a church and then up near the station - nothing fancy. I noticed that there was two buildings marked with signage as station. We looked at the old one so we decided to look at the more contemporary building. 

It is a shopping centre that is named after the real train station. 

We looked around and found lots of references to trains - doors, ceilings that look like tracks and a miniature train tjat hoes all around the area. 

After lunch we took the funicular to the old church devoted to Saint Luzinda. It was only small but quite lovely. There are many offerings from people seeking cures for blindness and other eye conditions. The church was built in the eighteenth century and has a lovely fresco ceiling and some very nice stained glass windows.

We caught the funicular back down and strolled around the streets some more. We spot a cafe and decide to stop and do some people watching. 

We head in the direction of our unit and end up visiting another church, a local artists exhibition and a museum that exhibits traditional costumes from the area. They had jewellery on display, a woman demonstrating embroidery, exhibits illustrating traditions for creating fabric and lastly music that is typical of Portugal. It was informative as well as enjoyable. 

We head back to the hotel and we go for a swim. The weather is good and the water temp is okay. 

Well we are hungry again. We stroll to a local restaurant. On the way down we get a call from Paul. It is great to finally connect. We will try to call when we get home. 

Ed found the restaurant via the internet. The waiter suggests that we only get half portions - he says we can order more if we are stil hungry. I had sardines, Ana had salmon and Ed and kids had chicken. 

We are full to the brim. Ciao!