27/07/18 – 28/07/18 – Aveiro, Centro Region
Just a 15 minutes drive from Costa Nova, we arrived at our destination, Aveiro. The area where we were staying (New Aveiro) was built to accommodate visitors during their hosting of the 2004 Portugal European Football Championships. We were situated on a large gravel carpark overlooked by tall residential apartments. (GPS 40.638963,-8.6506399,779) After enjoying our lovely green space at Tomar, it was going to be hard going back to appearing like we were camping again….all cooped up inside. On the upside, just a minutes walk and we were at the Jardim do Rossio a beautifully manicured park surrounded by palm trees which was adjacent to Aveiro river.
From the river we decided to take a 45 minute tour on a Moliceiros boat. These are colourfully painted boats that traditionally were used to harvest seaweed. Each boat features either something religious, or sexual. What a strange contrast we thought, but they looked very cool. Aveiro is commonly referred to as the Venice of Portugal because of the boats, its three canals and the surrounding architecture. If you come to Aveiro thinking this, you will be let down, however it is a very charismatic place.
We embarked from the Jardim do Rossio, just in front of the recently refurbished ceramics factory, which historically produced beautiful ceramic tiles that adorn many Portuguese buildings today. It is now used as the town hall and for conferences.
It was Marley’s first time on a boat so we were quite excited for him, as up until now he’s not been permitted to go on any, but equally we were apprehensive, as we didn’t know how he would react.
We were surprised about how calm he was…well for the first 10 minutes anyway, until the boatman sounded his loud horn to let other boats in the opposite direction know that we were coming. This got him very excited and he started barking in tune with the horn, making our fellow passengers laugh.
We’d recently bought him a small toy rubber chicken which he’s become quite obsessed with. This seemed the appropriate time to use it as a distraction, the only issue is that it’s a squeaky toy. I think the squeaking may have annoyed some passengers more than his barking. Anyway, it kept him entertained and by the end of the boat ride, the poor old chicken was headless and footless.
During our boat ride we learnt how Aveiro is known for its salt production. We saw where they produced salt, and were told about the massive decline in salt fields…there used to be 300, and now there are only 9. We saw some of the original salt houses where they used to store it, which have now been transformed into fancy restaurants and shops.
We enjoyed the first half an hour of the boat ride, but by the end of it I noticed that I was day dreaming, and Dan was yawning….it takes a lot to keep us entertained….perhaps boat rides are just too relaxing for us! We were more impressed with the fact that our tour guide was able to translate information fluently to all passengers who were English (us), French, Spanish and Portuguese. Very talented!
Afterwards we headed back to the Moho. Since travelling, we’ve managed to give Marley at least one bath a month, and his third was to be in Aveiro. Lucky him, as he does NOT like getting wet! It’s always quite an amusing procedure, involving a small paddling pool, a pop up washing bowl and jug. One of us washes and the other tries hard to keep him from jumping out and instantly getting dirty again.
All smelling fresh as a daisy again (at least Marley anyway) we took a walk along the river and into the town centre. We admired the traditional Portuguese houses with some rather flamboyant Art Nouveau architecture tucked in between. There were lots of people sitting outside socialising and having drinks in the evening sun, which was very inviting. At the opposite end of the river, we strolled around an interesting crafts market. Slightly outside of the centre, but still quite central we noticed quite a few commercial shops and supermarkets too.
We stopped to take some photos of the bridge over the river which was covered in colourful ribbons, and padlocks which we were told were put there by people making wishes. Sadly, we didn’t have a ribbon or padlock, so couldn’t make our own, even more sad is the fact that we lost those photos, so the left image is one I’ve pinched from the internet.
So all in all, would we visit Aveiro again…we were glad we went as it was definitely worth the trip especially being so close to Costa Nova and recommend to others if they are in or near Porto , but I don’t think we would go back a second time.
Onward to Porto where we have heard lots of good things about, very exciting!
