Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Greek Islands and Portugal

The Greek islands were wonderful: very relaxing and serene.

Paros

Santorini

Mykonos

We had three weeks in Northern Portugal which was magnificent. We lived at the beach in Povoa Varzim and we learnt to ride the local buses and the metro to the main city, Porto (38 km away). Porto is very unspoiled and remains authentically ‘Portuguese’, with red terracotta tiled houses set up on the steep banks of a large busy river in a deep valley, and hardly anyone speaks English! So with lots of hand actions we manage to get around the city, enjoying sitting in the cable car, riding boats up the river, frequenting pubs and admiring the architecture and history of the place. We spent most of our time on the beach in Povoa Varzim but we returned to Porto numerous times. When we were travelling a short way up the river on a little boat in Porto I was thrilled to notice that we passed the River Cruise boat that I am keen to do one day.

Pavo Varzim

Porto

Soon we will be cottage sitting on a little farm in Cumbria, the Lake District; one of our favourite places.