I was afraid to look outside this morning when I awoke to the Catedral bells' deep ringing and the sound of flowing water. Maybe it was a deluge like yesterday. On the brighter side, at least I had slept a lot better than the night previous.

I slipped into the murky morning to find the streets actually drying up. The water I had heard was the fountain in the courtyard. Here goes that great luck again!

As I was now heading south, I expect each day will be warmer and the terrain 'warmer' as well. The days stayed dry, and actually to the north there were traces of clear sky. Very nice.

After having ridden in vast unpopulated areas a while back, it was quite different to pretty well be in 'civilization' the whole way today. And was it beautiful. Little villages down below me in the hazy valleys, smoke slowly drifting out of some of the chimneys, some villages so close to the road I could almost hear the occupants' snoring.

Today being a short day, I took my time on the bike, but still arrived into town around 11 am to one of the suggested hotels which is at the edge of the Old City. The owner urged me to bring my bike right into my spotless and beautiful big room, so I asked for old papers to keep the clean floor just as clean.

This seems like a very nice place. Though it is only a small city, it is the capital of the region. I have just been wandering around the churches and monastery and seeing what is down this medieval street or that ancient alley. Fun.

Looking at the map earlier, I have revised my planned route as well. Instead of going straight south and to Guimaraes, I think once I cross into Portugal I will veer straight west along the Minho (?) to the coast to see the Atlantic and follow it a while before veering back in. It will add a day in the north, but a quick 'guesstimate' showed that I have the time to spare. I am anxious to be back cycling by the water.

I don't really want to leave this internet bar: the music they have on is spanish guitar with some Basque sounds to it. Every song is amazing, so I just keep listening and typing. I might just have to ask them what CD is on.

As a PS, I just went over the guest book and found a question about my camera. I am using a Canon A70 3.2 Megapixel digicam. I have a little inexpensive flexible 10 cm high tripod for the night shots and long exposures (and have experimented a lot with these settings on this trip). What I like about this specific camera is that it uses AA batteries, so I bought 2 sets of NiMH batteries (ie 8 batteries) and a charger. It seems I can take about 80 pics on one charge but have not let them drain that much. My charger is a multi-input charger meaning I can use it anywhere in the world without a voltage regulator (ie transformer) so all I need is the right plug adapter, a set for the world costs about $6 CDN, and they are available everywhere. I bought a 512 MB CF card so I can store lots of pictures between downloads. I also bought a Zio CF adapter which plugs into a USB port to transfer the pics if the internet cafe has no adapter of their own or if you have access to someone else's computer. The camera is also very light and takes nice pictures. In Pau I saw the newest version, the 4.0 M A80, but it is much bigger. My A70 can also have a small telephoto lens or wide angle lens added to it - I think for the 2 lenses and the required adapter it would be about $200 CDN. A purchase once I get back home: I would have bought them before but I was tight for time, and here I have not seen them or I would have at least bought the telephoto.

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