Hotel: Hotel Palmeira

I dozed on and off once the roosters started to make a fuss in the back yard, but that was fine. Breakfast was set for 9 am so I just kind of took my time packing my things and getting ready to go.

Breakfast was a nice mix of pasteis de nata, croissants, fruit and juice. There was yoghourt available, too, but after cycling with a stomach full of it in Germany a few years back which caused me to be sick to my stomach on the road... I declined this time!

Once ready, I went out to the back yard to tell the owner I was ready so he could open up his garage to get the bike out. He wished me well and asked if I might leave comments on the booking site  - I know these make all the difference in the world for their success or failure so I am always sure to post a review if I am happy. And with this place, I am very happy indeed. The entire experience was excellent.

I am already much quicker at loading up the bike so once the bags were on and the GPS had located itself, I was away to the west to re-find my GPS track that I had plotted at home. The finding took me right through the middle of Ovar, which seems to be an interesting city. It is busy enough and seems much less touristy than Porto so could certainly merit a person's visit.

As I got onto my route I soon left the city behind and was winding through what seemed sometimes to be suburbs of the city and others to be other little villages or groupings of homes. I knew the route was going to be a winding one, but was still surprised how much.  There are large bogs and inlets from the sea in this area so the roads and paths have to wind in and around all of them. 

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When I planned the route at home, I decided to do my routing up and around one body of water then down a spit of land to Sao Jacinto, though this meant for a much longer day. What could habve been a 36km day was a 52km day. The route was nice, though. Towards the lower end there were more and more summer vacation homes and the traffic did get fairly heavy, but there was a bike path separated from the road with concrete barricades.

I knew there was a ferry at the tip of this spit and I had asked someone earlier on to confirm. I was starting to tire out due to the relentless wind so when I saw the signpost for S. Jacinto I was relieved. I came around a corner and there was the ferry and there were the operators selling the tickets. I asked if this was the ferry for the direction to Aveiro and was told it was, and that he was the ticket seller. When was the ferry going? In three minutes! It was only 20m away so not a problem. Rather, what luck that I should get here just as it was about to leave. All this for a mere €2.10 for the fifteen minute crossing.

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The crossing was a nice break from the wind and with what I figured would be another 10km to go, I figured I had enough time to stop at a cafe on the other side for a snack and still make it to my hotel to watch the Formula 1 race.

I had  a quick snack then got back onto the bike and took my time. One tricky spot was just before Aveiro centre where I had to figure out how to cross the water. Fortunately there was a GNR policeman nearby and he pointed the way for me. In the centre I came right past the canal where the gondolas were carrying tourists back and forth. It was very pretty but it is too bad that it was cloudy since I think the colours of the boats and the buildings would have been even prettier.

My GPS guided me through the twisting and winding streets of the old centre to my hotel where I chatted with the woman for a while - she had lived in Brampton for many years before returning to Portugal. When I expressed concern about lockling my bike in a locked common garage she said I could cetainly bring the bike up into my room. Whew! As I often say - no bike, no tour!

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I got to my room just in time to find the Formula 1 race online so did nothing more than that. The only other thing I have done to this point is to eat that orange I got yesterday. It is another typical Portuguese orange - juicy and sweet!

I will do a bit of cleaning up then will seek out a suitable restaurant. The woman downstairs said that the restaurants are all for locals and tourists around here and are all close by. I am getting hungry!