A lovely short (32km) and flat ride from Aveiro to the beach, with a stop at the ceramics factory museum, Vista Allegre.
While we were gearing up the bikes in the morning, there was a person hanging around outside the hotel. Spidey senses were tingling, perhaps a misfire, but two of the hotel staffers were hyper-aware, also, and they stayed with us and the bikes until we finally pulled away. It always takes about 10 minutes to get all batteries and back-ups installed, panniers mounted, routes confirmed on our phones, walkie-talkies booted, so we appreciated their attentive vigilance.
In Aveira, we appreciated all of the statuary along the canals, and the art nouveau architecture of the city, brought to the city by affluent Portuguese emigrants returning to the city from Brazil in 1904 until the 1920s/ It’s a very pretty city, made even more beautiful with the jacaronda which are in bloom right now. A mantle of purple, ALSO brought to Portugal – mostly the Lisbon area – by Portuguese returning from Brazil.
As John said, it was a very flat route – only 125 m ascent. We rode along miles of salt flats, watched lots of storks and their offspring in the nests atop church roofs. We had a great chat in the sunshine with a trio of three Irish women who were also cycling Portugal.
Our only planned stop for the day was Vista Alegre, a porcelain factory built in 1841. It still functions as a factory, but it is a beautiful museum, showcasing the exquisite products created by artisans over the years. The factory ended up being a small and highly functioning social community.
After a couple of relaxing hours at the factory, we pushed on to our hotel on the beach, did some laundry as usual (see the photo of cycling shorts on our railing where they dry in no time in the arid sunny wind), had a beer and a leisurely stroll on the spectacular white sand beach, decided NOT to brave the very cold, very wavy ocean, and treated ourselves to a grilled fish meal at a restaurant down the street. (See the fish photo. It was cooked perfectly.)
Then, bedtime. All of that fresh air….
