May 29

I woke to the bell chimes of the nearby church feeling rested and like royalty in the luxurious bed. We decided to have a slow start and enjoy the glorious residence. We had a "tourist" kind of day, breakfast at a cafe and sight seeing around the city of Viana do Castello, which grew through cod fishing and shipbuilding. At the top of Monte de Santa Luzia is the Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the most incredible vistas of the city and surrounding area. We sat for a while enjoying some jazz music that was playing in the background while sipping on a cool refreshing cider taking in the views. We could have walked up, but as we were tourists for the day, we rode the funicular. After wandering around the historic centre and enjoying a meal of the day, soup, bread, pork, potatoes, wine and coffee for 8.50 euro, we decided to leave this beautiful place that's rich in history and emblazoned buildings to make our way to our next stop, Caminha. Due to the fact it was 3:00 pm and our destination was 28 km away, we hailed an Uber for this leg of the journey. Our arrival at our hostel was met with some disappointment, a rather basic dorm type albergue. A wander around the town and some time sitting at a cafe in the square helped cheer us. The streets were busy with locals of all ages preparing for a Religious National holiday taking place on Thursday, Corpus Christi. They create stunning and detailed images made from various materials such as salt, fresh flowers, pine boughs, wood chips and others along the road in anticipation for a procession on Thursday. It was incredible to see people of all ages working together joyfully late into the night and early morning to complete this tradition.もっと詳しく