Agucadoura

8 May 2024

 

Too tired last night so pic of last nights dinner follows - a pilgrims walks on their stomachs - well it helps.  After our late afternoon  sock washing duty we found a fabulous little restaurant and had a great dinner of fresh veggies and linguine Nero with prawns 👌 the broccoli was amazing!

Today we  joined a steady stream of pilgrims walking out of Vila do Conde. There was a beautiful sculpture beside the river Ave that honoured the lace makers of the region. They would have been kept busy making vestments and adornments for the Santa Clara monastery.

The public art / sculptures are incredible. Each region has so many wonderful sculptures and they are well cared for and not had the you know what kicked out of them and graffiti free thank goodness.

The sculptures along the sea coast were extremely evocative, many acknowledging the role of the fishermen in the community.

A sobering sculpture to the men and women lost in the wild Atlantic sea storms.

We noticed as we walked along the Povoa de Varzim waterfront a slightly more affluent feel, slightly 'posher' restaurants and cafe's and more glitzy shops.

We left the glitz behind us and settled into walking along the more isolated coast line. The locals had  little wind shelters they set up and then they could soak up the sun without the wind sandblasting them. 

You could really see the force of the Atlantic ocean with the beaches having terrifically steep drops to the waters edge. We stayed at Praia de Santo Andre in Hotel Santo Andre, there was not much else around. The receptionist at warned us not to swim in the sea as it can be dangerous with strong tides, so we took a swim in the pool which was certainly refreshing!

To close off our day we had heard there was one little cafe that served local food, A Tasquinha do Silva. There was just our hotel in Agoucadoura and this one cafe. Knowing we were having brekky in the hotel the next day we opted to try the local.

It was like sitting in someone's front room. Carolina was the host and she didn't speak a word of English and our Portuguese was limited to say the least - but what an experience!

We just went with the flow. The phone rang at one stage and we heard Carolina say "no English" and then she handed the phone to me. Turned out two Aussies were wanting to make a reservation so I assured them they were in for a night to remember. Carolina immediately brought prawns and flaming chorizo sausage to the table and then tried to explain the menu but said "no English, Carolina happy to have you" all said with flair, drama and the most gorgeous charm.

It was fantastic! We had fresh caught octopus with potatoes, grown by her neighbour on the corner, fresh harvested clams from the coast,  local olives, home made bread and a half litre jug of local red wine - perfect!

We closed out the night with Carolina's cake and a local after dinner schnapps. A night we won't forget for a long time.