Labruge to Santo Andre Aver-o-Mar 21 k
There is something so comforting about a really good hotel or guesthouse.
Its not about flunkies in uniforms, or obsequious staff. Friendliness, comfort and understanding are what you need as a traveler and make the real difference. Smiling Places has that.
Its small and we were lucky to get a cancellation.
We left at at about 0900... Treat it like a job and its a lot easier... and made our way north along Portugal's Skeleton Coast. Big waves, empty beaches and small fishing villages.
If you were out on these seas you'd want all the help you could get.
The boardwalk has been repaired and is in much better condition than it was a couple of years ago. Its also been moved in land in places, so the dunes take longer to innundate it.
We stopped for a Fanta in Vila do Conde, and unadventurously decided to ignore the advice given to us by Elisabete at Smiling Places, and followed the traditional route.
The traditional route ia about 50m inland, and designed to be safe in winter storms. If there are no storms then it could be better to go past the castle in Vila do Conde and walk along the coast. Both ways meet in Povoa da Varzim. The traditional route is light-industrial in parts.
We popped into the Igreja de Santiago for a quiet few minutes and a bit of a sit down.
Pavoa is smaller than we remembered it. But it might have seemed bigger because last time, we were tired and couldn't find the hotel.
This time, we had a beer, gathered ourseves and started on to our hotel in Santa Andre, near Aver-o-Mar, 5km further North.
We arrived about an hour later.
Last time we noticed that people were collecting bales of seaweed to improve the soil. This time it had been liberally spread along the way. An odour of well-rotted horse manure, warm 5 day-old fish-stock and something else, really unpleasant assailed us for about 10 minutes, and we then we were free.
The Hotel Sant Andre, was exactly what you'd expect from a hotel perched on the edge of the beach, but we'd been spoiled by Smiling Places.
