It was a Saturday in mid-December 2010 and I had just woken up early. But when I opened the curtains and saw the sun, I decided to get up and make the most of the day. I was going to go somewhere. The question, as always, was where. Not wanting to go too far afield, I caught the 10:34 train to Porto Campanhã and then the metro to Vila do Conde, where I was disappointed to note it wasn't sunny.
I quickly located the river, but it was the sea I was after. Fifteen minutes later, I reached the beach. It was gorgeous – almost deserted with long stretches of sand leading to waves crashing against the rocks. I spent an hour or so walking along it and picking up shells and stones before stopping for lunch at the beachfront café just south of the castle-turned-guesthouse. I could happily have stayed there just watching the waves rising and falling...
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| Deserted December beach |
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| Watching the waves crash against the rocks |
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| Surf's up |
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| Stormy seas |
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| An expanse of empty beach |
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| One last look |
After lunch, I walked back along the beach, taking one last photo and one last longing look before heading back to town. In town I located the
Igreja Matriz, a large and, to my eyes at least, fairly unremarkable church. I walked along the riverfront to photograph the Moorish chapel and the replica boat.
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| Fishing boat on the River Ave |
From there, I went in search of the viewing point behind the old convent. The treat was not the view of the town but rather the glorious and still intact Roman aqueduct with its endless arches stretching into the horizon. Having taken several shots of the aqueduct and with the evening setting in, I made my way slowly back to Santa Clara metro station just in time to get the metro to Porto, from where it was a long, slow train ride back to Braga...
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| The aqueduct on a winter's afternoon |
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