The river eventually gave way to the crowded beach at Matosinhos, where more boardwalks made up the path. Before long the boardwalks turned quickly into cobblestone paths through fields of corn and cattle. While that might sound fun and quaint, when you're on a heavily loaded bike and will be on your boat for another eight hours that day, trust me, it's not!
These roads went on for miles before coming back to more boardwalks along an increasingly rocky, foggy and desolate beach.
I got lost a bunch of times along this stretch as the arrows pointing the way often led into the sand, no place to push a heavy bike! I lunched in the port town of Povoa de Varzim after taking one too many wrong turns...
After a long day's ride, I arrived in Viana de Costelo, another beautiful port town along the Lima River. Getting into town you cross over the Ponte de Lima, a long steel bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel. He seems to have designed a lot of bridges around Europe and even South America so his name is definitely becoming a recurring theme...
I found an albergue in a huge convent (photo on previous post) for 6 euros and settled in with about ten other people sharing a room. One man started ripping a chain saw, no wait, it was actually snoring within five minutes of turning out the lights while his buddy joined in with heavy breathing to create a symphony of disgusting noises. Between that and the dime sized mosquitoes on the wall, it was not a good night's sleep after eight hours on the bike....
Viana do Costela at night....
Below, my route and the only map I brought with me for the ride... Maybe not as prepared as I could have been!
Porto -> Vilo do Conde -> Esposende -> Viana do Costela -> 63 miles
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