Aveiro

 Next stop for three nights was Aveiro - unfortunately we had a flat tyre along the way.

Our accommodation in the old town

Known as the Venice of Portugal, and historically a huge producer of salt and seaweed fertiliser,  there are several canals and boat trips along them in the old seaweed and salt transport boats are a popular 

Plenty of street art/scenes

Our first night out for dinner included an unexpected Fado (traditional folk music/songs) by the very capable chef Pauline

Garlic prawns and the traditional bacalhau (dried cod)

Always a photogenic church

Main tourist area and canal boats

Sardines anyone

Street art by tiles

The main square 

The carmelite chapel

The main cemetery 

Old tide powered mill

Magnificent houses along the canal

Excellent tile painting of the salt and seaweed trade

Walking tour with Antonio - an excellent guide

Antonio’s number 1 house facade

More street art

Restaurant alley and where we ate in the foreground

A trip to the beach at Costa Nova

Really foggy on our arrival

The famous striped houses of Costa Nova

Coffees and pastels de nata

Portuguese kitsch

Fog lifting , lots of sand, beach restaurants and there were waves

Yes we had a quick dive into the ocean - reported sea temperature 15.4 degrees

Great burgers and beer at a beachfront cafe…

…the cafe crowd!

Late afternoon we visited the old salt pans by the lagoon

Plenty of black winged stilts working the mud flats

And this is what you get

Oyster shack in the lagoon

A quick stop by the canal for evening drinks