After having this place recommended and of course the trusty rough guide, got to Coimbra in the heat of the midday sun and after much searching found a safe and decent enough parking place, you wouldn´t believe how much importance is placed on such things when your car is your house. The rough guide spoke of terrible hill climbs to get up to the university but we´ve definitely done much worse and it´s a pretty little place to walk through, slightly marred by ...

Update will be a little way off. Portugal is great for beaches but aint flash for internet, besides, the sun shines all day and beach beckons all day long (rough guide got that bit right!). Update will occur next rainy day. Hoff and Sarah visit to Santiago de Compostella very memorable and exciting evenings to report. Red Bull Air Race currently in town, bloody hot but pretty crazy the moves that these boys pull. Hoffesque in fact. Photos and video updated soon...

We left Porto pretty late in the afternoon after spending more time than we thought watching the Red Bull Air Race, it was a roasting day and we had to quench our thirst with many Super Bocks from the Red Bull promo trailer. Can you believe that a beer was only 1 euro!! At home event beers are usually 3 times the price of a regular bar and the event is filled with chavs, a very different experience on the continent - we love Porto (not to mention the port). The ...

Leaving the beach behind we headed to the market in Barcelos, an attack on all the senses, actually that sounds a little harsh, it´s a place which infiltrates all your senses if you want it to. Chickens with their feet tied together, lovebirds/rosellas/cockatiels/ (all part of the illegal bird trade) fluffy white rabbits in cages for sale, freshly baked bread, fruit and veggies from ripe purple figs to passion fruit, any type of dodgy spandex outfit in fluoresc...

This morning we breakfasted by the river and then headed up to the tourist office to find some info on walks in the national park. The woman who in her words ´spoke little English´ proceeded to give us a detailed analysis of all the walks in the entire park. The maps were amazing and it really put the Picos de Europa´s tourist info service to shame. So, if you´re ever passing through there make a stop, Ponte da Barca Turismo - the dog´s balls of info centres...