A handful of cycle tourists are cycling across the north to Portugal. That is what we read in the ‘Europa per Rad’ travel book. Portugal is the country we are yet to discover by bike. Portugal is the first country this season that is not mountainous.
Our journey through Portugal begins in Valença, after we have crossed the border river Minho. Our first stop is in Caminho, where we meet our friends from Santiago again at the campsite. Joseph and his wife are travelling with their caravan. The invitation to breakfast coffee in Santiago is followed by an invitation to have a beer together at the exceptionally beautiful campsite by the sea and river.
The two ambitious cyclists from Great Britain, now living in France, have just returned from their nearly three-weeks tour on the Portuguese EV1. They dressed up especially for their last day of cycling and are very sad that it is over, but are already looking forward to their next adventure.
After two nights, we continue on to Porto in light drizzly weather. We find a nice room in the suburb of San Mareno da Investo. The surroundings are also pleasant. There is an adega where we can stop for refreshments and meet the people who live there. As we are the only tourists, we immediately stand out and quickly make contact. Language barriers are not much of a hindrance.
The next morning, we take the bus to Porto.
Around noon, we have an appointment with Michael Müller, travel book author, publisher and founder of the publishing house of the same name for alternative travel guides. We ring the bell at his flat. A little later, he comes across the street smiling and greets us. We want to go out for lunch together. The first restaurant we try is closed for the holidays today. We find a table at the second restaurant. We have wild sardines, tomato salad, tortilla and melon for dessert. This is how people eat in Porto! We talk about children, politics, travel and life here. Michael has been living in his adopted home of Porto for two years. He shows us the sights of his neighbourhood, his local pub, the restaurant where they serve the best octopus salad, and accompanies us to the tourist office to get a cycling map of northern Portugal.
Finally, he shows us his flat. Two very enjoyable hours together.
Michael has had a significant influence on our holidays and travels with his books for decades. One of our car trips in the early 90s was to Portugal, with Michael Müller’s travel guide. The poster in his office is the cover of this early edition. Michael, since meeting you, we have been actively using the MMTravel app. It is good that we still have a few weeks in Portugal ahead of us. We will be happy to visit you again on our next trip to Porto or Erlangen.
We take a look at the centre of Porto. It is so beautiful, it is no wonder that there are so many visitors:
We did not just see a handful of touring cyclists, we also got to know a handful of open, interesting, nice people. That is one of the reasons why we love travelling by bike. It works well!