Aviero

Today's  excursion was to Aviero, also known as the Venice of Portugal because of all its canals.

We took a ride on the local equivalent of a gondola.  These boats were originally used for transporting salt and seaweed. Aviero sits on a Lagoon and salt production was one of the local industries.  Seaweed from the lagoon was harvested to be used as fertilizer.  

The bridges over the canals are festooned with ribbons.  This is the Portuguese equivalent of the locks that romantic couples put on bridges in Paris. 

We looked around the local shops and had ice cream, before returning to Porto mid afternoon.   As this was our last day in Portugal,  we went out to a nice restaurant on the riverside for a special (early) birthday meal for Deborah. 

Tomorrow there will be no blog entry as the day will be spent traveling back to the UK and staying overnight in Gatwick.  Blog entries will resume on Monday, which will be the first day that Becky and I spend in Edinburgh.