025 - Vila Nova de Cerveira - Portugal
We left Lisbon and drove all the way back to the northern region of Portugal. In fact we are right back at the border with Spain, separated again by the Minho river, just like in the first article (001 - Valenca) and we got here because… Let's discover!
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Initially we went to Vila Nova de Cerveira because it has a cinema (kind of) and it is in Portugal (meaning movies can be in Original language - in our case, English).
We chose a parking spot for our car and…
025.1 I took my camera backpack and as I was grabbing the camera I saw from a distance something that looked like a clothing door, and I said to myself “that can’t be”. These blue doors had a…
025.2 Knitted decoration. This is the coolest door I ever saw on a regular house! Period! I don’t know who the owner is and I wish to find out one day!
025.3 There are more knitted doors (and perhaps when you visit, even more will exist). It would be awesome if the whole town had these decorations at doors and windows, to make it like a tourist attraction.
025.4 Also the local pub has knitted decoration, but to be honest, not that elegant.
025.5 Other than that, in some “parts” of the city, it really looks like I am back in the Galician regions.
025.6 But then the white walled houses appear and we seem to feel again that we are back in Portugal. (these are the streets inside of the Castle of Vila Nova de Cerveira)
025.7 Speaking of white walls, there are also the famous portuguese ceramic tiles with this example, ornated in shades of green. (just outside the Castle entrance, where are the restaurants and pubs)
025.8 This bell is at the entrance gate to the Vila Nova de Cerveira Castle and I really loved how it looks like it has a scar, like it was cut with a legendary blade and in time the stone healed, but not fully.
025.9 The view over the Castle Walls. Pretty baren, not much to see on this side, but what about…
025.10 Orange tiles are very beautiful and eye-catching, and in great contrast with the grey and white decor… What is that dark shape, sitting on the top of the mountain?
025.11 Well this is the statue of a mighty stag and more on that, at the end of the article, where the Legend card sits.
025.12 There is another statue, in the city, close to the open air theatre.
I forgot to say that we found the cinema, and it is actually a local one, meaning it does not play movies from USA-Hollywood but other films, local. So no Marvel for us that day, so instead we spent the whole afternoon in this town, walking along the Minho River and trying to take photos without construction or renovation sites in view.
025.13 Vila Nova de Cerveira is also a fishing city (not just kitting) with a crowded docking area. This boat was photographed from the Park de Lazer Castelinho, and across the water we see Spain - Galicia.
025.14 Colourful fishing nets, drying in the bright sun or just sitting on display for “instagram kids”. (can this be used for knitting?)
025.15 I was about to say that it is so great to see two countries with the only boats facing each other, being the fishing ones, but there is also a military vessel (what is that huge sphere? Is that a sort of anchor?). There could be one also on the Spanish side, but I did not see it. Or maybe this is neither Spanish nor Portuguese, instead it is just a patroling vessel, for the Minho River.
025.16 I really don’t know if this “work of art” is related to the military vessel, but I did not see any plate to explain what this is… Plus, it is in a childrens park. Why do kids have to see this? Don’t they know that many of todays parents looks more at their phones, then (really) at their kids, so they would not even notice horror in their eyes?
025.17 The dome of the Piscinas Municipais looks more like a museum no? We did not visit inside so maybe next time.
025.18 On the right side we have Portugal and on the left Spain (that is the bridge on which we came from Spain in order to reach VN de Cerveira). This is the last bridge (or the first, depending how you look at it) before Minho River joins the ocean. In fact that place is still quite far, and we will see it in our article - 028 A Guarda - Spain.
025.19 The parking lot for the RVs is huge and when we visited it, it was mostly empty. So a group of enthusiasts, took their (quite serious) RC cars and made some racing and drifting. Since I never made photos of fast moving subjects, I decided to train (enjoy) myself on these cars and boy-oh-boy this is really fun! I don’t do tracking, it is always me who tracks the subjects and moves the focus point where the actions is, or should be in the future. So obviously I missed quite a few shots, and nailed some also. I love this one (that you see above the text) because is more dinamic and it hides enough of the subject, so that we don’t get distracted by it’s colors/decals, while also hinting the shape of an RC car. I miss ReVolt racing game…
025.20 Trains, one of my to do/to see -> I saw none… and we waited quite a bit in some areas to get some beautiful shots of the Portuguese yellow train, but no such luck. Instead I got this shot.
Should one come to Vila Nova de Cerveira?
Well, if you love knitting (although I did not see a place to buy them…) you could make a stop here on your way from Braga to the Spanish border, but it will be a detour and Valenca do Minho is much more beautiful and interesting (001).
Me and my wife, we used to work in Spain close by (Baiona - Spain) so we could come and visit many small towns along the Minho river.
Thank you for reading this article, and hope you see also our last article, on Portugal.
Until then, here's the Legend:
