22nd Feb TUI – LORDELO

A couple of miles out of Tui and we were in PORTUGAL. What a journey!!! Mrs Sat Nav takes us some very strange routes and today was the worst so far – she decided to take us via, as she put it, ‘unpaved roads’. These were single lanes of cobbled stones with very sharp bends and one way streets (which she took us the wrong way down!) weaving between the houses leading down into Lordelo and of course once we started we had to continue as there was no way we could turn around.  And when we came out of this maze we were back on the road she’d directed us off of so it could have all been avoided!!!

The aire was in a huge well lit car park overlooking the river; across the road was a pretty little church with a clock (AND BELL); The bell rand every ¼ hour, plus 5 minutes to the hour and 3 minutes past the hour and this continued ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! And then we were woken up at 8.15 a.m. by an air raid siren! (it really was an air raid siren) this continued wailing for ¼ of an hour – we think it was the ‘school bell’.