Trip to Aveiro - Canal Banks

Continuing the itinerary that started in the previous post on a visit to Costa Nova in Ílhavo, it was now time to head towards Aveiro where we intended to have lunch before leaving for the adventure.
Aveiro is one of the most interesting cities on the Portuguese coast, known as the Portuguese Venice due to its water streets where the waters of the Vouga River and the sea mix and allow the colorful moliceiro boats to slide in, which used to remove the seaweed and the algae of the ria to be used as organic and natural fertilizer in agricultural fields all over the area, but today they serve mainly to take an impressive number of tourists to travel through the rias and to get to know the city from a different perspective from those that go to know on foot, as was our case, not only because the queues and the waiting time were endless, but also because in total we were 4 adults and 3 children and the total bill would arrive to a humble 72 euros, which in turn served to have a leisurely lunch and in the end there was still money left to buy some soft eggs or as we call it "Ovos Moles", a typical sweet from the region sold in the various local pastries.

Anyone who thinks that taking a stroll on the rivers aboard a moliceiro is a relaxing experience is wrong… from what I could observe from one of the banks, in addition to the constant sound signals that the guides emit, whenever they approach a curve to make them heard and in this way avoid unnecessary accidents, the guide himself goes all the way telling the story of the places they pass by… I never really liked guides, in my case I preferred to make the trip quiet simply enjoying the scenery and enjoying the ride without horns or history lessons.

But yes, the atmosphere around the whole city is funny, with the boats full of people always passing from one side to the other, but it was past lunchtime and the children were starting to get restless, that is, it was when it is time to move towards the center in order to find a place to grab a bite to eat, but of course you can always take some pictures along the way :P

Even today Aveiro is known for the salt, agriculture and fishing industry, hence this whole aquatic aspect connected to the city, with a maze of channels that form from 3 main channels, the pyramid channel that marks the entrance, the Santos Mártires channel to the Southwest and the São Roque channel that limits the city to the Northwest and separates it from the salt pans, which I will later address here to a much more peaceful place than the Rias…. Tourism manages to have both good and bad… I still remember coming to Aveiro and walking in a moliceiro at a time when it was possible to feel some tranquility.

Before arriving in the city center, coming from the side of the São Roque canal, where there are still some old salt warehouses, we first passed by Jardim do Rossio "Rossio Garden", where a lot of people were concentrated and where it was possible to feel all the life in the distance. there it was, with children playing in parks surrounded by green spaces and tall palms and flanked by the city's main canal.

Across the street it was already possible to catch a glimpse of the typical architecture of the region, until I couldn’t wait any longer and told my wife and couple of friends to go ahead and look for a modest place to have lunch and I stayed behind just to enjoy the light to take some more pictures, and right there on the left, at the entrance to the historic city center, I noticed an unusually high concentration of people in the Praça das Arcadas " Arcadas Square", and when I got there I noticed that there was a fair street of old relics throughout the city, just phenomenal ☺ but it was time to fill my belly and so I put the machine away and went to my companions.