They are a stunning sight. I think we may have been lucky with the time of year as the small blue bells were beginning to fall to the ground.
Ayamante has many small squares and some intetesting statuary if you care to explore. A bit of a headache however has to be time. You can catch a ferry over the river to Portugal and arrive 30 minutes before you left. In the age of digital mobile tech this also means your smartphone can arbitrarily adjust time without ssking depending on which network it is using.
I offer the ferry timetable as an example It is easy to leave Spain and arrive in Portugal 30 minutes before you left, and they say time travel is impossible.... The town itself is interesting and attractive, we were particularly pleased to be seeing Spanish prices again after 9 months on Portugal.
There is an interesting mix of cultures, Andelusian and Portugese influences are everywhere evident. Take the colourful tiled decoration around the town square
The marina itself is something of a curates egg. The pontoons are well constructed and have good length finger berths which have lots of room to manouvre. The shelter is excellent and I would have no qualms wintering here. But, the facilities are pitiful, and no wi-fi, other than very expensive Pay through the nose. Not seen that in a while. Shame very close to being ideal....,, did I mention the lovely tiled fountain?...…
As stated previously the town is fascinating, great mix of touristy stuff and practical stuff, at which juncture I must mention the great ( and surprisingly cheap ) chandlers. Of which there are two, the Ayamar is staffed by people who speak great English and understand boats , recommended. Its just up the way from the fountain above.
Of course Lynne is always going to want to see a church or two and setting off one morning she reported back that I needed to see this one.
the Church of Nosa Senora de las Angoustias
It has a beautiful alterpiece celebrating ( we think ) the stations of the cross and at its centre a statue with a lovely siver halo.
In a side chapel is what we suspect is a small portion of church silverware.
In front of Lynne in the photo below is a processional float prepared for the next event Feast of St Anthony
An impressive amount of candle holders,,,
We had quite a discussion about the differences between the Portuguese and Spanish churches, but as it was Lynnes first official day of being in receipt of a pension we soon retired to a cafe for a coffee.. On her 60th birthday she could claim her occupational pension and become a woman of substance. In practical terms this meant that we now had two occupational pensions funding our travels rather than one. Happy days.....
We were enjoying Ayamonte, there are numerous small squares and it is a rewarding town to wander around.
Towards the end of our stay we went along the river past the ferry terminal to get a look at the suspension bridge about 2 miles upriver which has an air height ( clearance ) of 18 metres. On the way we discovered yet more public art celebrating the local fishing tradition.
The bridge clearance from a distance looked feasible ( our air height is 16 metres ) In other words the top of our mast (including aerials etc. is 16 metres from our waterline.
So nothing to worry about, that evening Lynne was delighted to discover a bar selling Gallaecian beer (Estrella ) and we were further surprised to be treated to free tapas in the form of olives and cured ham. It was almost like being back in Galicia You can see the cured hams behind Lynne in the photo below, reverently draped..
Next to the marina was this street art of a sunset, along the eaves of this modern building were installed several bird boxes housing mainly swifts.
Late that afternoon we had left the safety of the marina and were approaching the "Bridge of Doom"
Its suspension wires were visibly vibrating and making a metallic hum, just to add to the tension.
Luckily my maths (well sums really) were correct and we fitted underneath. From the bottom it looked remarkably close, but I reckon we had a good 3-4 metres clear.
We were then in the more rural surroundings of the lower Guadiana, we had a good six hours of tide to take us upriver. The river forms the border between Spain and Portugal. Going upriver the right bank is Spain and the left is Portugal.
It was a very enjoyable trip through some lovely countryside. not a great deal of settlement particularly on the Spanish side. The river was buoyed and depth was never a problem.
After Four and a half hours we were approaching the towns of Alcoutim in Portugal and Sanlucar de Guadiana in Spain.The town pontoons looked full but a voice called to us and then our good Samaritan jumped in a dinghy and went over the river to move the ferry on the Spanish pontoon.
That left enough space for us to moor up in Sanlucar. The pontoon has electricity and water so we were very comfortable and the pontoon made access to the shore easy. The alternative would have been to anchor in the river. Many boats do and for considerable periods of time. There are also a lot of moorings just outside the channel and across the river above Alcoutim.
It was time to get something to eat and watch the sun go down over the hills of Portugal.
As the evening progressed we adjourned to a bar for a celebratory drink or two and returned after dark to admire the view of Alcoutim by night.
It had been an interesting day and Dark Tarn was happily moored 20 miles inland.
Love your blog. We just arrived at Vile Real de Santo Antonio and are looking forward to going up the river.
ReplyDeleteRick & Mary
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