On our drive from Porto to Coimbra, we decided to stop and spend part of the day in Aveiro. It is a town with 3 water canals that run through it, which makes it the Venice or Amsterdam of Portugal. The canals are quite limited, so I would say it's a bit of a stretch to call it the Venice of Portugal, but it was an unique stop.
We started to explore the town and examined the various unique houses with their different tile patterns on them; we even came upon the Fish Market where all the local fishermen bring in their catch each day to sell. Unfortunately, we just caught the clean-up portion, as we got there after lunchtime and it was wrapping up by that time of day.
Aveiro Playground
We also came across a couple of playgrounds, so went spent some time playing at those. At one playground she made a Portuguese friend and they ran around the playground holding hands. At the other there was a group of kids from a preschool it appeared, and there were several who bombarded her and started to feel her face at times. She held her own, but I think part of the curiosity was that they couldn't communicate with her. As well as she had on a Paw Patrol shirt, which we have discovered is quite popular in Europe as well, and many of the children would have been interested in that.
Canal Boat Ride
We spent the rest of the afternoon taking a boat ride of the canals. It was 8 Euros per an adult and lasted 45 minutes. We rode the historic boats, which are called barco moliceiros, throughout the canal. Our tour guide spoke four different languages to each of the different guests on board; again making us feel guilty for only knowing one language. However, our guide was super friendly and befriended Clara by talking about 'Frozen' and she even helped drive the boat for a bit. At the end of our trip she asked Clara to give her a kiss on the cheek and she actually did - so I think she enjoyed the guide and the boat ride!
In the late afternoon we headed to Coimbra. It was a nice low key day to allow Clara to play a little more, including playing tag and hide & seek in the park.
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