I’m posting this message from a small town in northern Portugal called Geres, which is a good distance northeast of Braga which is north of Porto which is way, way north of Lisbon. Or to put it another way, we’re in the middle of the country up by the border with Spain. There’s a national park here and Geres is a little town not unlike West Glacier or some of the other tiny places that serve our national parks. We’ve been here for about twenty minutes and I’m already in love. It reminds me a lot of the North Cascades near the Washington and Canadian border but the mountains aren’t quite so high.

We strolled Porto a bit and found it to be nice but nothing extraordinary. The people were exceptionally friendly and would go out of their way to answer questions, even if they didn’t have the same grip on English as their brethren in the south. Definitely worth a night, but not two. We picked up the car and headed north up the coast.

Q: Why does Portugal have the highest rate of car accidents in Europe?
A: Because they all drive like complete idiots.

Oops, the library is closing so I have to go. More to tell, though, so maybe tomrrow. Ciao!