We whittled our options down and are now on our way to the area of Arouca where there is the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in Portugal, maybe even all of Europe. It was built in 2020 for the sole purpose of attracting tourists. It is essentially a bridge to nowhere, 516 meters of steel spanning a deep valley between two…mountains (?) hills (?). Hmmm. Let’s just say that when you are looking at them, they are hills. When you are climbing them, they must be mountains. The 516 Arouca Bridge is 176 meters high at its highest point, right above the river. We were guided (yes, actually led!) across the bridge and then back again. I don’t know if they thought we might get lost?
Getting to the bridge was the fun part. They advertised some walking paths that we could do, nice boardwalks along the river so we could enjoy the stroll while taking in the gorgeous views. They failed to advertise the steps.
315 steps up at the very beginning. 253 steps up in the middle and then 757 steps down at the end of the 4km walk. But wait, you’re not done. It is an out and back trail. Now we get to do 757 steps up, then 253 steps down and then the final 315 steps down. At least counting all those steps kept our minds off the task at hand. Did I mention that it was also quite warm out? Eh, let’s call it one of the hottest days we’ve experienced yet. We were very grateful for the free water fountains!
Should we stay or should we go? That has become the question now. It is pushing 5:00pm and we are tired. But…another city is calling out to us. It is only 90 minutes away. It is our last full day of the trip. It may be our last chance to see this place. FOMO wins. Off we go to Aveiro. Portugal’s version of Venice.
We are so glad we said “Yes!” This place is so cute. We make it in time to walk the canals at sunset. There were gondolas in the water, bridges joining the streets and so many Italian restaurants. 100% worth the effort to get here. It would have made sense to have some pasta and pizza for dinner, but tonight, the Japanese cuisine called to us.
And it was amazing.
Arrivederci, adeus, sayonora.
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