Museum and Aveiro

On Sunday we went to the Servales Museum of Contemporary Art which is set in a gigantic garden. There was an excellent exhibit by the California artist Mark Bradford. The other exhibit was not so good but we didn't see the permanent collection because it was closed. The museum foundation sponsors many events and educational programs and it's one of the most visited art museums in the world. 

Mark Bradford. Two of his paintings were as big as the walls they were hung on

The gardens and park are beautiful. The landscape was designed by one man on the 18 hectares of land. There's a huge rose garden with beautiful sculptures, fountains and even a farm. We ate lunch at a Tea House on the property.

The Rose Garden 

The fountain in the garden

Walkway going into the garden

Joyce under wisteria. 

Located on the grounds is a pink Art Deco mansion  built in the 1930s. I think the art works might vary but currently it has many works by Joan Miro. All the hardware is unique. No two doorknobs match, for example. 

On Monday we went to the city of Aveiro, called the Venice of Portugal because it has canals and gondola-type boats called barcos moliceiros. The gondolas are traditional flatbottom boats originally used for collecting seaweed. The city is on a lagoon 8 kilometers from the ocean. There is a lock connecting the canals with the ocean. The city still has a salt processing business as well as a seaweed industry. 

We went to Aveiro by train and were surprised it was packed both ways. It takes about an hour and a half for the trip. There are stops along the way where a few people got off but most people were traveling to and from Aveiro. There were a lot of students coming back to Porto who may be attending the university of Aveiro.

Tile on church near the train station in Porto

The main thing to do in Aveiro is take a gondola tour. The tours are 45 minutes and travels most of the length of the city on 4 of its 8 canals. There is a guide on the boat who explains the sights. It passes by traditional fishermen houses and a former ceramics factory which has been transformed into a civic and cultural center.

Each boat is painted differently with a unique picture at the helm

There are blue tiles everywhere. This

building is by the train station in Aveiro

There are bridges over the canals, all with tourists looking down

Instead of heavy locks on some bridges in Europe, Aveiro allows "love ribbons."

There is a famous candy that originated in a monastery in Aveiro called Ovos Moules. When we saw it at a Gelato store the young man who waited in us said "it's egg with a covering like the host in church." They're really not sweet and not very good. I can see why their popularity has not spread across the country.