Day 62, Sunday 15/5:

Before we set off today, Patsy and I went to check out the Chapel of Bones at the San Franciscan Cathedral, drawn to our attention by a geocache we found the previous day. The aptly named chapel is lined was constructed by the San Franciscan monks in the 17^th century with the bones of some 5000 persons, along with the mummified corpses of a man and a baby, believed to be sourced from surrounding cemeteries. The idea was to reflect on the transient nature of human life. I believe that this was pulled off rather successfully. 

We then set off, travelling in a northerly direction. We stopped at the “Convento de Cristo”, a large convent of the Templar Knights. We spent several hours checking out the different rooms, the highlight being the circular chapel, which enabled the knights to line up on horseback around the central altar. 

We later reached our destination of Aveiro, the supposed Venice of Portugal, because of its small system of canals. After having a drink beside one of the canals, in the old part of town, we consulted the Lonely Planet Guide to decide on a place to eat. We thought that ‘Mare Cheia’ sounded pretty interesting, so we wandered over there.  We were greeted by an extremely friendly waiter who sat us down and guided us through the menu, set up to enable its patrons to select their seafood fresh, as though at a market. We decided to have a starter of small eels and followed by two types of fish that we selected, John Dory and Rock Cod. The fish was grilled over coals and was extremely delicious. After our meal, the chef came around to all the tables for a brief chat. It was also nice to see that the restaurant was filled with mainly local people.