Viana do Castelo

Today found us with the task of getting the dogs out of the condo for a few hours so that Jamey could get someone in to clean his rooms. Never one to turn down a day out, I woke at 8am and we headed out at 9am (closer to 9:30am, but who is counting?)
Our aim was to drive up to Viana do Castelo (again) and visit an off-leash dog park there. The dogs’ zoomies in the condo have been getting more frantic, so we figured an opportunity for them to run wild was in order. There is an ‘A-road’ that leads directly from Esposende to Viana do Castelo, but we took the N13 instead. It is a national highway that runs through the villages along the coast, and offered an opportunity for the windows to be down so that the dogs could sniff the scenery as we drove along. The A28 is like an interstate and the 120kph speed would not suffer the outside air being allowed inside.
The drive from Esposende to Viana do Castelo is supposed to be a 45-minute trip. Of course, we took longer. Onyx voiced her discontent with our new hardware in the car. She is accustomed to standing on the console between the two front seats and that was no longer possible. We are driving a Ford Focus, with a lovely, padded rear-cargo section and we have recently installed a gate that keeps the dogs in the far back. Neither dog likes not having full run of the vehicle, but Onyx is the loud one and she got the attention. Opal, of course, reaped the benefits as well.
Before we reached the dog park in Viana do Castelo, we decided to pull over at a park along the N13 just to let the dogs out and give them the opportunity to walk around and realize today is a good day despite the unappreciated accommodation issues. The park was at the top of a hill, and the drive up was beautiful. Thankfully, in addition to the cage at the back of the car, we also installed a camera that mounts on the front windshield, so the view up the hill and along the entire drive to Viana do Castelo and back was recorded.
Heading up to Parque de Merendas do Santuario da Senhora da Guia was enjoyable and the park at the top had a lovely view over the villages along the coast below. Opal and Onyx didn’t care about the views, but they enjoyed sniffing every blade of grass in the park. We spent half an hour looking around at the statues and flowers before heading back down the hill to continue.
In Viana do Castelo we changed our pattern and did not drive up the hill to visit the Santuario do Sagrado Coração de Jesus / Monte de Santa Luzia. Instead, we headed along the Rio Lima to Parque da Cidade. Looking around, the promised off-leash dog park was nowhere to be found, but we did not waste our day. We leashed the dogs up and walked along the river. At noon, we found a seat at Restaurante-Pizzaria Beiro Rio and enjoyed pizza and lasagna and the lovely view.
A little more walking and the dogs were finally sated, so we headed back towards Esposende. We opted to take another route back, as we wanted to stop by Cruzeiro Paroquial in Forjães Portugal to get pictures of the saints on the steps. We had driven past these stairs once before and didn’t stop to get pictures then, so we figured this was the time to correct our error. The dogs were rested by the time we got there, so they set about walking up and down the stairs and not posing for pictures.
Every place we visited today was outdoors, so the dogs were not limited in where they could go. The two parks and a staircase outside a church set no restrictions on Opal and Onyx.
And that was the day. A short drive home and inside to relax.