Dreaming of Beaches

When it rains in Glasgow, like it did today, I dream about sunny days on a beach anywhere in the world.
I often dream about North Uist and its wonderful Atlantic beaches that I knew so well when I was growing up there. But I also dream about this beach in the North of Portugal.
This is the seafront in a small fishing village called Ancora, about an hour north of Porto and a few miles south of the Spanish border in Galicia.
The main road through the town meanders alongside this glorious beach. At one end of the seafront the fishermen land their daily catch, which is sold from tables set up on the quayside by their wives, mothers and daughters.
There is a fabulous choice of fish restaurants in the town but we usually end up in the same place, under a sun umbrella in Verdes Lirios, with this view stretching out in front of us.
Their specialities include the most succulent squid and prawns I have ever tasted and a wonderful local dish called lobster rice. All bought from the tables a few hundred yards away.
We have found that this stunningly fresh seafood combines extremely well with a chilled Vinho Verde squeezed from grapes grown on the hillside outside the town.
This really is a bit of Paradise and it is about half hour from this villa near the ancient Portuguese town of Ponte de Lima: quintadeagriboa.com
It can be your Paradise too.