WOOOOOWWW Surf & Olives what a place to stay...sun, sea & surf a great place to relax and recharge your batteries. It´s a lovely modest place run by mother & son team, Suzanna y Bernardo. The most welcoming family ever - even when we arrived super late - Bernardo gave us directions to get a late dinner even though it was almost 22pm and that would mean we´d be checkin even later that evening. It was a very long journey from La Rioja - so we were relieved to find a host as helpful as he at such an unsociable hour. In the morning, we met Suzanna who immediately greeted us with a smile and suggestions for places to get breakfast, local attractions and activities...from an amazing brazilian breakfast of acai, granola and yogurt, a flea market at a neighbouring town to a unusual church located within the sea. She was even was kind enough to guide us in her car to the flea market that morning, while we followed in our car, stopping to show us attractions and even advising us on where to park. The house is fantastically situated - only a few minutes by foot to the beach, a few bars and restaurants nearby and supermarket to get basic provisions. The sandy beach is great to hangout and the waves are great to surf - Bernardo also provides leassons and surf gear...hence the name of place "surf & olives"...you will find out why "olives" i´ll leave that interesting detail to Suzanna and Bernardo to explain :p If you can go visit Afurada, this is only about 10mins away from the house and for a small fee you cross the river to the otherside towards porto - it´s like a small fishermans port...Suzanna and Bernardo told us of 4 small local restaurants that you can sample the local seafood for a great price and if you are lucky you can catch some fado for free, get there early to get a table inside. Even if you don´t cross over to afurada, their are plenty of places to eat where you´d catch the boat - a few restaurants and cafes to eat fish & seafood...so good we ate two nights in a row at one restaurant. Vila Nova de Gaia is a great little town - we were so happy with our beach house - we even stayed a few more days than expected before we set off to coimbra. If you have a car it´s great to go across the bridge to porto, it´s about 30mins or so, but local transportation is also good to get around, as well as bicycle hires etc. We really enjoyed our stay and will definitely come back and stay at Surf & Olives - this is the kind of Airbnb you want, with people who welcome you as family (we had our dog Claire too - pets welcomed too) and also respect your privacy too. Another holiday i will also cherish, as...