Jun 16, 2019
Getting to know Porto
While I slept in a bit, did laundry, washed my hair and worked on the blog Colin took off for a few hours on one of his walk abouts. Laundry machines here in Europe take much longer to do a load. What would take me 37 – 50 minutes at home to wash takes about two hours here. Then everything needs to be dried on a rack. A much longer process. I made a point of booking an Airbnb that has a machine every second place, again something that needs to be planned ahead.
Photos from Colin’s walk about.
It was sunny and warmer yesterday, a lovely Saturday and the city was full of locals and tourists alike. It was a perfect day to simply meander and take in the sights. We eventually stopped at one of the many cafes lining the main street heading down towards the river. For some reason the soup appealed to us.
This elderly gentleman was doing rope tricks to the sounds of Frank Sinatra, doing it his way!!
We had wanted to try the green wine but they were sold out so we went with the rose, which we have not tried much. However at 7.5 EUR for a bottle versus 2.5 EUR per glass it was only logical to get a bottle. Perfect choice for a mid afternoon lunch.
Looking pretty relaxed.
Tomato soup with cheese, best soup ever, garlic included. The fresh basil was the perfect touch.
We each had a bowl of soup and shared this tapa of cod croquettes with beans, egg and a bit of cheese. Just enough for both of us.
I had been hearing wisps of operatic sounds as we ate and here they were. Simply brilliant. The soloist with his cape was very dramatic. They were worthy of my donation to their collection guitar case.
As we walked this group who appeared to be from a specific region walked past. I think that they were a folkloric group but they only walked past.
Yet another refection photo. We were having such a wonderful time. This might be too much information for some, I am drinking a wonderful bubbly champagne wine courtesy of my host as I am working on this post.
After our leisurely lunch during which I had the pleasure of watching an artist sell five originals, we strolled down to the river. We had no plan and ended up in line to take Tram #1 for a ride along the river to the Foz district. However we waited for close to an hour before it came and we saw that there was only room for perhaps 28 to sit and the rest were crammed in standing. We had spent a good part of the wait chatting in Spanish with two ladies visiting from Valencia. Colin became concerned that we might have a long wait getting back so we decided not to board. Instead we walked along the river and took the water taxi across for 2 Euro each. We soon found ourselves sharing a table with two ladies from the UK. They told us that they had done the tram earlier that morning and did not think it very special. Cariss was from Wales and lived in ?shire and her friend Melody was from Liverpool, where the Beatles were from. Sorry if I got some names confused. We had a lovely visit as we enjoyed our port.
The red building is where we had our cod lunch yesterday.
The tram that we did not take.
Here we are on the water taxi. Great way to save time and energy for only 2 Euro each.
Yes that is us with our port tasting, five different ports for five Euro each. Great deal.
We started with extra dry port on the left ( not my favorite ) then a white port, a rose port, followed by a tawny port and then a ruby port.
Colin decided that we needed some cheese and bread to complete this tasting experience.
It turns out that the WC’s were inside the adjoined building, the Mercardo. What a neat discovery, a food and wine fare as well as fresh food sales. Best mercado that we have been to.
This vegetarian buffet appears to be the best value.
We took a taxi up to the metro and came back to our wonderful apartment to rest and I worked on the blog while Colin had a nap. We headed out again by metro to catch the sunset from the other side of the river. Our three day pass has come in very handy. It was literally less than ten minutes away, whereas down the hills and up the hills would have taken us a minimum of 40 minutes. Our apartment is in such a great location.
The food trucks up here are unique and so interesting.
After the sunset we purchased dinner to bring back here ( it was still warm) to enjoy with wine. We did not get back until 10:45pm. Another special day here in Porto.
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What a fun place to visit lots of interesting sights to see, wine to taste and food for enjoy, looks like pretty nice weather as well.
Looks like you had another wonderful day of Getting to know Porto. Not only the Scenery but the Food and the Locals are all interesting.
Be Safe and Enjoy your next stop.
It’s about time.
Porto looks like a beautiful place to visit. I love the reflection picture, it’s a great one of both of you 🙂
Well, I guess you both got your 10 today! A wonderful day!
It seems very busy there. When we were in Portugal a few years ago it wasn’t busy at all – so happy for them that their economy seems to be getting stronger
That reflection photo of you two is great!