Porto, Portugal

Back to Posts

Porto, Portugal

‘We didn’t get the tour we wanted here so we had a day on our own with Beryl and Ben. We had breakfast together, then got off the ship. It was cold and blustery. I felt sorry for the young people who were checking people in for tours. They were out in the wind and spitting rain for hours.
‘We took the shuttle into the city. It took about 35 minutes to get there. We had a bit of an unguided sightseeing tour. We drove along the coast, which is the Atlantic. There were lots of surfers enjoying the big waves. We passed what looked like a big net suspended in the air. We were later told it is a memorial in honor of the local fishermen.
‘We were dropped off at a large plaza. We walked around there for a bit. We saw a pastry shop that sold something that looked like a potato. Beryl asked about it. It’s a pastry with cheese and cod in the middle. Not appealing to me. But she wanted to get one before we came back. Then we started meandering down the narrow streets, stopping at shops here and there. Some streets were actually big enough for small trucks and cars to go through, so we had to watch out for them. The cobblestone streets were a bit slippery from the drizzle earlier, so we had to be careful going down. Bunny found a couple gifts, maybe one for herself. I like what she got so I found one in a different store. The rooster is big in Porto so it was a small ceramic rooster with cocktail sticks in it. Very cute.
‘Since I was cold, I picked up a scarf for my neck. We stopped for coffee, Coke Zero for me, at an outdoor cafe just to sit and rest awhile. From the map it looked like we had a long way to get to the bottom. We meandered some more and all of a sudden, the river was in front of us, down a pretty steep slope. We were at the Douro River. There was a wide quai along the river with many restaurants, street players and strollers on it. We walked for a bit and sat at one restaurant. We just wanted a charcuterie plate. They didn’t have any cheese! Who ever heard of that?? So we got up and went along to another one that had cheese. We couldn’t sit outside because there were no tables for 4, so we went inside. We ordered our drinks and the platter. One order was huge. It was more than enough for the 4 of us. They also served bread, salsa, olives and a bit of tuna salad as a starter, at a cost of 3.5 euros each. It was all good. Our waiter was from India so we talked about our trip there and the Taj Mahal. He had just been there in February. He was so happy to talk with people who had been there.
‘We walked to the end of the quai and up a flight of stairs. Along the way there were tents set up with vendors. We also saw one of the old boats they used to carry barrels of port wine on the river. At the top we found a Tuk Tuk and got a very bumpy ride through the old part of the city back up to the plaza to get the shuttle back to the ship. We got the last one. Tonight we are having a dinner with all the trivia group in the private room of the Italian restaurant. It’s sort of a good bye party.

Photos: sunrise over Porto, memorial to fishermen, Atlantic, Douro River, next 5 are street shots, bridge over the river, walkway along the river,, boat that carried port wine barrels up the river, out Tuk Tuk and driver . Once again, I forgot the couple with the photo on the wall. Tomorrow.

Comment (1)

  • ElaineA

    You are going to be so worn out by the time you go home – great pics – stay safe

    May 2, 2024 at 2:32 pm

Leave a Reply

Back to Posts