Porto—a city built on the cliffs over looking the Douro River with more churches than even I could visit! More on that later. We got to Porto late afternoon so first we figured out the subway system, then went to a visitor center for maps & finally found a nice place & had a lasagna dinner & a port wine for Rog. I'm actually drinking regular Coke as they don't have Diet Coke …only Coke Lite…I found a few in Gambia but that's it. We had to laugh cause we finished off the water I had in my backpack & put the empty bottle on our table. The waitress had brought us de Natas which we thought was a nice touch but when we got the bill…we got charged for the de Natas & a bottle of water!! A sign was posted saying they charged for everything on the table. Live & learn! We then tracked down a Fado venue and were totally entertained by the Portuguese guitar, the base guitar & the singer. They told us no two shows were they same because as musicians, Fado tradition is to improvise according to how you feel at the time. A glass of port wine was part of the admission price…which meant two for Rog! Thanks Sue Ivey for encouraging us to go. It was a good way to spend the first night here!
As I mentioned, there's a lot of churches in Porto. I visited several and did get awed by the Se Cathedral where King John I married his Queen Philippa (Portuagal -England) which cemented their countries and their son, Henry the Navigator was baptized. Yup…Henry again. As expected, it was dripping with gold plated, intricate designs, statues and the ceiling reached high up showing off a stain glass window & huge organ pipes. Rog sat outside & listened to a violinist play beautifully. I also could hear it echoing through the Cathedral & the attached monastery. Such a perfect sound to hear there. We also managed to find the Sao Bento train station which was richly decorated with detailed blue/white tiles that showed much about the history of Porto. Next we got on a boat to take us on an hour cruise on the river admiring Porto from that viewpoint. It was quite a climb up to get to the Jardins de Palaciade Cristal where tulips, petunia, daisies and bougainvilea were in full bloom! That was enough for one day so we went back to our room to rest up before dinner at an Indian restaurant. I must confess, I had McD for lunch…first time in Portugal and though it was okay…it wasn't as good as USA. After dinner, Rog went to the train station to buy tickets for tomorrow. He has done a fabulous job of figuring out bus, trains & subways and all our really cheap & easy ways for us to travel. That said, Portugal is not a place for anyone who wasn't willing to go up & down uneven cobblestone sidewalks!
We'd decided we needed a less strenuous day, so we got on the train that took us through the Douro Valley. It was a great plan! Endless terraces filled with neat grapevine rows stepped down the steep mountain side giving us stunning scenic views as we followed the wide Douro River. Small villages snuggled at the base of some mountains hugging the shoreline. A few large home sat higher up & along…seemingly proud. We traveled about 2 hours enjoying the views & the company of a couple from Ireland…about 20 yrs younger but it was amazing how similar our views were on family, politics & the world situation. We got off at Peso do Régua where we walked the nice walkway along the river stopping often to take in the view. We brought sandwiches with us to eat & Rog enjoyed a glass of wine…of course. We went by an area with about 20 motor homes parked & hooked up. Several people sat in lawn chairs out front & others were getting on/off bikes. We'd only seen 2 motor homes since we left in January. After we tired of walking, we went to a museums. It was quite nice and had several videos about the history, culture & religion of the area. Strong faith in God & appreciation for the good things in their lives were strong themes. Cave drawings have recently been discovered near here that they think are 50,000+ years old! Around 5, we headed back to Porto enjoying the 2 hour ride seeing views going the other direction. When we got to Porto, it was dinner time. Rog braved eating the famed Porto dish: francesinha sandwich. I had to divert my eyes as he discovered what was in it: bread, ham, sausage, roast & cheese with a thick spicy tomato sauce poured over it and a fried egg on top. He was up for the challenge! I had ordered a baked potato which turned out to be boiled potatoes. I ate some bread & cheese packets the waiter had put on our table and put some of the butter on my potatoes. Guess we hadn't learned our lesson because our bill included the bread, cheese packets & even the butter packets.
At least we didn't get charged for the salt I used!
