Day one - Porto or Oporto

And we made it. I wouldn't say that getting from Minneapolis to Porto is the easiest thing in the world but of course if you're willing to sit a lot (and I am sadly) you can get just about anywhere eventually.  Rebecca and I sat from Minneapolis to Philadelphia and then from Philadelphia to Madrid and then from Madrid to Porto with 3 hours in between each leg.  Still, we made it here by 10:35, were met by a lovely and fast driver and were checked in to our hotel and out the door to explore by 11:30.  I had an elaborate plan for our first walk but we decided we needed some food.  Here is a church we passed on our way.  The blue and white is ceramic tile which is everywhere and stunning.  You'll be seeing a lot of this.

We each ordered a beverage. Guess which one is mine?

Right.  I needed a proper cuppa.  I'm not sure the woman over my right shoulder approves.

It's touristy but it's also stunning.  We had our lunch at the Majestic Cafe built in 1923 and about as beautiful an example of Art Nouveau as you'll find.  We sat outside but if we had sat inside it would have looked like this.

And this little beauty is called a francesinha.  I asked the waitress to pronounce it for me and I'm not better off.  

Here are its innards.  That's melted cheese over the top and the gravy is hard to describe but it's really good.  Rebecca and I split it and I was touched that they split it for us so we got extra melted goodness.

We passed a beautiful store selling all things pork and port.

I wish this blog had a smell button cause the smell was intoxicating as Rebecca demonstrates at the end of this video.

She also shows her excitement at the outdoor market.  It's the sort of place you go when you want to buy your fish and pork products which have been sitting in the warm sun all day!

This is the chapel of souls with more ceramic tiles.  Quite beautiful.

I gotta think that someone had big plans but only the cash for a corner.

Buildings tend to have sculptures on them.  Here's one on the municipal building.

This is the Sao Bento train station and if you love train stations then you'll really love one with all of this beautiful ceramic tile work.

There were some other things on our agenda but our room was to be ready at 3:00 and we were running out of gas.  We decided to make one more quick stop to see the bookstore Lello which as you can see is quite stunning.  It's said that it was an inspiration for J.K. Rowling who lived for a while in Porto.  Interestingly, you have to pay 4 euros to go in which you can then apply to a book purchase.

After this we walked back to the hotel which was a bit of an adventure as I wanted to walk down the small streets - a few of which, I must say, felt a bit dangerous.  Of course I ended up fairly far down the hill so we had a very steep walk home in the mid day heat.  Graciously, our room is a studio apartment with a weak but functional air conditioning and a wonderful shower.  Rebecca took a nap and I worked a bit on this blog before falling asleep for about an hour.  

Feeling refreshed and hungry we headed down to the river for dinner.  We wanted to take the funicular but ended up taking a "street" of more than 300 steps.

We stopped first at a cafe on the river Douro for some vinho verde and ham and cheese.  On the other side of the river is where all of the port houses are located.  That's tomorrow's adventure.

We walked along the river but the restaurants are quite touristy so we found a narrow street and headed up it.  It seemed like it might be from Willy Wonka and eventually get smaller and narrower until we wouldn't fit.  Luckily, it ended at a wine and tapas bar!

First we requested two big fruity reds.  We didn't like the first one they gave us to taste and the second could have used a bit more fruit but we stuck with it.  We will learn more about Portuguese wines this weekend but from what I gather, the grapes aren't 'usual' so we embraced the difference.  With the food I ordered a white which was rich and oaky.  It was delicious but odd.  Rebecca ordered a sparkling wine which they call spumante.  Our first dish was razor clams.  It's hard to describe how unbelievably rich and sea like they were.  Imagine steamers' snootier ivy league cousin.

Next we ordered what was to be the first of many octopus dishes.  Again, if we hadn't been told what it was we would have guessed maybe pork belly.  It's lying on potatoes and covered with oil and paprika.  

We ended our very long meal with a glass of tawny port.  It was fab.  The angle of this picture might seem odd but it was what we were feeling.  I should mention that so far we haven't spend more than $5.75 for a glass of wine. 

Afterward we headed back up the hill following the narrowest streets we could find.  I wish there was a way to take pictures of them and do them justice.  Here is the cathedral which we will visit tomorrow.

This is a film of all of the port houses across the river. I'm sorry it's blurry but all of the white lights are port houses.

There was a quick stop by a bodega (with the most ridiculous port selection imaginable) to buy some much needed toothpaste.  Below is the door to our little castle.  It's in a former palace and is quite nice.  Now to bed!  We have a million miles all up hill to walk tomorrow.  Oh, and there are so many pigs and pastries to eat!