Day 2 – Porto

We arose after a very sound sleep ready to take on the city. Not even sore from his roll down the hill, Tom got back on his horse and was ready to head down the hill! Today is our 44th anniversary and it will be memorable.

Before bed last night we had made the executive decision to procure a hop on – hop off pass for the bus. The bonus was when you buy the pass you get a boat ride on the river. Yeah, we know it is kind of touristy to do that, but hey that is what we are – Tourists. Be proud and claim it!

The city in the morning was beautiful. There was light fog over the river and the sun illuminated the roof tops.

Our first stop of the day was the Porto Cathedral. The archways and the inner courtyard were magnificent and shielded us from the sun that was warming up the day quickly. Porto has many micro-climates depending on where you are when. One can be sweating and then walk 50 yards only to find yourself putting on a jacket.

The sanctuary of the cathedral was beautiful, but this side altar is what caught Tom’s eye. Here lies two knights from the Crusades, who 200 years later were transported back to their home in Porto from the Holy Land by a Bishop to their final resting place. The knights encased in glass was a little over the top. The camera, purposely, does not show you the bones of the two warriors with their swords, but suffice it to say… they looked over 1000 years old.

As we left the Cathedral headed for our boat ride, we saw the start of The Camino Portuguese and of course had to stop and get a shot at the start. Janet’s dream is to do one of the legs all the way to Santiago de Compostela. It may surprise you, but Tom not so much! If you were here, your final destination would 248 km north.

So, we began our descent to the river. Of course, there are stairs involved.

And not a one is square and built to code. Oh my, what would OSHA do? As one traverses, the stairs do get better, but there are still a bunch of stairs.

We arrived just minutes before our boat tour was to begin. It was a 10 am departure and the crowds were very light. The jackets we took off at the Cathedral were back on for the boat ride. The sun was out, and it was beautiful!

The cruise is called Cenarios do Douro and allows for views of the riversides of both Gaia and Porto. We headed inland to the point where the river widens and then reversed directions back through town and headed toward the sea. The sun was really illuminating the buildings along the river.

The closer we got to the ocean you could see the fog moving up the river very slowly. We turned before reaching it, but the temperature got cooler and cooler. It was very pleasant on the river, but a little disappointing because there was no commentary of what we were looking at as we navigated this historic waterway. We passed under six bridges in total.

We exited the boat and headed to one of the magical signs where a bus picks you up instead of walking up the hill. Ahh, the hop on – hop off is here!

The route we chose would take us all the way down to the mouth of the river so we could see the ocean. Our plan was to hop off and enjoy a lunch by the sea. However, the bus moved very slowly along our journey, and we had plans to meet Sabrina and Rui at 3 o’clock. When we reached the end of the route we decided to just stay on and returned to the city. The views along the way were beautiful. We dipped in and out of the fog while enjoying the sights. This sculpture is made of fishnet by an American artist, Janet Echelman and is simply called “She Moves” in English. The size and scope of the piece is fantastic.

As we paralleled the river, we saw surfers and beach goers enjoying the sea. The fog did not seem to bother them. We drove passed the famous lighthouse, but it was not visible from the bus which was only 150 yards from it.  There would be small breaks in the fog for folks to enjoy the water.

As we continued back to town the sun began shinning again, but the fog was slowly creeping up the river.

We hustled up the river to grab a quick lunch to meet Sabrina. Rui would be along later as he still had some work to finish. We had a designated meeting place, so we thought wise to eat lunch close by. So what does one have for a quick lunch in Porto…

It was while we were eating that we figured out we were in the wrong place. Our communications were limited to when we had WiFi available. Lucky, the restaurant did have WiFi and we were able to communicate with Sabrina. This is what we discovered. Sabrina was at the left finger, and we were the right finger. And there was a lot (not the word Tom used) of construction between us.

We paid our bill and hustled across town to meet Sabrina. Once again, when we reached there, we could not find her and no Wi-Fi. Tom asked a waiter if he had Wi-Fi, but he said no and then pointed to a park across the street. He told us that inside the park is free Wi-Fi. The name of this park will always remain a mystery to us, but it will be called Free Wi-Fi park from this day forward. As soon as you cleared the gate one has a great signal. Step out… no signal.

At last, we caught up with Sabrina! Not sure how we confused the tallest tower in Porto with one that is a quarter of the size, but hey… we are tourists. Our goal should have been Torre dos Clerigos, not the Igreja de Sto Ildefonso.

Rui joined us not long after our rendezvous with Sabrina and began giving us a wonderful tour of his hometown. His stories were historical as well as personable and we did not want them to end. He introduced us to some of the sights that we had not seen in our adventures, including a church called Igreja do Carmo with a blue tile wall that was just stunning. This is the largest display of the azulejo tile in the city and the illustrations refer to the founding of Carmelites religious order on Mount Carmel.

We walked down a narrow street, which historically was one the Jewish sections of town. The building went back to the middle ages. When the road ended, we stood in a small park with a view like no other of the city below.

We walked a little more and enjoyed a few moments of chit chat while sipping on some white port, but all good things must come to end. They were headed back to Paris early in the morning and we had an Anniversary dinner reservation to make. We said good-bye – Hoping it will not be long until we meet again.

It seems to be a tradition each night for everyone to cross the river by bridge to Gaia and watch the sunset. We choose to stay on the Porto riverside and were greeted by the moon rising over the city.

We celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary dinner at ODE Porto Wine House. The menu began with a letter from the owners to their quests. It began, “Cooking is not service… Cooking is a way of loving others.” The word Ode means tribute, hymn, and homage. Tribute to the owner’s mother and grandmother, hymns to the people who cook daily, and homage to those that want to share a meal with them. The restaurant is nestled in a corner up off the riverfront with less than 10 tables. We were immediately greeted by the staff with smiles and kind service. 

Our meal began with bread served with butter from the Azores and a plate of Iberico Ham that had aged 42 months. Tom choose the Iberian Pork Ribs and Janet had the Beef Tenderloin. The wine, Quinta Do Noval, matched beautifully with every bite of this delicious meal.

We finished with what else but his mother’s pudding a dessert play on a fried egg, and of course a choice of Port wines to enjoy. A fabulous meal!

Tomorrow, we head to Vila Nova de Gaia or as most say just Gaia. It is across the river by bridge, bus, or boat. Right now, it is time to call it a day.