Day 57 – 4 September 2023 – Porto, Portugal

Another early start & it is still raining as we leave Salamanca. We hear that Madrid suffered severe flooding & torrential rain with the Mayor issuing stay at home orders for the city. Glad we got out when we did. The rain gradually eases & the scenery changes as we near Portugal. There are lots of trees, lots of treed mountains & the houses start to look different. We stop for a comfort break just before the Portugal border at a roadhouse & I buy a couple of the famed Portuguese custard tarts, they are delicious.

It is only another hour to Porto & after we cross the border the houses change again. In the towns most houses have a yard & the houses seem to be well kept & two story, Portugal seems to be a wealthier country than Spain with less churches. The bus drops us off down near the Douro River near the cable car station. There r a lot of the old port wine transport boats moored, each a floating advertisement for their brand of port wine. Our Tour Director takes us for a short walk along the river to show us the port wine cellars then leaves us to find our own lunch among the many cafes along the shore. There are six river cruise boats tied up on the shore just nearby.

We decide to catch the cable car up to the top of the Ponte de Luis I bridge, a very tall bridge over the river that also has a double metro rail line as well as pedestrian access. The bridge was designed by the same engineer as the Eifel Tower. The views from the top of the bridge over Porto are very good, there are so many church spires & belltowers all over the city. Portugal apparently is a very Catholic country. After we arrive back on the river bank we decide that lunch is in order, Sancho Panza restaurant is next door & Chad recommended it so we decide on it.

We get a seat on the 1^st floor at the front overlooking the river, a great view. We share the specialty of the house, the Francesinha plus mussels washed down with a vino pinto (red wine). The Francesinha is a specialty food of Porto & is a cheese, bread, meat, sausage, sauce toasted sandwich that you eat with a knife & fork, absolutely delicious. The mussels are huge & also delicious.

After lunch we walk up to the Sandeman Port Cellars, founded in 1790 by a Scotsman & one of the oldest surviving port businesses in Porto. We are taken on a tour of the cellars by Monica, dressed in a black cape & a black hat, looking a lot like a female Zorro. She is very good, informative & entertaining & we learn all about the history of Sandeman, look through the port wine cellars & learn where the grapes come from & how the port wine is made. Afterwards we all have a taste of a white port & a 7 year old ruby port. Delicious. A number in our group bought wines & we all walked out happy.

A walk back to the bus in the rain & off to our hotel to check in, then afterwards we went for a walk down to look at the Cathedral nearby & the Porto railway Station. The Cathedral was built in the 12^th Century & underwent improvements & changes since. The Bishop’s Palace next door is also huge & well preserved, with great views over the river. The railway station is nearby but takes us a little while to find it, another large sandstone edifice that looks similar to a church. The inside entrance is very tall & impressive with blue tiles lining the walls with pictures on the tiles & is most unusual. The walk back uphill on the cobblestones is tiring & we get back to the hotel with only a few minutes to change for dinner.  At the door we met John from our previous trip, northern Spain, we happily exchanged a few words & hurried off to change.  When we came down we met John his partner & 2 of her sisters, we gave each other big hugs just like long lost cousins, they have been looking out for us as they knew we were in Portugal.  They are on another tour in Portugal.  On our previous tour (only 17 of us) we all became very close.  Tomorrow morning they are leaving in the opposite direction, at the same time as we are.  It will be fun, NOT, at breakfast time with over 80 people trying to serve ourselves at the breakfast bar.

Dinner is in the hotel & we sit with some others we had not talked with before, including a younger couple from Perth. Dinner was salad followed by fish with rice, then fresh fruit, plus vino tinto. Another great day.