Porto Day 2

 Apparently we were tired after the journey because we woke up around 10 Friday morning. Since we had slept through breakfast, we got brunch at a cafe across the street from the hotel which was really good. After brunch we went shopping around the neighborhood Tania had taken us to the day before. After a while, we took the bus along the river to the beach area (about 20 min ride) to go to a waterfront restaurant for a light lunch. We had bruschetta with goat cheese and pears and some salted cod fritters. The beach was rocky but pretty and it was much cooler in that neighborhood than where we have been staying. 

After lunch we met Tania for a food tour. We skipped our charcuterie stop since we wanted to save room for the more exciting food and started with bifana: a pork sandwich with a spicy sauce. It had some heat but we could handle it. We also got to taste a local beer. From there we walked around the university neighborhood and peeked into the very famous bookstore that inspired parts of Harry Potter. After, we walked to the food market to see what was available and we got to try some oysters. They were really good and less briny than the ones from our side of the Atlantic. After a little more walking, we went to a chicken restaurant that also served Tripe stew so we could try it. We had tried Tripe in Rome on our first Italy trip. It was really good but filling. We also had green wine which was slightly carbonated. We then had 3 desserts to try. Flan, a chocolate cake, and a egg white based dessert called Molotov. They were all so good. The waiter was giving us a hard time for not finishing them. 

With very full bellies, we said goodbye to Tania and went back to the hotel to organize so we could be ready to transfer to Douro Valley. 

Portugal! First day in Porto

 Our flight landed late morning in Porto. It was our first time flying on TAP and overall we had a good experience. We got lucky when they got us off the plane, they loaded us onto buses and our bus was first in line for immigration. There has been a lot on the internet about the new immigration system in the EU. At the airport in Boston they wanted to make sure we knew about the app that would make it easier to enter. The app did not ask for our passports as we expected (and the app said it would) but we got a QR code answering questions we did not end up showing in Portugal. We were in line for maybe 45 min to an hour. It was moving for a while and then all of a sudden it stopped for a solid 5 minutes. When it was eventually our turn we handed over our passports, got no questions and were let out to baggage claim. We could see the machines where you’re supposed to register your biometrics but they were not working yesterday. 

We met our driver and he took us to our hotel. He let us know that he was a tour guide in the past and he pointed out some sites on the way. Our hotel room wasn’t immediately ready so Mom ventured out for food while I hung out in the lobby. After regrouping briefly in our hotel, we met our guide Tania for our walking tour around historic Porto. 

We started at the train station which used to be a convent (recurring theme) and it had gorgeous tile work. Tania told us that in the 19th century, the king decided the church had too much power and would try to limit the church buildings. The monks were relocated but the nuns stayed put until their deaths and one nun stayed alive (and in the convent) 50 years after they could start the train station. In the train station there is a relatively new TimeOut Market (original one is in Lisbon). We got to walk on one of the large train bridges. There are 6 (soon to be 7) that connect Porto to the next town. She took us past a large church and through the old neighborhood that was less touristy so we could see more of a community. 

We went to the commerce building that was renovated in the early 19th century by 8 architects. The outer building and the courtyard (minus some columns) were original and everything else was new. There is a ballroom inspired by the Alhambra in Spain which was gorgeous. I was curious to see if they left the room slightly less than perfect like the Alhambra. Moorish designers would put designs slightly off center although you would have to look closely to notice. Their opinion was perfection was only for God. Tania was impressed I remembered that. 

After the commerce building we got Pastel de Nata and walked some more. We are seeing Tania later today for our food tour. After our tour, we went to dinner at Almeja, a farm to table restaurant that is owned by a husband and wife team. The staff were really friendly and the food is really good. We had steak tartare and a banana bread with goat cheese and honey as an appetizer. For mains, we had pasta with prawns and picked cucumber as well as slow cooked pork. We finished with French toast with guava ice cream.