Hello Porto

A travel day today and resting the legs after a long day in Sintra.

Up and out the door of my apartment - and something I learned about my neighbourhood from a tour I did - the Alfama is what remains of old Lisbon before the earthquake in 1755 - the area is built on limestone and is more stable under pressure - hence the area is narrower and less accessible due to it being “old school”. Most of Lisbon had to be rebuilt after the quake, subsequent fires and a tsunami that wiped out most of the city, resulting in an estimated 30-40k deaths.

Off down and up and down again to the Santa Apollonia station, a bad train station cafe breakfast and off to Porto we go. It’s a three hour train ride, but a nice ride in an air conditioned carriage and allocated seats.

Past many villages and towns and even getting glimpses of the boardwalk along the ocean’s edge and finally we are in Porto. A rude passenger pissed me off by trying to push past me to get out while we were all waiting to get off the train.  When she couldn’t get past, she then proceeded to push me in the back to try and make me move faster.  Wrong move, lady!

A quick uber from the station and we are safely installed in our cute 2 bedroom unit up on one of two of Porto’s hills. 

Settling into my room I felt a twinge of homesickness as I listened to the live music being played at the pub down the road. The girl was playing John Denver’s “Country Roads” and for a moment I was transported home to the Gabba watching the Lions play and celebrating a Charlie Cameron goal. 

Quick refresh and we set out to find some lunch (we found a nice Vietnamese place relatively close by), had a good walk around the local area and back to our rooms for a rest.  

After a good recovery, we made our way down to the riverside for a delicious tapas meal at Muro do Bacalhau - their specialty, an octopus pastry. Melt in your mouth pastry and perfectly seasoned octopus with a sauce that brought out so many flavours. 

We also chose a cheese platter, duck rice and fresh cod fish. Paired with a vinho verde (green wine) - it was an explosion of delicious flavours - and far too much for two to even share.

The river is beautiful and the sun beginning to set as we ate beside the water. We followed dinner with a short walk around town before retiring for the night. I settled in to watch a movie that looked interesting - Regalo Ao Futuro III starring Michael J Fox.  I swear I can find that movie in any country I stay in!

Jyai has organised a walking tour for us tomorrow, followed by a river cruise and some more exploring around town.